6ème Course de Côte d'Argenton-Bouglon, 2023

Jean-Marie Delage head up the hill towards the final corner in his Simca Rallye 2.

The red marks the route of the
Course de Côte.

The 19th August 2023 saw the sixth running of the Course de Côte de Argenton-Bouglon.   It was the third time I have attended the event.   Being in the Nouvelle Aquitaine region of France, it does not get huge fields but it is nevertheless a favourite little event.  The length of the climb is only 1,200 metres but is climbs up 75 metres in this distance which is an average slope of 6.25% which is rather steep.

Held on a Saturday in August, this year was particularly sunny and hot, which made it tough for the spectators like us to climb from the bottom of the hill to the top of the hill during the afternoon when there was little shade.

I was grateful of the company of Michael who accompanied me to a French hillclimb for the first time. We got there in time for three of the morning practice runs and the first three of the afternoon timed runs.

This regional event counted towards the local league and the Coupe de France de Montagne.  A particular feature this year was that over 10% of the runners were women and one of them finished on the podium.  I also enjoyed having a good sized FC Group of older cars.

It was no surprise that Fabrice Gallo won the event as he also won last year, in 2020 and 2018.  He didn't break his course record.  Also no surprise about second place as Romain Patacconi had finished in that position in 2022 as well.  This year 38 cars took part compared to 34 last year and 43 in 2021.

For pictures and a report on the 2022 event click here.

For pictures and a report on the 2021 event click here.

All of the runners that completed a timed run on Saturday afternoon are featured below in the order that they were classified.

The winner was Fabrice Gallo in this Norma M20 FC.  He was the only driver below 37 seconds for the 1.2 kilometres.  His best was 36.448 on his fourth run.

Second was another Norma M20FC driven by Romain Patacconi.

Preparation on Romain's Norma during the lunch break.

Third place on the podium went to Marie Cammares in this Tatuus Formula 4C.  She was the only person taking part in a single-seater this year.

The Cammares Tatuus team in the paddock.  She is an ex-rugby player who has been hillclimbing since 2015 and has been rather successful so far.

It was the first time at Argenton-Bouglon for Cédric Grosjean but he did quite well in his older Norma M20F and was fourth overall.

Fifth overall and very close in time to the third Norma was Frédéric Rousseau in this 1 litre motor cycle engined Speedcar GTR.  He was the final driver below 39 seconds.

Sixth overall was Didier Gimenez in this Fior F05.  He he is at the top of the hill in Bouglon after just passing the finishing line.

First of the Production Cars and seventh overall was Jérôme Sirgue in this nice sounding and fast Porsche 997 GT3 RS 3.8.

Eighth overall and winner of the FC Group was Jean-Louis Simorre in this fast Renault 5 Turbo.

Ninth overall and sharing the Porsche 997 GT3 RS 3.8 was Olivier Noël.

Final driver in the top ten and winner of Group A was Yves Dubrana in this BMW M3 E36.

Eleventh overall and winner of the GT Group was Michel Lamiscarre in this Porsche Cayman Cup.

Second of the GT cars by less than half a second was Christophe Carrere in this Lotus Exige Cup.

The Lotus Exige in the paddock.

Winner of the F2000 Group was this BMW 318 Compact driven by Julien Zambon.

Second in Group FC and first in class was this Talbot Rallye 3 driven by Jean-Louis Tayaud.

Claude Diaz comes over the brow in his Renault 11 Turbo.  He was second in the F2000 Group.

Second in Group A was Christophe Mazat in this Renault Clio 3 Cup.  

First in Group N was Michael Eguillon in this BMW M3 E36.

Ophelie Poitevin was the fastest lady production car driver in her Citroën Saxo VTS. 1/80th second exposure.

Third in Group FC was this Matra Bagheera driven by Florian Patacconi.

Third of the GT cars was Vincent Cadillac in this Porsche Cayman S.  Here he is in Bouglon just after the finish line.

Fourth in Group FC and second in class was Philippe Quioc in this Simca Rallye 2.

Philippe get help pushing the Simca in the paddock.

An unusual car to see on the hills is this Hyundai i20 RS rally car.  Driven by André Hiroguyen he came fourth in Group A.  

Third in the F2000 Group but winner of its class was this Peugeot 205 driven by Cyrille Chupin.

Jean-Marie Delage in his Simca Rallye 2 finished fourth in the F2000 Group.

Nathan Chupin finished fifth in the FC Group with this Simca Rallye 2.

This Citroën ZX 16v driven by Sébastien Dumas finished fifth in Group A.

Last of the Sports cars was this Funyo B4 driven by Gérard Gimenez.

The Funyo B4 and Didier and Gérard Gimenez during the lunch break.

Celia Debe finished 6th in Group A in her Renault Clio 3 Cup.

Jacques Lesaulnier (nicknamed Rambo) in his Renault Clio 3 Cup finished 7th in Group A.

Guy Philippe Patcacconi in the Matra Bagheera finished sixth in Group FC.

Pascal Fanget in this Peugeot 206 XS finished eighth in Group A.

Richard Nouvel in this Renault 5 GT Turbo finished fifth in Group 2000.

Alexandra Dupin in her Citroën Saxo VTS finished second in Group N.

René Baptiste in this Renault Clio 3 Cup finished ninth in Group A.

Jérôme Robert in this Peugeot 306 S16 finished 3rd in  Group N.

Jean-Louis Ghirardi in this Renault Clio RS finished tenth in Group A.

Franck Chaulet in this Citroën Saxo VTS was fourth of the Group N cars.

Final finisher was this Opel Astra OPC of Patrick Leveque.

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.

This Renault 4CV proto did a demo run during morning's practice.

This Formula Renault Martini Mk15 driven by Nicolas Delperie acted as the No.0 course car.

Another paddock shot.

4ème Course de Côte d'Argenton-Bouglon, 2021

Doing demo runs all day was this great little Honda engined Mini driven by Arnaud Crasset.  It, unfortunately, is not homologated for competition in France.

Organised by the Club Automobile Marmandais, this was the fourth running of this regional hillclimb and it took place on Saturday 21st August 2021.   The course runs for 1,200 metres and six turns with an average slope of about 8%,  first up the D106 and then for the longest part up the D147, between Argenton and Bouglon in the Lot et Garonne (47) department in the southwestern part of France.  A rather short course the action is frenetic as there is only a short gap in time between each car.  It was free for spectators to get in and there were about six well sign-posted areas for spectators to get an excellent view of the cars.   I found it very well organised, with an excellent commentary throughout  the day, and certainly hope I can come here again.  On the Sunday was a slalom up the same course (that I was unable to attend) so it makes for a good sporting weekend during the vacation if you are ever in the area.

The lower part of the course in Argenton with a Renault 5 GT Turbo starting its ascent.

This year, as there were in 2020, there were just over 40 participants with a lot of variety in the type of cars as you can see below.   The winner in 2020 and 2018, Fabrice Gallo, was not present, but there was an exciting battle for the win between the top three competitors.  For some of the competitors this was their first hillclimb and for others they were competing whilst visiting the region on vacation.   All in all a great day for fans of grass-root motor sport away from the armco and safety fencing of modern circuits!

1st - Sébastien Jacqmin - Norma M20 FC - No.5 - Overall winner

The winning Norma exits the penultimate corner in the morning practice.

Sébastien was only in second place after three runs but then was the only person to dip below 37 seconds to finally take then win.

2nd - Benoît Taviaux - Dallara F305 Opel - No.2 - Group winner

The fastest of the single-seaters on its first timed run.

Benoit provided a strong challenge all day but finally had to settle for second and thus was unable to repeat his 2019 victory. He was also runner up in Sunday's Slalom event.

3rd - Michael France - Dallara F304 - No.3 - Class winner

The final podium position went to this pretty Dallara F3 car.

This second Dallara also got below 38 seconds twice and was only 2 hundredths of a second off of second place.

4th - Fabrice Gallo - BRC B49 - No.14 - Class winner

This BRC was fastest of the motor-cycle engined sports cars.

5th - Frédéric Rousseau - Speedcar GTR - No.11

The fastest of the Speedcars passes a marshal as he ascends the hill.

6th - Marc-Antoine Blanchemain - Speedcar GTR - No,15

Another Speedcar.

7th - Alain Volbart - Speedcar GTR - No.16

8th - Didier Giminez - Fior F 05 - No.8

A car that I not seen before.  I believe the car has a 2 litre Honda engine and was built in Nogaro in around 2005 by Fabien Fior.

The spectators can get close to the cars.

9th - Jean-Louis Simorre - Renault 5 GT Turbo - No.72 - Group winner

10th - Florian Patacconi - Simca Rallye 2 - No.76 - Class winner

11th - Philippe Quioc - Simca Rallye 2 - No.79

12th - Nicolas Delpierre - Simca Rallye 2 - No.74

13th - Julien Zambon - Peugeot 306 - No.54 - Group winner

14th - Guy-Philippe Patacconi - Martini Mk69 - No.1 - Class winner

15th - Fabrice Ousset - Speedcar GTR - No.10

16th - Vincent Rannou - Renault Clio 2 Cup - No.24 - Class winner

17th - Alain Jauvat - Honda Civic VTEC - No.61 - Class winner

18th - Loîc Larquey - Renault Clio 3 RS - No.53 - Group winner

19th - Nicolas Ammeloot - Renault 11 Turbo - No.51

20th - Jose-Marie Lara - Ford Sierra Cosworth - No.20 - Class winner

Nostalgic to see a Ford Sierra Cosworth competing!   Their main successes were over thirty years ago.

A wider angled view of the penultimate corner.

21st - Tony Doimo - Renault Clio - No.52 

22nd - Ophélie Poitevin - Citroën Saxo VTS - No.30 - Fastest female competitor

Ophélie did well and beat the other three women racing up the hill despite not having the fastest car.

23rd - Romain Vassal - Mitjet 2L - No.18 -Group winner

These funny looking cars are often prese nt in French hillclimbs and compete in the GTTS category.

25th - Jean-Marie Delage - Simca Rallye 2 - No.66 - Class winner

26th - Guy Calbet - Porsche Cayman Cup - No.19 - Group winner

Top GT car present was this Porsche Cayman.

The marshals look on as this good looking Porsche speeds by.

28th -  Loïc Ammeloot -  Renault 11 Turbo - No.151

29th - Mickaël Mansencal - Renault Clio Williams - No.26

33rd - Bruno Guillon - Alfa Romeo 75 V6 - No.21 

34th - Francis Lagarrue - Renault 5 GT Turbo - No.35 - Class winner

35th - Jacques Lesaulnier - Renault Clio 3 Cup - No.25

38th - Marie Volbart - Speedcar GTR - No.116

40th - Patrick Leveque - Opel Astra OPC - No.42

41st - William Mercadier - Citroën Saxo VTS - No.59

The Citroën Saxo heads into the final curve near the top of the hill.

43rd - Christophe Bourgeon - Peugeot 106 GTi - No.33 - Class Winner

Final place of those classified went to this Peugeot.

NC - Christian Serre - Renault 5 GT Turbo - No.155

This Renault only appeared in the practice runs

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.

Another view of the demo run Mini.

The village of Bouglon at the top of the hill.