14ème Course de Côte du Mont-Dore / Chambon-sur-Lac, 2021, VHC

Fastest of the VHC cars was this Martini Mk36 driven by Frédéric Assenault.

I always look forward to seeing the great field of VHC cars they have at Mont Dore each year.  This year I was, of course, not disappointed and in addition I had the treacherous conditions that made some of the photographs a little different to normal.  VHC stands for Véhicules Historique de Compétition.  In theory cars from 1919 to 1990 can take part and they are arranged in various classes depending on the age, type and cubic capacity of the car.   There were about 18 VHC cars taking part and most can be seen below.    All the pictures were taken in the two wet practice sessions on Saturday.  On Sunday the sun decided to appear and the times came down considerably, but I was rather pleased to have been their on Saturday.

The Martini Mk36 in the wetter conditions later on Saturday.

Second fastest VHC car was this Martini Mk30 of Gilles Cursoux.

Third fastest VHC cars was Jean-Marc Debeaune in this Van Diemen RF82.

Fourth fastest VHC was Jean-Marie Almeras in the Porsche 935 Silhouette seen here about to overtake the slower Porsche 911C of Norbert Rieu in the very wet conditions of early Saturday afternoon.

Another Martini Mk36, this one driven by Jean-Marc Coster.

Bernard Penilla his Martini Mk57.

The Geri RB08 of Daniel Louis.  This is a late seventies two seater sports racing car.

Another Martini, this one a Mk15 driven by Michel Ritzenhaler.

The same car later in the day.

Class winning Viviane Bonnardel in her Volkswagen Scirocco heading a Simca Rallye 2 driven by Philippe Ginel.

Another class winner, the Chrysler Avenger 1500 of Malival Castelli.

A wet Renault 8 Gordini driven by Gérard Toral.

The Lancial Delta HF of Philippe Colin.

The Simca 1100 Ti of Francois Durat.

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 Jidé Type Original of Gabriel Lejeune.

Le Mans Classic 2016 - Plateau 6 - 1972 to 1981

The rolling start of the second race for Plateau 6 which features mainly cars from the seventies.  This is the famous Le Mans start-finish straight with the pits and grandstands.

This plateau represents Le Mans after the Porsche 917 era and before the Group C era.  This was the era when French cars did very well with three victories falling to Matra-Simca and a victory each to Renault Alpine and Rondeau.  Victories also fell to Porsche and Gulf-Mirage.  All of these marques were represented.  A number of famous drivers were also taking part including Henri Pescarolo, Alain Serpaggi, Jean Ragnotti, Eric Helary, Emmanuel Collard, Jochen Mass, Emanuele Pirro, John Fitzpatrick and Gijs van Lennep.

This is a little earlier with the three fastest cars coming from the pre-grid onto the main circuit.  A 1982 Porsche 936 leads a 1977 Lola T286 and a 1973 Gulf Mirage.  

1974 Gulf Mirage and 1978 Osella-BMW PA6 run together through the Ford Chicane.

A variety of cars led by a 1975 Chevron B31 BDG on the first lap.

A 1976 Sauber-BMW C5 executes a quick spin.

The twelfth place 1979 Porsche 935 K3 spits flames out of the exhaust on the over-run.

It was great to see Henri Pescarolo race again in the 1976 Inaltera-DFV.  He shared the car with Julien Beltoise the son of Jean-Pierre Beltoise.  In 1976 Henri and Jean-Pierre drove this car into eighth place and won their class in the 24 hours.

To find out more about the Inaltera, click here.

A 1975 Chevron B31 BDG pulls off an overtaking manoeuvre into the chicane.

The 1978 Renault Alpine A443 which was driven by Jean Ragnotti and Alain Serpaggi.

1969 Aston Martin DBS V8 that reminded us of Robin Hamilton's brave efforts at Le Mans.

1973 Ligier-Maserati JS2

1974 7 litre Dodge Charge.  A reminder of when NASCAR type cars came to Le Mans.

1975 Moynet LM75

To find out more about the Moynet LM75, click here.

1973 Gulf Mirage driven by Chris MacAllister.   This combination won the race in 2014 but was not so lucky this year.

1978 Rondeau M378 DFV

To find our more about the Rondeau M378, click here.

1979 Lola T298 BMW

The 1982 Porsche 936 won the race in the hands of Schumacher and Werner.

1976 Cheetah G601 overtakes a 1975 Datsun 240Z.

1974 Porsche 911 RSR 2.1 bumping over the kerbs.

Another flame-throwing 1979 Porsche 935.  

1979 Lancia Beta GrpV.

The end of the second race for this plateau.

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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.