Le Bouchon de Pons, 2024

Le Bouchons de Pons 2024 with a Renault Ondine at the head of the queue.

During the sixties and seventies in France, traffic jams on the way to your vacation destination were common place.  In Pons there was no bi-pass of the town centre (by the N137) until 1969 and thus "bouchons" or traffic jams were common there in the summer months.  Now they celebrate the nostalgia of these traffic jams by recreating them each year on the last Saturday in July!

We went to Pons for the fifth "Bouchon de Pons" this year and saw all the wonderful pre-1976 classic cars and people dressed up sixties and seventies style.  A great little event.

"Flower power" Citroën 2CV.

1965 MG Midget MkII.

Alfa Romeo 1600 Spyder.

Peugeot 204

Renault 4 complete with vacation luggage.

"Get me to the Church on time" Citroen 2CV.

Renault Frégate & trailer.

VW Camper Van win the Donjon de Pons in the background.

The Gendarme checking up on this Renault 17 TS.

Citroen DS Convertible.

Austin Healey 3000 MkIII

Renault R8 Major.

Peugeot van.

Peugeot Camper.

Oldsmobile Dynamic 88.

1967 Panhard 24BT, 850cc.

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 à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

Ford Anglia deluxe estate.

Pooch in a Peugeot.

The Pooch's Peugeot 204.

Motorised tricycle.

Porsche 914.

Renault Caravelle.

3ème Rallye Régional Val de Boutonne VHC - 2024

This Lancia Delta Integrale was leading the VHC rally early on but eventually retired.

 March 24th 2024 saw the 3rd running of the Rallye Régional Val de Boutonne and as in the previous editions it included a rally for VHC / Classic rally cars.  I watched two of the six stages (ES2 and ES3) which were near Lussant and Moragne. Blessed by relatively good weather after the recent rain, there were plenty of spectators at both stages I attended.   

The rally was based at the Cooperative Agricole at Tonnay-Boutonne.

All of the cars that competed on the VHC / Classic section of the rally are shown in this blogpost in the order that they finished.

The winners of the VHC rally were Bruno and Rémy Mainguet in the Alpine Renault A310 2700 VA.

Second and winner of their group were Romauld Hostein and thierry Brillaud in this Honda Civic.

This BMW 323i won the Classic section of the VHC rally and was third overall driven by Alain and Antoine Kieffer.

Fourth position overall went to this Peugeot 205 rallye driven by Benoît Charron and Romain Huesca.

Fifth position went to Anthony Lleu and Mathilde Lleu-Brossard in this Honda Civic Vtec. 

Sixth position and group winners were Anthony Raud and Cyril Lhomet in this Peugeot 205 GTi.

Seventh was this Opel Kadett GSI 16V of Eddy Allard and Bryan Derosier.

Eighth and group winner was this Talbot Sunbeam Lotus of Sébastien Sullam and Jean-Philippe Le Cam.

Ninth were Daniel and Enzo Dupont in this Peugeot 205 GTi.

Tenth was this Ford Sierra XR4i of Samuel Charron and Sylvie Dufau.

Eleventh overall was this BMW 323i of Christian and Céline Longe.

Twelfth was this Peugeot 205 GTi of Nicolas and jean-Claude Berard.

Thirteenth was this Ford Fiesta XR2i of Michael Robin and Thomas Rochefort.

Final classified finisher was this lovely Renault 5 Alpine GR2 of Jean-Luc Giraudeau and Johan Rateaud.

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 à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

This Porsche 911SC didn't finish.

This Alpine A310 didn't finish.

This Ford Sierra 4x4 didn't finish.

14eme Rallye National De Saintonge VHC, 2023

 

The Lancia Delta HF Intégrale of Carla Hayet and Laura Bohler unfortunately retired with mechanical issues before the fourth special stage.

The Rallye de Saintonge VHC 2023 was a round of the Coupe de France des Rallyes VHC.   Run towards the end of July 2023 it had a route of nearly 284km and it had 8 special stages which totalled nearly 130kms.  There were two special stages, each repeated four times.  The longest one started at Bussac-sur-Charente and I attended the first running on Saturday near the junction of the Route de Beauchall and the Chemin du Grand Fief.

There were 14 VHC runners and four classic runners, all of which can be seen below. However, it was a tough rally and only half the cars finished.   It was lovely to see three Lancia Deltas and a Ford Escort Mk1 but none of my favourites finished.

A report on the modern rally that followed the VHCs is coming soon.

Overall VHC winners were Romuald and Eva Hostein in this Honda Civic Vtec.  They also won this rally in 2022.

Second overall and winner of their Group and Class were Pierrick and Nathalie Chauvel in this Porsche 911 SC.

Third overall was this Porsche 911 Carrera 2 (964) crewed by Samuel Lostis and Baptiste Jeanneau.

Fourth overall were Daniel and Jordy Dupont in this Peugeot 205 GTi.

Winner of the Classic Group were Christophe and Céline Longe in this BMW 323i.  They had been runners up last year.

Second in the Classic Group was this Porsche 911 3L RS of Philippe Baudiniere and Maxime Vilmot.

Fifth of the VHC cars was this Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 crewed by Dominique and Hugo Tolmais.

Sixth and final finisher amongst the VHC cars were Nicolas and Jean-Claude Berard in this Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6.

Final finisher in the Classic Group was this Volkswagen GTi of Christophe Monnetreau and Bertrand Tourneux.

This BMW 323i did not finish.

This was one of a number of Lancias that did not finish - a Delta Integrale.

This Ford Escort Mk1 RS2000 did not finish.

This beautifully liveried Lancia Delta didn't finish either.  However, it was fastest on this first stage driven by Paul Paille and Johann Hayet.

Another non-finisher was this Ford Sierra Cosworth 4x4.

This Ford Sierra X4Ri also didn't finish.

This Peugeot 205 Rallye left the road and retired later on this first stage.

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 à condition de créditer le photographe, John Etherton, et ce blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com, et de fournir un lien vers cette page.

This Opel Kadett E GSi 16v also left the road on the first stage and retired.