38ème Rallye régional du Médoc - Moderne 2021

The Renault Clio 2 of Debec and Kistersky on ES4.

There were over eighty starters in the modern section of the 38th running of this year's Rallye du Medoc and of these sixty eight were classified at the end of the event.  There was a good field of competitive R5 cars at the front and some nice variety down the field, including cars dating back many years.   You can see a mixture of both in my photos from  the fourth special stage on Sunday 12th December and from the Parc Fermé the day before.    Run on minor public roads around the Médoc peninsula and its world famous Bordeaux vineyards, the rally has been centred around the town of Lesparre-Médoc for a number of years, and traditionally is one of the last events on the calendar, and a welcome excuse to avoid Christmas markets!  Last year it was cancelled because of Covid so this year's event was eagerly anticipated.  The Sunday when I attended the special stage was a warm day that stayed dry in the morning, even if it was rather grey most of the time.   Later in the day it rained so the competitors got a mixture of wet and dry driving and also day and night driving.  I certainly enjoyed my morning watching and taking pictures at this regional asphalt rally and hope you enjoyed that I shared some of it with you.  

Like all regional rallyes in France the total distance of the timed special stages of the Rallye du Médoc is limited to just 40km, but it still gives the competitors and spectators a good weekend with nighttime stages on the Saturday evening and daytime stages on Sunday morning and early afternoon.

For those motor sport historians who may recognise the name of Lesparre-Médoc but can't quite remember why, there was a F2 race run around the public roads of this town in 1950.  It was a triangular shaped circuit and the race was won by André Simon in a Simca-Gordini.  Raymond Sommer and Jean Behra also competed that day, May 5th 1950. 

For the VHC/VHRS cars, click here.

The winner of the rally was this Volkswagen Polo R5 of Jean-Sébastien Vigion and Adrien Labrousse.

The winner of the rally, Jean-Sébastien Vigion is a 38 year old French driver who first won the Rallye du Médoc back in 2007.   As well as being a rally champion he has also had success in rallycross.

Runner-up was this Citroën DS3 R5 with the team of Julien Marty and Michaël Dussillos. 

The third team on the podium were Luc Giroux and Julien Loup in a Citroën C3 R5.

An unusual car to see on a rally was this Aston Martin Vantage.  Here it is in the Parc Fermé.  Unfortunately it left the road on the first special stage, so no chance to see it on ES4.

The Peugeot 106 S16 of Vigier/Lauseille.

Peugeot 205 Rallye on ES4 driven by Fragnaud/Brun.

The Subaru Impreza of Guerin/Lecomte

Headlights blazing on the Renault Clio of Buran/Gilet.

The BMW Z3 of Lasalle/Irigaray just before it broke down.

The Parc Fermé in Lesparre-Médoc with a Seat Ibiza in the foreground.

The Bezinauds in their BMW Compact.

Kicking  up the dust is the Renault Clio RS Line of Harnois and Pichon.  They won RC5.

Winner of the RC4 Group was the Renault Clio of Pion/Regal.

Winner of the RNat Group were the Larqeuys in this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X.

The rather impressive looking Porsche 997 GT3 RS 3.8 that unfortunately didn't finish the rally. 
However, it did made a nice noise!

The Subaru Impreza STI Prodrive of Remolins/Vernhez.

Borderie/Palombie in a  BMW 318 Ti Compact.

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.

The Peugeot 206 of Mulon/Lopes.

Another of the faster R5 cars, the Citroën C3 of the Brissiauds.

An electric rally car!  A Porsche Taycan turbo arrives to take part in the ENRS part of the rally.

6ème Rallye du Médoc VHC/VHRS 2021

 

The highlight on my morning at the Rallye du Médoc 2021 was seeing this Lancia Stratos.

I have been to the Rallye du Médoc on a number of occasions and as it is now a relatively local rally for me, I just had to go in 2021, especially as I have been to so few events this year due to the Covid restrictions.  I always love to see the VHC cars, so I got up relatively early to see them on the stage 4 between Vendays and Montalivet.  For once, I found a relatively good place to take photos on a rally, with the cars coming towards where I was standing at Pey du Haut.  Unfortunately, I arrived just too late to see Bernard Darniche, a famous French rally driver from the past, open the rally with Vanina Ickx.  But I was there to see the VHC cars who always seem to lead the way.  It was rather dark and grey with some lingering fog but seeing all the lovely Lancias more than made up for the bad weather.  I hope you enjoy the photos I took.

The winner of the 2021 Rallye du Médoc VHC was this Lancia Delta driven by Paille/Gaudin.  Here it is in Parc Fermé on Saturday afternoon.

The second placed VHC car was this Lancia Delta Intégrale with the team of Hayet/Boisson.

The third placed VHC, a Porsche 911 SC driven by Vicaire/François.

In fourth place was the Opel Ascona of the Porchers.

Fifth placed Peugeot 205 rallye of Charron/Huesca.

This Porsche 911SC of Chauvin/Leblanc finished sixth.

Seventh placed BMW 323i of the Longes.

Final finisher was another Lancia Delta Intégrale teamed by Suire/Ducourneau.

Unfortunately the Stratos retired on the final stage.   It was driven by Leroy-Fleuriot/Audibert.

VHRS

There was also a regularity rally for classic cars going on at the same time.   Here are a few seen in the Parc Fermé on Saturday afternoon.

VHRS Alpine Renault A110.

VHRS MGB.

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.

61ème Course de Côte du Mont Dore / Chambob-sur-Lac 2021, F2000 Touring Cars

 

The winner of F2000 was Christian Boullenger in this Renault Clio 2 RS.

My final post from the 2021 Course de Côte du Mont Dore features the F2000 Touring cars.  All 13 of the  cars that were classified are shown here.   A selection of pictures from the Saturday runs in the tricky damp conditions.  A variety of shots from near the top of the hillclimb.

Second in F2000 was Cedric Bouffeteau in a Honda Civic.

Third was Renault Clio 3 RS of Edouard Drouillat.

Fourth was Frédéric Pougnet in a Renault Clio Williams.

It is early in the morning as fifth placed Samuel Racat makes a climb in a Renault Clio 2 16s.

The sixth placed Citroen AX GTi of Nicolas Vuillemin.

Seventh placed Arnaud Clavel in a Peugeot 309 GTI 16s.

The Peugeot 205 GTI of Guillaume Bassin in eighth place.

In ninth place the Peugeot 205 GTI of Christopher Sabatier.

Tenth placed Alexandre Vallon in a Peugeot 206 S16.

David Savignat in a Peugeot 205 GTI.

The Citroen C2 of Aurore Dodille.

ohn 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.

The final F2000 car classified at Mont Dore was this Peugeot 206 CC driven by Laurence Benoist.

61ème Course de Côte du Mont Dore / Chambon-sur-Lac, Groupe A Touring Cars

Jean-Sébastien Fel in a Groupe A Peugeot 308 Cup towards the top of the climb on his way to ninth.

 Featured in this post from the 2021 Course de Côte du Mont Dore are the Group A Touring Cars.   These cars are the fastest touring cars on the hills of France.  The winning car achieved a time of 5 minutes 37 seconds which is not too far off the 5 minutes 13 seconds achieved by the exotic Audi R8 which won the GTTS group.   All the top ten in this Group are shown here with photos from the wet Saturday runs.

The winner of Groupe A was Stéphane Auriacombe in a Peugeot 308 Cup.  He was also 6th overall amongst all the Production based cars bearting many GTTS and GT cars.

Second in Groupe A was Jérôme Janny in a Seat Leon Supacopa Mk2.

Third in Groupe A was Stéphane Garcia in a Peugeot 308 Racing Cup.

Fourth was Jean-Pierre Pope in a Peugeot 308 Cup.

Nearing the top of Mont Dore is Manuel Brunet in a Peugeot 308 Cup.  He came 5th.

Geoffroy Bouhin splashes his way up the hill to sixth  in a Seat Leon Supacopa Mk2.

The 7th placed Seat Leon Supacopa Mk3 of Sarah Bernard.

The Seat Leon Supacopa Mk2 of Thierry Tierce.  He was 8th in the group.

The tenth placed Seat Leon Supacopa Mk2 of Nicolas Granier.

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.

The Nissan Almera of Michel Bineau.

The Renault Clio Cup of Jessy Schenk.

The Renault Clio Cup of Cyril Derre.