2023 Circuit des Remparts - Angoulême

MGs in the paddock.

2023 was my first time watching practice and racing at the Circuits des Remparts in Angoulême (France).  I hope it won't be my last.  I didn't get a grandstand ticket but I was able to get good pictures of most of the cars during practice and in the paddock.  The afternoon got quite crowded and a grandstand seat would have been useful - next year perhaps.   It is certainly a lovely revival event - events took place on exactly the same circuit in 1939 and from 1947 to 1951 - and the circuit is really unique.  The whole town has a great atmosphere on the Sunday when both practice and racing take place.  Definitely should be on all historic racing fan's bucket list.

The 1.28 Km circuit.  This is just 0.8 miles, so a very short circuit that includes three hairpin bends in quick succession.  The circuit is entirely in the town so a true street circuit.

A view of the second of the three hairpins.  Very tight!

I have done a blogpost on all of the plateau (grids) that were at the 2023 Circuit des Remparts.  Click on any you want to see more of below:

My favourite blogpost from Angoulême was the one on the Bugatti race with lots of pictures of the cars and drivers that took place including this lone Delage,   Click here for the Bugatti pictures.

A favourite memory from my day at the Circuit des Remparts is of rally driver François Delecour throwing a MkII Ford Escort around to win the seventies GT and touring race.  Click here for more pictures of these cars.

Angoulême was celebrating the seventy years of the the first Lancia Stratos.  These cars are always a pleasure to see and Bernard Darniche was on hand as well.  Click here for more pictures of the Lancia Stratos.

Always incredible to see how fast the pre-war Austin Sevens are and they really suit this short tight twisty circuit.  Click here for more of the small capacity pre-war cars.

The grid celebrating Jean-Pierre Beltoise was for pre-1966 GT and Saloon cars.  Another very varied bunch of cars racing on this street circuit. Click here for more.

Great to see Jean-Pierre Jarier driving a Talbot and many more famous drivers were present as well.  Click here for more on the drivers

Frazer Nash and other pre war British cars have been a stalwart of racing at Angoulême for years.  Click here for more.

Lots of interesting cars including the 1938 Lenkin GP car (red).  Click here for more pictures and more about this car.

Angoulême was celbrating the 100th year of MG.  A lovely collection of thirties MGs had a race including this ex-Prince Bira example.

There is more to the Circuit des Remparts than just the races and demostrations with lots of classic cars and exhibitions around the town plus a couple of rallies on Saturday and a Concours d'Elegance on Friday evening.  Here are a few pictures of the atmosphere.

Ballot was a French marque that was also being celebrated at Angoulême.  This is a 1927 Ballot 2LTS Tourer Sport James Young.

A 1921 Ballot 2LS Chateau Toulon.

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.

An Amilcar in the town.

There were Bugattis galore.

2022 Le Mans Classic - Group C Racing

 

The sixth placed 1987 Jaguar XJR8 of Richard Meins leading the seventh placed 1990 Porsche 962C of Lars Erik Nielsen through the Esses.

Group C covered the period between 1982 and 1993.  For many of the fans, the race and the paddock covering this period at the Le Mans Classic is the highlight of their weekend.  Loud, fast and covering a period many of us remember.  What particularly made this year's race special was it being the 40th anniversary of the start of Group C racing and having seven Group C Jaguars present.  All of the Group C cars that raced at the 2022 Le Mans Classic are pictured in this blogpost:

The winning 1988 Jaguar XJR9 of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen at Tertre Rouge.

The  second placed 1991 Jaguar XJR-14 of Christophe d'Ansembourg.

The third placed 1990 Jaguar XJR-12 of Olivier Galant.

In fourth place was this 1990 Porsche 962C of Ivan Vercoutere and Ralf Kelleners.

Fifth place went to Erik Maris in this 1992 Peugeot 905 Evo 1 bis.

Eighth place went to Nicolas D'Ieteren in this 1990 Porsche 962C.

Shawn Lynn was ninth in this 1987 Jaguar XJR-9

This 1990 Spice SE89C driven by Eric De Seynes and Eric Van de Poele was tenth.

This 1988 Jaguar XJR-9 finished eleventh driven by James Thorpe and Claudio Cappelli.

One of my favourite Group C cars is this 1989 Aston Martin AMR1 which was driven by Alexandre Leroy into 12th position.

In thirteenth place was this 1989 Porsche 962C driven by Lukas Halusa.

This 1988 GKW 862-C2 came fourteenth driven by Massimo and Marco Guerra.

The 1988 Argo JM19 C of Marco Famagalli and Stephano Zerbi came fifteenth.

The unusual looking 1985 Gebhardt JC853 finished sixteenth driven by Stanley Dickens.

Seventeenth was the 1985 Toyota Tom's 85C driven by Masanori Sekiya and Kasuki Nakajima. Kasuki's father Satoru drove one of these at Le Mans in 1985.

Eighteenth was the 1988 Tiga GC288 of Vincent Neurrisse.

This 1987 Jaguar XJR-8 of Henry Pearman finished nineteenth.

Rounding out the top 20 was Max Von Braunmühl in this 1990 Porsche 962.

21st - 1991 Porsche 962C - Hans-Jörg Hübner and Nick Salewsky.

22nd - 1984 Sthemo SMC2 - Romain Belleteste and Christophe Gadais.

23rd - 1985 March 85G - Romain Rocher.

24th - 1988 Olmas GLT 200 - Bertrand Rouchaud and Benjamin Monnay.

25th - 1986 Tiga GT286 - Jack Fabby and Tim Macrow.

NC - 1990 Spice SE90C - Pierre-Loup Boch.

NC - 1993 Peugeot 905 Evo 1 Bis - David Hart.

NC - 1985 EMKA C84 - Douglas Titford and Trevor Reeves

NC - 1990 Spice SE90C - Tony Sinclair.

NC - 1983 Porsche 956 - Rainer Becker and Mike Wilds.

NC - 1990 Spice SE90P - Cal Meeker.

NC - 1990 Spice SE90C - Patrick D'Aubreby.

NC - 1989 Spice SE89C - Mike and Matthew Wrigley.

NC - 1990 Cheetah G606 - Eric Rickenbacher.

DNS - 1985 Ecosse C285 - Lionel Roch.

DNS - 1991 Gebhardt C91 -  Michael Lyons

One of the seven Jaguars races past as I look back from Tertre Rouge towards the Dunlop Bridge.

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.

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing and hearing the 1991 Le Mans winning Mazda 787B give a demonstration lap just before the Group C race.

A pair of Nissans in the paddock.  The 1990 Nissan RC90CP is about to be restored for historic racing having been acquired by Ascott Collection from the Nissan Heritage Collection. The RC90CK has similarly been acquired from Nissan by Ascott.  Hope to see them race again in the future.