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| The winner of this rally for the third time was Quentin Giordano in this Volkswagen Polo. Here he is on ES2 which he won. |
The 25th Rally of Epernay Vins de Champagne, held on the 2nd & 3rd April 2022, was a round of the French National Rally Championship, Division 2 (Championnat de France des Rallyes 2éme Division). It had a good field of 136 modern rally cars starting from Epernay but only 70 finished after two tough days of rallying around the small vineyard roads of this area where they grow the grapes that make the world's most famous and best sparkling wine.
Continue reading to find the pictures and story of the rally held over this early April weekend. There were 9 special stages on Saturday including three in the dark. On Sunday, a completely different six stages were held. It was a tarmac rally but a tough one in terms of terrain.
I was there to celebrate retiring from my day job after over 46 years of work. Motor sport photography is just a hobby but one that I enjoy because of the challenge. Helping me celebrate was a good friend, Gareth Rees, who I had not seen for the two years of Covid. He did a superb job of driving and navigating us to some good spots to take these photos. Undoubtedly, these were my best rally shots so far. Thanks Gareth!
This really is a good area to come and see a rally and there was a great atmosphere the whole weekend.
The older VHC Rally cars will feature in future post. However, below you can see some of my best shots of the modern cars. Although, I say modern cars, some of these cars are from the last century!
Before the rally we visited the Musée Automobile Reims and the old circuit. These will also feature in a future post.
The top twenty cars and some of the class winners further down the field:
1st. Quentin Giordano & Kévin Parent - Volkswagen Polo. No.1
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| Seen here on Sunday on ES11 near Venteuil are Quentin Giordano and Kévin Parent. They led the rally from start to finish and won 11 of the 15 special stages. |
2nd. Mickael Reydellet & Thomas Chauffray - Volkswagen Polo GTI. No.7 |
| Seen here on opposite lock coming out of a dusty right hander on ES2 are Mickael Reydellet and Thomas Chauffray in their Volkswagen Polo. They ran third for most of the rally but benefitted from Christophe Wilt's misfortune on the last stage. They did win ES12 and were in the top three times on the majority of the stages. |
3rd. Denis Millet & Romain Blondeau-Toiny - Volkswagen Polo. No.8
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| Denis Millet and Romain Blondeau-Toiny completed the Volkswagen Polo lockout of the podium. They had five stages where they had a top three time and ran consistently all day. Here they are on Sunday, negotating ES11. |
4th. Laurent Bayard & Arnaud Buysschaert - Skoda Fabia. No.10
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| In fourth place were Laurent Bayard and Arnaud Butsschaert. They left their best to last and were third fastest on the last stage. Here they are on ES2 near Oger. |
5th. Eddie Lemaitre & Anthony Hamard - Skoda Fabia. No.6
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| Seen yumping on ES5 near Le Mesnil-sur-Oger is the fifth placed Skoda of Eddie Lemaitre and Anthony Hamard. |
6th. Laurent Viana & Isabelle Galmiche - Citroën DS3 WRC. No.3
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| Accompanied by his famous navigator, Isabelle Galmiche, Laurent Viana is seen here heading for sixth overall in the Citroën DS3. They did win their Group and Class. Here they are on ES11 near Venteuil. |
7th. Christophe Wilt & Mélanie Grandjean - Volkswagen Polo. No.9
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| Christophe & Melanie seen grazing a hay bale in mid-yump. They were very fast and chased Giordano all day, but were perhaps a little close to the edge! They got a puncture and had to change a wheel on the last stage. That dropped them from the second place they had had all day, back to seventh. They did win three special stages but only came second on this one -ES5. |
8th. Yann Bozec & Sylvain Couchaud - Hyundai I20. No.12
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| In the only Hyundai to finish, Yann Bozec and Sylvain Couchard are closely watched by the spectators as they negotiate a tight left-hander on ES5. |
9th. Alain Vauthier & Stevie Nollet - Ford Fiesta. No.5
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| Second in their Group and Class and first of the Ford Fiestas, Alain Vauthier and Stevie Nollet leave the Epernay podium on Saturday morning. |
10th. Ludovic Jeudy & Nadine Margaine - Peugeot 205 GTI. No.21
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| Winners of the FRallyNat Group were Ludovic Jeudy and Nadine Margaine in this old Peugeot 205. He was one and a half minutes ahead of his nearest competitor in this group. Here they are on ES2. |
11th. Armando Pereira & Rémi Tutelaire - Ford Fiesta. No.2
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| Third in their class were Armando Pereira and Rémi Tutelaire. This was taken on ES2. |
12th. Jérôme Potard & Alice Genet - Renault Clio Ragnotti. No.20
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| Yumping in front of a flag of Normandy, is the Renault Clio Ragnotti that finished second in the FRallyNat group. This yump was on ES13 near Le Mesnil-le-Huttier. |
13th. Michel Bourgeois & Sylvie Bourgeois - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10. No.39
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On ES7, a Saturday evening stage, is the class winning Mitsubishi Lancer of the Bourgeois.
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14th. Julien Croquet & Valérie Thebault - Peugeot 106 S16. No.67
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| Running a little bit wide on ES11 is the FRC4 Group winner Julien Croquet. |
15th. Jean-Noël & Florian Bleuse - Mitsubishi Evo 9. No.43
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| The class winning Mitsubishi of Jean-Noël and Florian Bleuse kicking up the dust on ES2. |
16th. Samuel Salaun & Céline Fosse - Mitsubishi Evo 10. No.38
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| Seen on ES7 near Ay is another Mitsubishi. |
17th. Patrick Quersin & Jules Quersin - Mitsubishi Evo 10. No.40
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| The Quersin's Mitsubishi really attacking ES2. |
18th. Eddy Berthelot & Clément Bernard - Skoda Fabia. No.17
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| A Skoda Fabia on the ES7 night stage. |
19th. Anthony Leduc & Alexandre Desquiret - Mitsubishi Evo 10. No.33
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| Another class winning Mitsubishi on ES2. |
20th. Jérôme Janny & Clément Gutierrez - Renault Clio RS Line. No.102
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| Winner of the FRC5 Group was this Renault Clio of Jérôme Janny, seen here on ES11. |
22nd. Jessy Pertzing & Joyce Lefebvre - Peugeot 205. No.110
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| A dramatic shot of Jessy Pertzing getting to the top of the hill and making a sharp left. He won his class. This shot was taken on ES13. |
23rd. Damien Claudon & Hervé Faucher - Citroën DS3. No.48
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| A class winning Citroën DS3 on ES11 at the end of the very fast section along the D1 just as it turns onto the vineyard roads. |
27th. Allan Didierlaurent & Sophie Lallement - Citroën Saxo VTS. No.96
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| A class winning Citroën Saxo on ES13. |
56th. Patrick Flattot & Lucas Moreau - Peugeot 208 Rallye. No.46
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| A class winning Peugeot 208 at night on ES7. |
How our photo shoot of the rally unfolded:
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| Our rally started by taking a few photos at the Epernay Parc Fermé on Saturday morning. In the foreground is the Ford Fiesta of Vauthier & Nollet. |
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| We then saw the first twenty cars leave the Epernay podium at the start of the rally. It was the last we saw of this lovely Porsche 997 of Alain Colin and Eric Daguze as it broke down on ES2 before it got to where we were standing. |
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This Hyundai I20 didn't even make it to the end of the rally either. If you look carefully you can see it is beginning to snow in Epernay.
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| After leaving Epernay we headed for ES2. The second Porsche (the 991 of Yves and Lucie Saint Requier) was still going at this stage but noticeably slower than the fastest cars. The rough vineyard roads and sharp changes in gradient didn't seem to suit the two Porsches and neither finished. |
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| Also seen here on ES2 is the Subaru Impreza WRX that eventually finished 33rd. |
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| From the same spot, but pointing back down the ES2 stage, this is the Skoda Fabia of Eddy Bertherlot and Clément Bernard coming into view. |
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| After a while we moved on to another stage ES4 near Avize where we could see the cars speeding through the Champagne vineyards. This Subaru Impreza of Marcq & Robert finished 55th. |
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| From this viewpoint on ES4 we could also see the cars cornering hard right onto a straight section into the town. This is another Subaru Impreza, that of Araujo Soto Maior and Venturin. |
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| Whilst looking for a buvette to have a coffee and a bite to eat, we stumbled across this hairpin bend on ES2 and the tail end of the rally. This is the Peugeot 106 SI of Wetstein and Clement. |
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| We eventually found a buvette on ES5 near Le Mesnil-sur-Oger and this is where the cars first came into our view. This is a Peugeot 208 T16 of Blanc-Garin and Hinger. |
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| This spot on ES5 was excellent for seeing the cars take a yump in the middle of a corner. In flight here is the Subaru Impreza WRX STi of the Dujardins. They finished 35th. |
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| The Citroën C2 VTS of Montemont and Jacquot that finish 40th landing at the yump on ES5. |
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| Just exiting a corner on this stage (ES11) is the Peugeot 205 of Jessy Pertzing and Joyce Lefebvre. They finished 22nd. |
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| Between stages we popped back into Epernay for a drink and snack and to see some of the drivers and navigators. This is Ludovic Jeudy being interviwed. He had an excellent rally and finished tenth overall and won his group and class. |
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| Also being interviewed is Isabelle Galmiche who recently navigated Sébastien Loeb to victory in the Monte Carlo rally. On this rally she finished sixth. Lovely to see her in Epernay. |
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| For our final visit to the rally we saw another yump. This is Christophe Wilt and Mélanie Grandjean going light in their Volkswagen Polo. This was ES13 near Le Mesnil-le-Huttier. |
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| At the same place on ES13 was a tight left-hander including another change in gradient. This is the Peugeot 306 of Regnier and Bosse who finished 23rd overall. |
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.
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| After the rally we headed for the Mercier cellars in Epernay. They held a promotional rally for Renault 4CVs in their cellars in 1950. You might imagine that you can still see their skid marks. |
