5ème Rallye National de la Vienne VHC, 2022

 

The superb Talbot Sunbeam Lotus of Sébastien and Alain Berjot on ES3 breaking for the hairpin.

This rally was run over 9 special stages on Saturday 12th March 2022.  It was well organized by L’A.S.A. Poitou et l’Ecurie Chatellerault Poitou even if there were issues and delays caused by the modern cars leaving the road.

There were just eight starters for the VHC section of the 2022 Rallye National de la Vienna, of which four were Porsches. I saw them on three of the special stages and got a variety of shots using a variety of lenses - all of the VHC competitors are shown below.    The modern rally cars will feature in a future post (with a rather different group of photos).

VHC stands for Véhicule Historique de Compétition and they are classic and historic rally cars.  They compete on speed, just like the modern rally cars and in a number of different groups and classes.  I love seeing them rallying for both the variety and nostalgia.

The rally was centred around Châtellerault in the Vienne department of France but I took my photos at the three special stages as noted below:

ES1 -  Krys - Zone Public 1 - Leigné-les-Bois - The cars could be seen entering the village and then taking a very tight hairpin around a tree before taking a couple of right hand corners to exit the village.  A very popular place to watch the rally and thus I couldn't get a good shot of the hairpin itself.

ES3 - Karting Loisir 86 - Zone Public 8 - Monthoiron - The cars could be seen entering and taking a right hand corner (almost a hairpin) and then accelerating way.  This was another hugely popular place to watch the rally which made it difficult to get a good view.

ES5 - Regional Ascenseurs - Zone Public 4 - Pleumartin - A less popular spot where you could see the cars assembling for the stage and then accelerating way.  A good place to use my fixed length 135mm F2 lens.

I particularly enjoyed watching the Talbot Lotus Sunbeam as it was being driven aggressively and I have a soft sport for these cars having had a one day course on driving these on grass at a rally school many years ago.   Very nice to see a Lancia Beta Coupé and Opel Manta competing as well.  Strangely, I am rather cold towards the VHC Porsches even if I love the modern ones.

ES1 - Entering the village of Leigné-les-Bois

The Porsche 911 3.0L of Valère Jaudinaud and David Delabriere. 

Benoît Charron and Romain Huesca in their Peugeot 205 Rallye.

The Lancia Beta Coupé of Michel and Pascale Taillebuis.

ES1 - Taking the right hand corner in Leigné-les-Bois

Having rounded the hairpin, the Opel Manta of Jean-Philippe Le Cam and Sébastien Sullam head into the right-hander.

The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus was very fast through the village on ES1 crewed by Sébastien and Alain Berjot.  

ES3 - The Hairpin (Epingle)

The Lancia Beta Coupé of Michel and Pascale Taillebuis on ES3.

ES3 - Accelerating away from the hairpin

Benoît Charron and Romain Huesca in their Peugeot 205 Rallye.

ES5 - The start of the special stage

Immediately after lunch and the Talbot Sunbeam Lotus is leading the VHC field as it accelerates away from the start of ES5.

Samuel Lostis and Thierry Devaux accelerate away from ths start of ES5 in their Porsche 964 Carrera 2.  They were top finisher of the Group AJ/BJ/NJ cars and second overall of the  VHC cars.

The Lancia Beta Coupé of Michel and Pascale Taillebuis.

The Porsche 911 3.0L of Valère Jaudinaud and David Delabriere. They finished third overall and second in Group 4/5.

The Opel Manta of Jean-Philippe Le Cam and Sébastien Sullam

Philippe Baudiniere and Maxime Vilmot in their Porsche 911 RS.  They were the only finisher in the Classic Group.

ES5 -off into the distance

Joël Vicaire and Nicolas Jeudy in their Porsche 911S.  They won the VHC rally.

The Talbot Sunbeam Lotus of Sébastien and Alain Berjot. After being very competitive on some stages they finished fourth overall of the VHCs and won Group 2.

The Lancia Beta Coupé of Michel and Pascale Taillebuis.

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.

This rather nice Renault 5 Turbo was acting as the "0" car for the VHCs.