Tour Auto 2022, Compétition Group H-I (1972 - 1981)

The winning 1975 Ligier JS2 of Mr John of B / Le Commandeur on the EC8 Special Stage near Puisseguin.

My favourite group of cars on this year's Tour Auto was those of Groups H-I which are cars built from 1972 to 1981.   Forty one Group H-I cars started the rally and 24 of them finished.  Many different manufacturers were represented including Ferrari, Ligier, Alpine, Lancia, De Tomaso, Jidé, BMW, Ford and of course Porsche.   Seventeen of these cars are featured below in photos I took at the Circuit Val de Vienne and on a special stage at Puisseguin near Bordeaux.

The Tour Auto is a rally for cars of the type that competed in the original Tour de France Automobile between 1951 and 1981.  This year it started in Rambouillet and went down the western side of France to finish in Andorra.  It took five days and included special stages and circuit races.

1st.  Mr John of B / Le Commandeur, Ligier JS2 1975 (251)

Seen here at Val de Vienne, the Ligier JS2 dominated on the circuits and won at the Bugatti, Val de Vienne and Nogaro circuits.  With others suffering misfortunes, this was enough to ensure a win in Group H-I despite being slower than the faster GT and Touring Cars on the special stages.

Another view of the Ligier JS2.  This is a Cosworth DFV engined car such as raced at Le Mans in 1975.

2nd.  Florent JEAN / Yves JEAN, Porsche 911 SC Gr.IV 1981 (253)

One of the later cars in the event, this Porsche in seen here on EC8, one of the many stages where it was fastest.

The Jeans' Porsche at Val de Vienne where it finished third.

3rd.  Emmanuel BRIGAND / Yann ALBERT, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 1974 (262)

The Porsche on special stage EC8 near Ouisseguin.

Here the Porsche challenges the Ligier at Circuit Val de Vienne.

4th.  Grégory DRIOT / Quentin VALENTE-DELPLACE, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 1977 (Replica) (281)

A beautiful car even if a replica.

The Porsche at Val de Vienne.

5th.  Rémi GUILLOT / Matthieu IZIDI, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 1973 (292)

Kicking up the dirt on EC8.

6th. Nicolas LEROY-FLEURIOT / Adrien AUDIBERT, BMW M1 Procar 1979 (272)

The impressive looking BMW M1 near Puisseguin on EC8.

At the circuit Val de Vienne.

7th.  Christian CHAMBORD / Stéphane BASCHIERA, Alpine A110 1800 Gr.V 1972 (260)

Difficult to imagine a Tour Auto without an Alpine Renault.

The Alpine on EC8.

8th.  Norbert FRADIN / Claire FRADIN, De Tomaso Pantera Gr. IV 1972 (265)

One of Two Panteras on the Tour Auto this year.

Here the Pantera is the meat in a sandwich between an Alpine A310 and a Ferrari Daytona.

9th.  Florent POIRIER / Sébastien VILLEROY, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0 1975 (Replica) (267)

Another Porsche replica.

Here the Porsche replica is chasing down the second of the Panteras.

10th.  Martin MOURIES / Yves MOURIES, Ford Escort I RS 2000 1973 (238)

The Escorts were  real challengers but this was the only one to finish in the top ten.

The Escort at Val de Vienne.

Other notable competitors:

Johan ALLAGNON / Joanna BOUQUILLON in their 1973 Jidé 1600 come over the hump but understeered off the corner and through the ditch.  They continued on and finished fourteenth.

Philippe LEFAURE / Jean CHENEBEAU in their 1973 Volkswagen 1303 S "Beetle" finished thirteenth beating all the Ferraris in the group!

First of the Ferraris, in sixteenth place was that of Yann ROBIN / Vincent ROBIN. It is a 1981 Ferrari 308 Gr.IV Michelotto.

My favourite Ferrari on the Tour Auto was this 1975 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Competizione of Alexander RITTWEGER / Sam HANCOCK.   It finished 23rd.

A real contender on the first two days was this 1975 Ford Escort I RS 1600 of Emile BREITTMAYER / Alexis THOMAS.

Seeing a 1975 Lancia Stratos Gr. IV always makes my day but this one retired on day 3.

Special mention:

The team that really challenged for the win this group but who retired on the last day were Kevin JONES / Lee JONES in their 1972 Ford Escort I RS 1600.  A fantastic performance!

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 Ligier leads a group at Val de Vienne on the warm-up lap.