My Tour Auto 2024 - as told by some favourite cars and pictures

 

The car that I really wanted to see on this year's Tour Auto was this 1971 Ferrari 512M of "Mr John of B" and "Sibel".  Here it is in the pretty village of Floirac.

This blogpost is my story of following the 2024 Tour Auto for 3 days and includes pictures from most places I stopped and those of my favourite cars that didn't make the previous posts as they were not amongst the top ten finishers of their group.   I love the Tour Auto because of the variety of cars from the fifties, sixties and seventies that you get to see - nearly 300 cars in total.

This post really marks the ten years anniversary of this blog as the first event I really covered here was the 2014 Tour Auto.  Click here for that first post on the Tour Auto 2014.

I started following the Tour Auto on Day 2, Wednesday in Gencay.  Here I took pictures of most of the competition cars from different locations around the town.

Not so many Porsche 904s this year.  Here is the 1965 Porsche 904/6 Carrera GTS of "Son of B" and Antoine Gibert in Gencay.

The 1972 Ligier JS2 of Arnaud Haefelin and Pascal Mulet Querner in Gencay.

A Ligier JS2 with a team of drivers that included Gerard Larrousse won the Tour de France Automobile in 1974.

The 1981 Ferrari 308 GrIV Michelotto of Yann and Martin Robin in Gencay.

After Gencay I moved on to the Pont Saint-Syvain between Bourpeuil and l'Isle Jourdain in the Vienne not far from the Circuit Val de Vienne (which I decided to give a miss).

The 1970 BMW 2002 TI of Hugo de Sadeleer and Pascal Gruber on the Pont Saint-Sylvain.

The 1954 Porsche 356 (pre-A) 1500 S Coupé of Gilles and Marielle Couraudon descending through Bourpeuil to the Pont Saint-Sylvain.

The 1971 NSU 1200 TT of Ruggero Brunori and Marco Torlasco descending through Bourpeuil.

The 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL of Pascal and Alex Silio.

The 1978 Ferrari 308 GrIV Facetti of Arnaud Gauduel and Olivier Jollin.

It was now getting late and I still had a distance to go before my night stop in Brive-la-Gaillarde in the Corrèze department which would give me a head start next morning as the Tour Auto cars stopped in Limoges.  During the evening I discovered it was near impossible on my phone to work out where the next day's special stages were and how to access the spectator zones, so I decided to stick to seeing the cars on the road.

The next day I started taking pictures in Martel in the Lot department, my first stop during a long days drive to Carcassonne.

The 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce of Patrick Veyrat and Jean-Francois Vergeot in Martel.

After Martel I stopped a few time at various points on the road towards Floirac.

The 1955 Alfa Romeo 1900 Ti Super of Uwe and Anja Koenzen.

Porsche 904/6 GTS Carrera leads 1963 Lotus Elan 26R and Porsche 906.

Floirac in the Lot department was a very pretty old town and I saw many of the Group GHI competition cars pass through.

The 1966 Porsche 911 2.0L of Pascal Duhamel and Sébastien Crubile in Floirac.

The 1978 Ferrari 308 GrIV Facetti of Arnaud Gauduel and Olivier Jollin in Floirac.

After Floirac I drove a short distance to Carennac, another beautiful old town.

The 1972 Alpine A110 1800 Group 4 of Loïc Duval and Laurent Negrel in Carrenac.

The 1973 Jidé 1600 of Johan Allagnon and Johanna Bouquillon in Carrenac.

The 1970 Alpine A110 1800 Group 4 of Thierry and Tom Rogeon entering Carennac.

The 1975 Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600 of Christian Philippon and Nelly Monteaud in Carrenac.

The 1972 Porsche 910 of "Monfortino" and Mickael Auffrey in Carrenac.

Then i was back on the road for the long drive to Carcassonne, but stopped now and again to take more pictures.  Unfortunately, along with a number of other enthusiasts I stopped at the wrong place for an hour waiting for cars that never arrived!

The 1975 Opel Commodore GSE of Philippe Truffier and Daniel Josse.

The 1972 Ford Escort Mk1 RS1600 of Olivier and Joelle Lopez.

The 1971 Ferrari 512M of "Mr John of B" and "Sibel".

In the 1971 Tour de France Automobile, a Ferrari 512M driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille finished second behind the Matra 650 of Gerard Larrousse. 

The 1963 Jaguar E-Type Roadster 3.8 leads a De Tomaso Pantera and a BMW M1.

The 1971 Porsche 914/6 of Vincent Robin and Valentin Hasse-Clot.

The 1970 Alpine A110 1800 Group 4 of Thierry and Tom Rogeon.

After a night stop in Carcassonne, it was my intention on the Friday to concentrate on the regularity cars as they passed through the Pyrenees.  As I went down to breakfast, I saw they had already started to leave, so I had to take a quicker different route before I caught up with them in Boutx.

The 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB of Timothy and Sarah Ingram Hill exiting Boutx as they descend through the Pyrenees.

The 1965 Ford Cortina GT of Alain and Nicolas Netter in Boutx.

The 1958 Porsche 356 A 1600 Speedster of Régis and Hélène Mathieu in Boutx.

After Boutx, I took a detour to the old French GP circuit at Saint-Gaudens (a future blogpost).   Then it was on to my Friday night stop in Pau, to meet my wife where I took some more pictures from a bar over a glass of wine as the regularity cars arrived.   A very enjoyable 3 days!

The 1952 Jaguar C-Type of Hans-Martin and Shirin Schneeberger in Pau.

The 1954 Fiat 8V Zagato Coupé of Nicolas D'Ieteren and Frédéric de Vuyst in Pau.

The 1962 Vauxhall VX 4/90 of François Boudin and Jean-Pascal Marie in Pau.

The 1936 Bugatti T57 S of René Caron and Dominique Rossi in Pau.

The 1970 BSH Berlinette of Philippe Champeroux and Sébastien Adam in Pau.

The BSH Berlinette was a French kit car used in competitions and one was entered in the 1970 Tour de France Automobile but retired.  I believe it used Renault mechanicals mounted on  an artisan made chassis and bodywork.

The Parc Fermé in Pau.  It is the same place that they use as the paddock for the Pau GP.

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.

French Targa Florio!

Historic Tour - Val de Vienne - ASAVE Racing 65 & 75 - 2021

The classic Val de Vienne shot - the start of the ASAVE 65 & 75 race.

Part of the Historic Tour, as the French Historic Car Circuit Racing Championship is called, ASAVE racing has two groups of cars.  One is for GT and Touring Cars (the old Groups 1, 2 ,3 and 4) that were homologated prior to 1966.  The second group is for GT and Touring Cars from 1966 to 1975 and Sports prototypes until 1970. At each meeting they either have one 60 minute race or two 45 minute races.  Each race has a pit stop and thus two pilots can take part in each car.  The groups are further divided into classes.   

This type of racing seems to attract small but interesting fields and it was the case at Val de Vienne where there were only 13 cars but lots of interest for fans of historic sports and GT racing.  The Saturday ASAVE race that I saw was my first ever race at Val de Vienne and it lasted 45 minutes which gave me plenty of time to move around various vantage points.  Many thanks to the official who helped me find some particularly good shots.

The racing was not particularly close or exciting but just seeing Lolas, 910s, 240Zs, Corvettes and Mk1 Escorts driven fast makes my day.

The early leader was the 5.8 litre 1966 Lola T70 Mk2 Spyder.  Unfortunately it retired after 8 laps. It was driven by the team of David & De Murard and took fastest lap with a time 3 seconds faster than anyone else.

The winner was José Beltramelli in this 4.7 litre 1965 TVR Griffith 400.  He was running in ASAVE 65.

This fast TVR Griffith was always the likely winner after the Lola dropped out.

In second place was this 2.4 litre 1967 Porsche 910 driven by Sylvain Regnier.  It was the top ASAVE 75 runner.

Porsche 910 at Virage Le Ferme.

In third place was this 2.8 litre 1975 Datson 240Z driven by Valinho & Mathon.  it led one lap during the pitstops and was quite close to the Porsche 910 by the end of the race.

Fourth was this 2.0 litre 1975 Ford Escort RS1600 of Olivie Dusailly. 

The Ford Escort RS1600 looked quite spectacular at times.

Pierre-Yves Dauxerre was fifth in this 3.0 litre 1975 Porsche 911 SC

Porsche 911 SC speeding past two female marshals at Virage Trop Vite.

Porsche 911 SC.

Sixth was Antoine Benne in a 1.6 litre 1965 Lotus Elan. It led one lap during the pit stops.

This 3.8 litre 1963 Jaguar E-Type came seventh driven by Bernard Wilhelm.

The Jaguar E-Type.

Gaso & Bernard came eighth in this 1.6 litre 1964 Lotus Elan, just beating the Corvette.

This wonderfully growly 6.5 litre 1969 Chevrolet Corvette came ninth driven by the Excoffiers.

1969 Chevrolet Corvette.  It was running third at the start but then fell back to fourth and later to ninth.

Tenth was Alain Lagache in this 2..0 litre 1970 Porsche 914-6 GT.

Porsche 914-6.

This 1.9 litre 1963 MG B came eleventh driven by Romain Guerardelle and finished not far behind the Porsche 914-6.

1963 MG B.

Final finisher was Benjamin Dupuy in this 2 litre 1968 Ford Escort who ran at the back all race.

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.

Lola T70 about to lap an MG B.