17ème Course de Côte de Saint Pierre de Varengeville, 2018

This DTM lookalike TracKing finished third in its class for motorcycle engined sports cars.

As one of my 2015 photos (a green F3 car) appears on their 2018  poster and programme, I felt obliged to attend this edition of the Course de Cote de Saint-Pierre de Varengeville.  This regional hillclimb runs up the D86 Route du Paulu public road near Rouen in Normandy.  A 1.5km course, most of the spectators congregate around one hairpin.  I spent most of my time away from the crowds trying to capture the speed and essence of the cars and drivers who race up the hill here.  One of these drivers was fellow countryman John Page who I first met here in 2015 and who I was glad to meet up with again and who features below.   Practice was dry but after lunch it started to rain lightly but stopped relatively quickly.  This meant that most drivers got quicker as the track dried throughout the afternoon.  75 drivers took part in an interesting variety of cars, so the organizers must have been pleased with both this and the reasonable crowd of spectators considering the wet conditions.  It was good value for the spectators at just five Euros which included a programme.  Fantastic grass roots motorsport.

John Page and his F3 Ralt RT32

If any driver embodies grass roots motorsport in a good way, it must be John Page and his late eighties F3 Ralt RT32.  He has been racing up the hills in this car for eleven years now, having written off his previous Reynard-Volkswagen in a brush with a large hale bale.  On Sunday he surprised me by telling me that he has done 25 season of hillclimbing in France preceded by 26 seasons of hillclimbing and sprinting in the UK.  His love of the French hillclimbing scene, and the public roads and social aspects that go with it, are self-evident.  He did not find the same atmosphere always evident in the UK scene where there were those who took it and themselves way too seriously.    This was John’s first event of the year and comes after having to repair the differential on his Ralt after it broke in the last event of the year at Pourville.  As is often the case, John was acting as his own mechanic and driver at Paulu – very reminiscent of the old F3 circus that used to tour Europe in the sixties.  You will often find John at the hillclimbs in Normandy and his next will probably be at Moulineaux, a few kilometres South West of Rouen in May.  It is always nice to chat with him in the paddock and he helped make my four hour round-trip to the event worthwhile.

John Page on a  morning practice run.

For me one of the joys about French hillclimbing it that it takes part on public roads.  This means that it might even pass by the odd house or chapel along the way.   Safety can be rather rudimentary at times but the drivers treat the course with respect and accidents are thankfully not normally too serious.  For the spectators, courses like the one at Paulu are quite safe as they are considerably above the cars.  This height gives both challenges and possibilities for the amateur photographer. Below are many of the 75 drivers that took part in the hillclimb.

1st - 3 - Fabien Ponchant - Dallara F302

The winner in his F3 Dallara.

2nd - 14 - Jerome Martin - Norma M20F

Jerome starts his second run of the afternoon.  He won back in 2015 when I was last here, but in a F3 car.  Unusually, for the faster runs he did not improve on his third run.

3rd - 5 - Bertrand Lassalle - Dallara F307

Bertrand won in 2016 and was third this year.

4th - 4 - Anthony Gueudry - Martini Mk80 Opel

Anthony won last year in his Martini but had to settle for fourth this time.

5th - 6 - Alban Lapotre - Dallara F300

Alban in his F3 Dallara

6th - 12 - Alain La Sausse - Norma M20FC

Alain at speed in his Norma.

7th - 17 - Eric Lecerf - Noma M20B

Eric was the last of the runners to dip under 50 seconds.

8th - 24 - Olivier Dumont - BRC 5 Evo PEP

Olivier looked very fast in this BRC.

9th - 15 - William Pommery - Norma M20B

William and the catching colour scheme of his Norma.

10th - 85 - Geoffray Carcreff - Scora Maxi

This beautiful Scora Maxi driver did very well to get into the top ten.

11th - 7 - Thibaut Lemoine - Dallara F300

Thibaut was fifth in the F3 class.

12th - 224 - Dominique Dumont - BRC 5 Evo PEP

Sharing the same BRC, Dominique was not as fast in the difficult conditions.

13th  - 25 - Vincent Bertheuil - TracKing RC01

The TracKing between the chicane and first bend.

14th - 10 - John Page - Ralt R32 

John Page was faster than a number of newer F3 and sports cars.

15th - 18 - Joel Maugy - Norma M20F

Joel was fifth in class

16th - 1 - Jerome Poyer - Tatuus FR2000

Jerome won his class.

17th - 60 - Gerard Berquez - Peugeot 306

Fastest of the production based cars and winner of the F2000 group was this beautiful Peugeot 306.

18th - 8 - Joel-Michel Maffeo - Dallara F300

Joel-Michel was eighth of the single seaters.

20th - 26 - Pierre-Louis Fouillen - Jema 610 GT

Pierre-Louis was another who did not improve on his final run.

 21st - 28 - Julien Dupont - Seat Leon Supercopa

Winner in Group A was Julien is his Seat.

22nd - 62 - Olivier Compain - Peugeot 309 GTi

Olivier was runner-up in his class.

23rd - 22 - Jean-Yves Dorée - Grac MT 14 S

Great to see this old Grac still doing the hills.

24th - 29 - Cyrille Lemaire - Seat Leon Supercopa

This Seat was second of the Group A cars.  He he approaches the first hairpin.

28th - 33 - Michel Bineau - Nissan Almera

This Nissan won its class.

29th - 34 - Youri Touloucanon - Seat Ibiza

This Seat was second in its class.

30th - 90 - Gerard Brianza - Alpine A110

Gerard was the last runner to dip under one minute for the course, doing this on his final run.

31st - 45 - Karl Fossey - Ford Sierra

I haven't often seen a Sierra on the French hills.

32nd - 75 - Cyril Hoyer - Peugeot 206 CC

Cyril was second in his class.

34th - 48 - Romauld Thullier - Renault Clio RS

Romauld was second in his class.

35th - 231 - Sebastien Jakubies - Peugeot 207 RC

Sebastien won his class.

37th - 16 - Cyril Aubert - Norma M20

Cyril only completed one run in his Norma.

41st - 73 - Jimmy Burette - Peugeot 205

Jimmy was fourth in his class.

43rd - 64 - Pascal Timmerman - Peugeot 205 S16

Pascal was fifth in class.

47th - 65 - Maxime Davesme - Renault Clio 2 RS

Maxime was sixth in class.

53rd - 39 - Romain Isaac - Peugeot 205 Rallye

On his way to third in class, Romain passes the house which is on the fast curve after the chicane.

55th - 58 - Fabrice Vallet - Peugeot 106 XSI

Fabrice starting his ascent out of the first hairpin.

56th - 66 - Dylan Timmerman - Peugeot 205 Gti

Dylan in the first hairpin.

58th - 86 - Henri Blanchard - BMW E21

The BMW being refuelled at lunchtime.

60th - 272 - Christophe Maurouard - Peugeot 205 GTi

The Peugeot passing the pretty Chapel in the woods.

61st - 80 - Jimmy Mohamed - Peugeot 205 Rallye

Jimmy was seventh in class.

62nd - 37 - Bertrand Philippe - Citroen AX GTI

Philippe was fourth in  class.

63rd - 55 - Teddy Ducoin - Citroen Saxo VTS

Teddy approaching the first hairpin.

64th - 40 - Michel Camier - Peugeot 205

Michel and his Peugeot passing the house.

67th - 20 - Daniel Nature - Merlin MP23

Daniel was another who only completed one run.

68th - 88 - James Debeauvais - BMW 2002 

James in his old BMW.

71st - 35 - Jonathan Marc - Citroen AX

Jonathan only completed two runs.

72nd - 77 - Martial Vernichon -Renault Megane

Martial had this minor off on his second run.

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.

One of the course cars was a 2018 Lamera Cup car.