500 Ferrari contre le cancer - Circuit Val de Vienne - 2022

 

Not a Ferrari, but the lovely Moynet LM75 throwing out flames on the after run.  One of my favourite shots of the weekend.   This Simca JRD powered car won the 2 litre sports car class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1975 driven by "les trois femmes", Michèle Mouton, Marianne Hoepfner and Christine Dacremont.

Sport and Collection have organised "500 Ferrari contre le cancer" since the nineties.  This was the 28th edition.  Up until this event they had raised more than five million euros to fight against cancer.  There are demonstrations from various cars on the track, plus this year a couple of HGPCA F1 races, a concours d'elegance, paddock displays, an airforce display and an opportunity to be driven around the track.

Val de Vienne in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of France has become the home for this event and as it is now just two hours drive away and the worst of the pandemic seems over, I decided to go this year.  Held over a three day weekend, I picked Friday as I imagined (correctly as it turned out) that it would be uncrowded.   I was looking forward to seeing some special cars that I perhaps hadn't seen before.  This year's themes were Alpine and Le Mans cars.

The day started out wet but apart from a brief shower stayed dry in the time I was at the track.

Below are a representation of cars at this years event.  Lots of other cars were present but these, in particular, excited me.  I expect there were some other treats on Saturday and Sunday but I certainly got my money's worth and contributed to a good cause in the process.

A sample of the very many Ferraris seen out on the track.

Ferrari F355 out on track early in the day.

Amother modern Ferrari but this one is in the famous colour scheme of the 1982 Tour de France winning Ferrari 308 GTB co-driven by Andruet and Biche.

The oldest Ferrari present was this 1951 Ferrari 212E Motto of Emmanuel Midy.

This was a very welcome addition to the meeting but had me puzzled for a while as it didn't quite look right for a Ferrari P3 or P4.  It was apparently built in 1967 by the Cegga brothers from a Cooper chassis, a Ferrari 275 V12 engine and a body commissioned from Drogo (who also did the P4 body for Ferrari).  I believe it competed in some hillclimbs in the late sixties.  This Cegga-Ferrari SP-01 has been recently restored.   Wow!

Another car that puzzled me was this car that resembled a 1967 Lotus-Ford 49 F1 car.  However, it sounded completely wrong and it obviously wasn't powered by a Cosworth DFV.   The engine also looked too large.  I did like the open helmet and face mask.   It definitely warranted a trip to the paddock to find out more.  Apparently, it was built in 2014 by a company called Stuart T for Warner Brothers.  It is powered by a Ford 5.3L V8 through a Porsche 930 gearbox. It is for sale, if anyone is interested in a different track-day car.

Also evoking the same year, 1967, a Ford GT MkIV was on track.  I couldn't find the car in the paddock to ask any questions but I have a suspicion that the car is Chassis J-9 and one of the ten original MkIVs that Ford built and therefore not a replica.

Another picture of the 1967 Ford GT MkIV.  Another real Wow!

There were quite a few GT40s out on track including a 7 litre Mk2 (Black No.2) and one which was going too fast and ended in the gravel.   I think the Zitro 58 car is Chassis P/1033 the ex-Filipinetti car that raced in some events in 1969/70.

The car that really made my day was this 1968 Ford 3L P68.   I saw this car, on television, in the 1968 BOAC 500 and have waited 54 years to actually see it on track!   It made the day completely worthwhile and meant that Ford outnumbered Ferrari in terms of interesting sports racing cars at Val de Vienne!

In my imagination I am at South Bank corner in 1968.  Yes. I know the number should be 34, to be the McLaren/Spence car that led the race, but I just love this car even if it didn't get the results.  The 3L DFV sounded superb at Val de Vienne.  Great nostalgia.

Cegga Maserati Birdcage replica.

Jaguar C-Type.

Jaguar D-Type.

1960 Cooper Monaco - Climax.  

1965 AC Cobra 427.

There were a number of single seaters circulating but none were of great interest.   Mainly Formula Renault cars of various types and vintages.

There are many homages in France this year to Alpine as its founder, Jean Rédélé was born 100 years ago in 1922.   This is the well known A441 that Marie-Claude Beaumont and Leila Lombardi drove in 1975.

Alpine Renault A110 rally car.

I will cover the historic F1 cars competing in the two HGPCA races in a forthcoming post.  Suffice to say that there were two excellent fields of both pre-1961 front engined cars and pre-1966 mid-engined cars.

Also to be covered in a future post will the Concours d'Elegance of cars from the twenties through to the fifties.  Some of these cars were really exceptional.

A trip to the paddock at Val de Vienne proved very worthwhile and was worth the extra few euro.  My 10mm to 18mm lens came into its own.

A Ferrari enters a paddock full of Ferraris on Friday afternoon when the weather was beautiful.

A beautiful continuation model Aston Martin DBR1.  Not from the fifties but still rare.

Classic Ferraris for sale. I always had a soft spot for the Dino 246 GT.

The Alpine stand - A442 & A310.

The first Alpine, an A106, although this is a second generation model.

DB Monomill - an early fifties French single-seater.

The interior of the Moynet LM75.  

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.

Sthemo SM01 that competed at the 1983 Le Mans but did not finish.  It had a BMW engine.

Lenham Healey.  It was based on an AH 3000 to evoke the Silverstone model.  I think they were made in the early sixties.

To whet your appetite for my post on the HGPCA cars.