FIA European Hillclimb Championship - Round 9 - Course de Côte du Mont Dore / Chambon sur Lac

The GT Group and Class winning McLaren MP4 12C of Pierre Courroye.

The European Hillclimb Championship is the oldest of all of the FIA Championships as it dates back to 1930 when Hans Stuck and Rudolf Caracciola were winners.  In the fifties, sixties and seventies the winners included Wolfgang von Trips, Ludovico Scarfiotti. Gerhard Mitter, Peter Schetty and Arturo Merzario  driving for the works Ferrari, Porsche and Abarth teams.  In recent years it has been the domain of Simone Faggioli who has won the championship nine times. He was also the record holder at Mont Dore going into this event and thus a clear favourite.  Mont Dore was round 9 of the championship and the only round in France.  Mont Dore used to be a regular venue in the Championship but hadn't been a round since 2013 so it was good to see the European runners back. The course is just over 5kms long and the record lap was set in 2011 at just over 2 minutes 14 seconds.  There are many classes but most interest was in the overall competition and in the GT class. Would Faggioli win again and how would the McLaren vs Porsche vs Lamborghini vs Audi vs BMW GT battle be settled?

It was not to be Simone Faggioli's day and he was beaten by Christian Merli in an Osella. It was not my day either and I failed to get a single picture of Christian Merli!  However, I dis get all of the other 16 runners in the European Championship section of the Course de Côte du Mont Dore / Chambon-sur-Lac.  The GT battle saw the McLaren of young driver Pierre Courroye win again as he did at Saint-Goueno.  The photos below show the participants in the order that they finished.

Simone Faggioli returns to the paddock after his first run in his Norma M20 FC.  He finished runner-up.

Benoit Bouche finished third in his Reynard 99L.

Third placed Benoit Bouche.

David Guilaumard won the 2 litre class in his Norma

Damien Chamberod's Norma at the first main corner.  He finished second in class.

The class winning Audi TT R DTM of Vladimir Vitver

Vitver's Audi in the paddock.

The Osella PA21 Evo of Stefano Crespi.

Christian Schmitter's Porsche 997 GT3 R finished second in class to the McLaren.

Finishing off the top ten was Philippe Schmitter's Lamborghini Gallardo FC2 GT3.

The BMW Z4 GT3 of Jan Milon.

The Ginetta G55 GT3 of Aznar Sanchez Jose Antonio.

The Ginetta G55 in the paddock.

The Audi R8 LMS GT3 of "Tessitore".

The Honda powered Norma of Fabien Bouduban in the paddock.

The Lamboghini Gallardo GT3 of Martin jerman.

The Subaru Impreza STI WRX of Lukas Vojacek.

There was only one entrant in Group N but it was the European Champion Tomas Vavrinec.

The Group N Mitsibushi Lancer Evo9 of Tomas Vavrinec.

For photos of the Course de Cote de Mont Dore in 2014 click here.

For photos of the Course de Cote de Mont Dore in 2016 click here.

For photos of the French Championship Sport runners in 2017 click here.

For photos of the VHC runners in 2017, click here.

John Etherton asserts his copyright to all of the photos on this blogpost.  However, you may post the photos elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the photographer, John Etherton, and this blog post, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

John Etherton affirme son droit d'auteur à l'ensemble des photos sur ce billet de blog. Cependant, vous pouvez poster des photos ailleurs sur le web aussi longtemps que vous créditez le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com et fournissez un lien vers cette page.