38 ème Rallye Regional du Pays Avallonnais 2017

Tony Agasse, Subaru Impreza, Rallye du Pays Avallonnais 2017.  

For some people the first day of spring is the day they hear their first cuckoo of the year.  For me it is the day in March that I hear my first racing or rally engine at full chat.  Thus for me it is officially spring as today I attended my first motor sport event of the year,  The occasion was the regional rally of Avallon in the beautiful Burgundian countryside around that town.  The weather was rather wet and thus the drivers had some difficult conditions to contend with.  As well as being the 38th running of the rally it was the 4th time that they had a class for VHC historic rally cars.  A thoroughly enjoyable day despite the rain, so I hope you enjoy some of my pictures below.  All positions mentioned in the captions are after the first stage between Avallon and Magny on Saturday afternoon March 4th.

The Matra Murena of Eric Bailly, one of the VHC cars leaving Avallon to go the the 1st stage.

To find out more about the Matra Murena, click here.

The parc fermé in Avallon with all the cars waiting for the start,

The Skoda Fabia R5 of Laurent Lecki was third fastest on the first stage.

The sixth fastest car, the Renault Clio R3 of Alain Goussot passing through Meluzien on the 1st stage.

The ninth placed Peugeot 207 RC of Ghislain Barbier on the first stage.

The eleventh placed Subaru Impreza of Julien Sandona on the first stage between Avallon and Magny.

The fastest VHC car on the first stage was this Peugeot 205GTi of Dominique Dupuy.

A Peugeot 306 S16 on the first stage driven by Gérard Baudon.

The Renault Clio 16S of the Benards.

A Renault Clio Williams passing through Meluzien on the first stage.

Franck Bailly's Subaru Impreza roars past the first stage spectators.

The Peugeot 207 Rc of Gaylor Fourrey.

Some spectators start sing the Ban Bourguignon and other songs whilst waiting for the cars on the hill above Meluzien.

The Varlet's Renault Clio R3.

A yellow flag is waved as car has gone into a ditch a little further on.  This is the Mitsubishi Lancer of Eddy Berthelot.

Christophe Plinguier in a Subaru Impreza.

The Matra Murena goes by very slowly.

Cars line up for the start.

A Peugeot 206Rc ready for the night stages.

Ford Puma in the parc fermé.

For action from the Rallye du Medoc, click here.

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.

French Motor Sport and Classic Car Calendar Winter 2016 / 2017

Early morning photo of the 2015 Rallye du Medoc.

Not much to do at this time of year but here are a few French events to consider going to in the coming months.  Please check with the organiser's web site before travelling long distances.

2016, December 10th & 11th, Saturday & Sunday - Rallye du Medoc.   Pauillac. http://asacso.free.fr/crbst_8.html

2017, January 8th, Sunday.  Traversée de Paris Hivernale. Paris. http://vincennesenanciennes.com/blog/category/sorties/traversee-de-paris/

2017. January 27th, Friday, Monte Carlo Rallye Historique, Départ Reims. https://acm.mc/en/rallye-monte-carlo-historique/2017-edition-rmch/presentation-rmch/

2017, February 8th to 12th, Wednesday to Sunday, Salon Rétromobile, Paris.https://www.retromobile.com/

2017, February 25th, Saturday, VdeV Official test at Magny-Cours.http://www.vdev.fr/#

2017, February 25th & 26th, Saturday & Sunday, Rallye de la Cote Fleurie, Normandy.http://www.ecurie-cote-fleurie.fr/Accueil-CF-2017.191.html

2017, March 4th & 5th, Saturday & Sunday, Rallye du Pays Avallonnais, Burgundy.
2017, March 25th & 26th, Saturday & Sunday, Course de Cote de Lugny, Burgundy.
2017, March 26th, Sunday, Slalom de la Ferté Bernard, Near Le Mans.

A Simca finishes the Traversée de Paris in 2016 giving colour to a winter's day.

Click here to get the flavour of the 2015 Traversée de Paris.

Famous French rally driver Bob Neyret about to set of from Reims in his Citroen on the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique.

Click here to see coverage of the 2015 Monte Carlo Rallye Historique and what you might expect to see.

Exhibitors at last year's Retromobile.

Click here to get a flavour of the 2016 Retromobile exhibition.

2016 Ralle de la Cote Fleurie.

For picture from the 2016 Rallye de la Cote Fleurie, click here.

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.

Montée Historique de Beaune-St Romain 2016

A single seater takes the right hander on the D17e at St Romain.

In the early seventies there was a Course de Cote at Beaune-St Romain.  This year, for the first time, a non-timed Montée Historique was organised to commemorate it.  Held on Easter Sunday it was a nice event for me to spend an hour at, photographing the classic cars,  on my way back from Dijon-Prenois.  There were over 100 interesting vehicles taking part on this 3km hillclimb.  Here are a few of them.

A sports racing cars passes some of the famous Beaune vines.

An Alpine Renault A110

A Sunbeam Imp

A DB Panhard Monomill 850

A barquette climbs the course.

A 1959 Austin Healey 3000 Mk1

Renault 8 Gordini

A monoplace takes the first left hander on the climb out of St Romain.

An MG.

A 1972 Jidé

A 1987 Lancia Delta Integral in Martini colours

A Bugatti T37 

A Caterham Seven.

A 1964 René Bonnet Djet CRB1

A 1964 Volvo PV544

Not sure what this is!   It says M20 on the front.

A Renault powered barquette

A 1974 Fiat-Abarth X1/9 Prototype

A Ford Escort Mk1

1926 Bugatti T35B 

1972 Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF

1968 Saab 96 V4

Alfa Romeo 

VW Beetle (Coccinelle)

Mercedes

Simca Rallye

1968 Sunbeam Stiletto

1973 Ford Taunus 

I only spent 45 minutes at this event but enjoyed it and managed to rattle off numerous photos as usual.  Great variety of cars,  everything from a Hillman Imp to a Bugatti!  These Montée Historiques are a great way for classic car owners to have a good time whilst showing off their prized possessions in public.

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.

Some links for you:

If you like a variety of cars, visit my other blog site where we have a post on a different car each day.   Click here to visit Auto Vitesse.

Don't forget to like our Facebook page.

For more photos of classic cars or Montées Historiques click here or on the Classic Cars button at the top of the page.

The site of the organisers of this nice little event - Bourgogne Historic Racing.

The beautiful Burgundian village of St Romain near Beaune.