Course de Côte d'Irancy 2019

A Renault 8 Gordini waits for its turn whilst an A110 burns rubber.

Oh to be in Irancy in cherry blossom time! The Course de Cote d'Irancy is held during early spring in beautiful Burgundian vineyards and cherry orchards of Irancy, making it a must visit location on the French regional hillclimb circuit.  I was just able to make the Saturday practice session but thoroughly enjoyed my few hours there and was pleased with the great spectator access that this hill has.   I had visited the village before to taste their lovely light Pinot Noir red wines, but had not seen the hillclimb there.  I hope to return soon!

The photos below show many of the runners during the Saturday afternoon "essais".  The order of the photographs is from fastest to slowest based on their official Sunday runs.   Winner was Thomas Chavot who has graduated to the top class this year.  He smashed the hill record and was one of a number recording an under 45 second run for the 1.65km hill.

1st.  No.10.  Thomas Chavot,  Norma M20 FC

The winner was Thomas Chavot in this Norma.

2nd.  No.7.  Jordan Lamonica,  Norma M20FC

Second was Jordan Lamonica in another Norma.

3rd.  No.5.  Sébastien Godot,  Dallara F305

Sébastien Godot was first of the F3 cars.  Here he passes the famous Irancy cherry trees

4th.  No.8.  Frédéric Chatelain, Norma M20F

Frédéric Chatelain speeds his Norma past the blossom laiden cherry trees.

5th.  No.1.  Gaël Boisson,  Dallara F307

Gaël Boisson was in the second fastest F3 car.

6th.  No.14.  Eddy Perez,  Ligier PHC 4

Fastest non-Norma sportscar was the Ligier of Eddy perez.

Eddy Perez burns rubber at the start.

7th.  No.2.  Thierry Brenot,  Dallara F302

Thierry Brenot's Dallara F3 car heads up the course.

8th.  No.17.  Arthur Saint-Germain, Norma M20F

Arthur heads up the lower part of the course with the cherry trees and vines above him.

The Norma M20F waiting for the start of practice below the vineyards of irancy.

9th.  No.15.  Gianni Sonzogni,  Ligier JS49

Gianni shoots up the course in his Ligier.

Gianni waiting for his practice run.

10th.  No.11.  Jean-Pierre Bouchard,  Norma M20FC

Jean-Pierre has a run up the hill...

...whilst earlier the Norma is being prepared in the streets of Irancy.

11th.  No.4.  Alexandre Bole,  Tatuus FR2000

The Formula Renault car speeds up the road between the vines.

12th.  No.20.  Florian Serralta,  Speedcar GTR Evo 19

Florian attacks one of the early corners in his Speedcar.

Florian and his Speedcar in the paddock.

13th.  No.22.  Emilien Thomas, Tracking RC01

The Tracking just after the start.

The backstreets of irancy formed the paddock for the event.

14th.  No.9.  David Chatelain,  Norma M20F

The car David shared with his brother Frédéric.

15th.  No.18.  Marion Alexandre,  Ligier JS51

Marion speeds past the cherry trees.

Marion drives her Ligier through the streets after scrutineering.

16th.  No.12.  Stéphanie Tordeux,  Norma M20FC

Stéphanie's Norma heads down the roads of Irancy.

17th.  No.19.  Bernard Delorme,  Radical Pro Sport

The Radical being prepared in the village centre of irancy.

Bernard in his Radical speeds past the Pinot Noir vines,

18th.  No.21.  Alvin Durand,  Speedcar GTR

The Speedcar at the start.

19th.  No.66.  Rodolphe Simonnet,  Alpine A110

Rodolphe Simonnet's A110 climbs the course between the trees and vines.

22nd.  No.25.  David Derémond,  Renault Clio RS Cup

First of the Group A cars was this Renault.

23rd.  No.27.  Adrien Penot,  Renault Clio RS Cup

Second in Group A was another Renault.

24th.  No.67.  Pascal Simonot,  CG Simca

The beautiful CG of Pascal Simonot.

27th.  No.40.  Damien Kosk,  Renault Clio Williams

First F2000 car was this Renault Clio Williams.

31st.  No.69.  Bernard Deulniau,  Simca Rallye II

A lovely old Simca.

34th.  No.71.  Gilles Eynard, Honda Civic

A Honda Civic to add variety.

37th.  No.34.  Yohan Bardin,  Peugeot 206 Rc

A Peugeot makes its ascent.

38th.  No.55.  Jordan Gawel,  Volkswagen Golf GTi

A Volkswagen speeds past the Irancy cherry trees

39th.  No.68.  Alain Français, Alpine A110

Another wonderful Alpine A110.

47th.  No.6.  Mickaël Jarillot,  Dallara 389

A beautiful old F3 car.

48th.  No.24.  Léonard Lusardi,  Lotus Elise

A Lotus was winner in the GT class.

49th.  No.70.  Philippe Guerault,  Renault 8 Gordini

The Renault 8 Gordini and the cherry trees.

NC.  No.65.  David Thorin,  Scora Maxi

The Scora heads up the hill into a series of turns.

Later on the car begins to smoke a little.

NC.  No.3.  Reynald Aimé,  Dallara F302/4

This Dallara was oner of the first cars up the hill during practice.

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.

With the village of Irancy in the background, the Maxi Scora starts an ascent of the hill.

Course de Cote de Sancerre 2018

This was my sixth consecutive visit to the Course de Cote de Sancerre, an event which attracts a fantastic field for a regional hillclimb.  The champion for the last five years, Serge Thomas, was absent from the entry list so I knew I would see a different winner this year.  I thought it was going to be Gael Boisson in his Dallara F3 car, who was leading after two runs, but in the end a Norma Sports Racing car was the winner.  Well done to Jordan Lamonica for a fine third run. His father also got into the top eight in the same car.  Nobody got close to the lap record of Serge Thomas but it was good to see the top five separated by less than a second.

C'était ma sixième visite consécutive a la Course de Côte de Sancerre, un événement qui attire des concurrents de bonne qualité pour une course de côte régionale. Le champion des cinq dernières années, Serge Thomas, était absent de la liste des engagés, alors je savais que je verrais un autre gagnant cette année. Je pensais que ce serait Gaël Boisson dans sa Dallara F3, qui menait après deux manches, mais au final une voiture Norma était la gagnante. Bravo à Jordan Lamonica pour une belle troisième manche. Son père s'est également classé parmi les huit premiers dans la même voiture. Personne ne s'est approché du record pour l’épreuve de Serge Thomas mais c'était bien de voir les cinq premiers séparés par moins d'une seconde.

The Merlin MP23 of Daniel Nature

The event was run in good warm dry weather, even if the clouds opened for an absolute deluge a couple of hours later.  As usual the organization by Ecurie Jacques Coeur was superb and the event went along at a nice brisk pace.  Wonderful value for spectators at just six Euro to see such beautiful fast cars.  Great also to be so close to the action and for a number of the pictures I used my widest lens as I was just a car width away from the drivers cutting the apex at turn four.

L'événement s'est déroulé par temps chaud et sec, même si il a plu des cords quelques heures plus tard. Comme d'habitude, l'organisation de l'Ecurie Jacques Coeur était superbe et l'événement s'est déroulé à un bon rythme. Une valeur incroyable pour les spectateurs à seulement six euros pour voir ces belles voitures rapides. Génial aussi pour être si proche de l'action et pour un certain nombre de photos j'ai utilisé mon objectif ultra-large car j'étais juste à une petite distance des pilotes qui coupaient l'apex au virage quatre.

Bernard Deulniau - Simca Rallye 2

The pictures are from the first two timed runs and a walk around the paddock at lunchtime. Below are the top thirty fastest runners and all of the class winners.

Full results via Ecurie Jacques Coeur website

Les images proviennent des deux premières courses chronométrées et d'une promenade autour du paddock pendant le déjeuner.  Voici les trente pilotes plus rapide et tous les vainqueurs de classe.

1st – 21 – Jordan Lamonica – Norma M20FC (Overall Winner & First in Group & Class)

2^nd – 4 – Gael Boisson  - Dallara F307 (First in Group & Class)

3^rd – 25 – Jérome Martin – Norma M20F

4^th – 8 – Julien Bost – Dallara F302

5^th – 6 – Didier Brun – Dallara F302

6^th – 15 – Emmanuel Arbant – Norma F20FC

7^th – 19 – Alain Le Sausse – Norma M20FC

8th – 221 – Bruno Lamonica – Noma M20FC

9th – 18 – Frédéric Chatelain – Norma M20F

10^th – 7 – Franck Armion – Martini Mk79

11^th – 24 – Cédric Sonzogni – Proto

12^th – 10 – Olivier Gregoire – Dallara  (Class Winner)

13^th – 26 – Sébastien Pic – Norma M20F

14^th – 35 – David Jaumier – Silver Car 52F (Class Winner)

15^th – 22 – Eric Lecerf – Norma M20B

16^th – 17 – Stéphanie Tordeux – Norma M20FC

17^th – 1 – Arthur Fiard – Tatuus FR2000 (Class Winner)

18^th – 39 – Franck Gregoire – Speedcar GTR

19^th – 2 – Bruno Beauvoir – Tatuus FR2000

20^th – 38 – Tony Pasteau – Silver Car 52

21^st – 20 – Daniel Nature – Merlin MP23

22^nd - 120 – Anthony Dubois – Maxi Scora (First in Group & Class)

23^rd – 5 – Daniel Job – Dallara 301

24^th – 32 – Marion Alexandre – Ligier JS51 (Class Winner)

25^th – 238 – Pauline Berthon – Silver Car 52

26^th – 31 – Arthur Saint German – Merlin MP2000

27^th – 235 – Bernard Jaumier – Silver Car 52F

28^th – 16 – Jean-Pierre Picault – Barquette JPS FC

29th – 50 – Thomas Chavot – Seat Leon Supercopa (First in Group & Class)

30^th – 33 – Alain Lagneau – PHC Dinatmo

32^nd – 122 – Rodolphe Simon – Alpine A110 (Class Winner)

34^th – 133 – Didier Thorin – Marcadier Barzoi (Class Winner)

36^th – 54 – David Deremond – Renault Clio 4 – (Class Winner)

38^th – 102 – Fabrice Girault – Peugeot 205 – (First in Group & Class)

39^th – 43 – Florian Bartaire – Mitjet – (First in Group & Class)

41^st – 63 – Gabriel Coste – Honda Civic Type R (Class Winner)

42^nd – 126 – Alain Brissebonnet – Talbot R2 (Class Winner)

44^th – 98 – Didier Rebois – Alpine A310 (Class Winner)

60^th – 77 – Patrick Behal – Renault Clio RS (First in Group & Class)

63^rd – 70 – Nicolas Buguellou – Renault Twingo RS (Class Winner)

66^th – 116 – Rachel Poittevin – Peugeot 106 XSI (Class Winner)

75^th – 45 – Claude Saint Germain – Caterham Evo  (First in Group & Class)

79^th – 83 – Bernard Sautereau – Honda Civic (Class Winner)

82^nd – 88 – Cédrik Thollon – Peugeot 106 Rallye (Class Winner)

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.

Philibert Michy - Renault Clio 3 Cup

Hillclimb cars don't normally have passengers!