Historic Tour - Val de Vienne - Sport Protos Cup - 2021

The Sports Proto Cup mainly caters for 3 litre Alfa Romeo engined cars from 1990 to 1994

I alway love seeing open cockpit sports prototype cars and this field of cars contained many good looking pre-1995 examples.  Most of the cars were "Coupe Alfa V6" cars from the early nineties with a sprinkling of cars from other series over the years.    There were also a couple of really historic seventies 2 litre sports cars from Lola and Grac.  The marque, Lucchini, was the one most represented and these cars were built in Italy.  Although the winner of the race was never really in doubt, there was a good tussle over second place and other positions further down the field.  These pictures and results were from the Saturday afternoon race.

First lap action with cars 5 and 7 tangling.

The winner of the race was Gianluigi Candiani in his 1994 Lucchini SP94 Alfa Romeo V6 12v 3L.

Second place went to the 1994 Lucchini SP94 Alfa Romeo V6 3L (No.12) of Stéphane Nguyen.

Third place went to Louis Kolly in this 1973 Lola T292-BMW 2L

In fourth place was Dominique Vulliez in this 1991 Bogani 91- Alfa V6 12v 3L (No.36).

Fifth place went to Pierre-Loup Boch in a 1993 Lucchini SP93-BMW 3L.

Sixth was this 1991 Merlin MP46 Alfa Romeo V6 12v 3L of Josserand De Murard.

In seventh place was this 1994 Norma M14 BMW 3L driven by Léo Columbini.

Eighth place went to a 1991 Spider 905 Martini Mk64 driven by Jean-Pierre Destombes.

In ninth place was Philippe Gandini in a 1994 Merlin MP94 Honda 1.6L.

Tenth place went to this 1990 Lucchini SP390 Alfa Romeo V5 24v 3L driven by Lionel Boch.

In eleventh place was this 1991 Lucchini SP91 Alfa Romeo V6 12v 3L.

Final classified finisher was this 1974 Grac MT20 JRD 2L driven by Bernard Garsou.

The following cars were all non-finishers:

The 1991 Epsilon Alfa Romeo V6 12v 3L of Francis Dougnac.

The pretty 1972 Grac MT14b BMW M10 of Bernard Levy.

The 1991 Merlin MP91 Alfa Romeo V6 12v 3L of Laurent Bayers.

This 1987 Arc MF15 Alfa Romeo Boxer didn't even finish the pace lap.

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 pace car lap at La Ferme.

The battle for third place.

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!