Group C Racing - Dix Mille Tours du Castellet - 2017

The battle for the lead in race 2 between Kriton Lendoudis in his 1989 Mercedes Benz C11 and the 1990 Porsche 962C shared by Michel Lecourt and Raymond Narac.

By the time the second Group C race was ready to start on Sunday afternoon the Mistral wind was really blowing up a storm.  At times it was really difficult to hold the camera remotely still!   I was glad I had my monopod with me and that I had already taken pictures of the cars during Saturday's qualifying.  Paul Ricard is a nice track with good spectator access but the Mistral can be rather unpleasant and turns a pleasantly warm autumn day into a miserably cold one.   However, it was nice to see a brace of Mercedes Benz C11s in this race and a field of sixteen cars.  Below are the photos I took of the Group C cars over the whole weekend.

The Group C cars come round in formation for the rolling start of Race 2.

The winning 1989 Mercedes C11 being chased by the 1992 Spice that eventually retired.

The second placed 1990 Porsche 962C showing off the distinctive stripes of the Paul Ricard run-off areaqs.

The third placed 1990 Porsche 962C of Ivan Vercoutere and Ralf Kelleners.

The No.21 Porsche led for much of the race.  here it is chased by the next three cars, so very close racing.

There are trees and mountains near Paul Ricard.  It is not just striped run off areas.

In fourth place was this 1990 Mercedes Benz C11 driven by Roald Goethe and Stuart Halldd

Winner of class C2A and fifth overall was Laurent Fort in this 1988 Tiga GC288. 

The sixth placed 1989 Porsche 962 of Max Von Braunmuehl.

The second of the C2A class was this 1988 Spice SE88C of Frédéric Da Rocha.

Xavier Galant was third in the C2A class with this 1988 Tiga GC288

Group C cars entering the start finish straight.

Winner of class C1b was Christian Perrier in this 1985 March 85G

The battle for ninth place.

Rounding out the top ten was this 1990 Porsche 962C of Hans-Jörg Hübner and Wolfgang Destree.

Final Classified finisher was this 1988 Spice SE88C of Thomas Dozin.

Running at the back of the field was this distinctive 1982 Rondeau M382 driven by Hugo Mezaed.

Very fast and an early contender was this 1992 Spice SE92 Michiel Campagne and Allard Kalff.

It only completed 9 laps but it was nice to see this 1989 Tiga GC289 of Philippe Colançon.

Loved seeing this 1989 Cheetah G606 of Eric Richenbacher.

Really sad to this 1990 Porsche 962C expire at the end of the Mistral straight before even a lap was completed.

For the Classic Endurance I cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Classic Endurance 2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Group C cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Heritage Touring Cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Euro F2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Trofeo Nastro Rosso cars at Paul Ricard, 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.

Group C cars at the end of the Mistral straight.