Trofeo Nastro Rosso - Dix Mille Tours du Castellet 2017

Winner of the 2 Trofeo Nastro Rosso races was this 1965 Bizzarrini 5300 GT.

As I was splitting the weekend between the Dix Mille Tours at Paul Ricard and accompanying my wife around Cassis and the surrounding coastal villages, I missed the Trofeo Nastro Rosso. I might have planned it differently if I had known there were two Ferrari 250LMs racing!   Anyway, I saw them in the paddock.  The Trofeo Nastro Rosso is for cars with an Italian connection built pre-1966.  Normally they have either an Italian chassis or engine.  Not sure what the Aston Martin DB2 Vantage or Porsche 904 have as an Italian connection.  But with such beautiful cars who cares?

1965 Iso Grifo 5300

Clive Joy's 1964 Ferrari 250LM had a second and a fourth place to show for the weekend.

1962 Ferrari 259 GT Berlinetta.

1965 Iso Grifo A3/C

1961 Maserati Tipo 63

1960 Alfa Romeo Guilietta SZ and a 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB

1952 Aston Martin DB2 Vantage

For the Classic Endurance I cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Classic Endurance 2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Group C cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Heritage Touring Cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Euro F2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Trofeo Nastro Rosso cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

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.

Maserati 300S and Porsche 904 GTS are packed away onto the transporter after Sunday's race.

The rival attraction of Cassis.

Classic Endurance Racing 2 - Dix Mille Tours du Castellet 2017

A real pleasure to see Derek Bell driving this 1974 Alfa Romeo T33/TT12.  I seem to remember that he drove these Alfas in the 1975 season.

Continuing our coverage of the Dix Mille tours meeting.  The second field of Classic Endurance Racing cars was for the CER2 cars with prototypes from 1972 to 1981 and GT cars from 1975 to 1981.  Perhaps, not the most classic period for sports cars but one which nevertheless contained some beautiful and interesting cars.  It was great to see one of the top sports cars drivers of the period, Derek Bell, take part in the race. He was in an Alfa Romeo but it was the Cosworth DFV cars that dominated. The beautiful Mirage led from pole but dropped down the field with a puncture.  Then it was a question of which of the DFV powered TOJs or Lolas would take victory.

The winner of the CER2 race was Marc Devis in this 1978 TOJ SC303.

Second place went to Dominique Guenat in this 1976 Lola T286-DFV.

A 1975 Chevrolet Monza leads a group into the Courbe de Signes at the end of the Mistral straight.

This 1976 TOJ SC204-BMW really caught my eye in its beautiful gold Warsteiner livery.

The fourth placed 1975 Chevron B31BDG driven by Russel Büsst.

A 1978 Osella PA6 belching fire out of its exhaust.

1973 Gulf Mirage GR7 leading the winning TOJ.

Beautiful 1979 BMW M1

Two BMW M1s in the Double Droite du Beausset. The lead car is a 1989 Procar.

1973 Lola T292 

1972 Grac MT16

1976 Cheetah G601 

For more about the Cheetah G601, click here.

For the Classic Endurance I cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Classic Endurance 2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Group C cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Heritage Touring Cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Euro F2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Trofeo Nastro Rosso cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

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.

It was this beautiful 1973 Gulf mirage GR7 that was fastest in qualifying in the hands of Stuart Hall.

Classic Endurance Racing 1 - Dix Mille Tours du Castellet 2017

The amazing 1968 Howmet TX Gas Turbine. Here it leads a Chevron B16.

For me this race was such a pleasure as it included two Ferrari 512s, an Alfa Romeo T33/3 and best of all a Howmet Gas turbine.  I remember watching the 1968 BOAC 500 at Brands Hatch on television at the time and seeing the Howmet race until it crashed.  So it was a very pleasant surprise, after 49 years, to at last see it in the flesh , so to speak, and to race.  Again it didn't last the race but it was brilliant why it lasted.  The CER 1 category of Classic Endurance Racing is for prototypes from 1966 to 1971 and GT cars from 1966 to 1974; a really classic period for endurance racing.   The weather was bright but it wasn't easy taking photos due to the very strong Mistral wind.  At times i was nearly blown over with the force of the gusts.  Luckily I had my monopod to help steady the camera a little.  Enjoy the photos below of some of my favourite cars that took part.

For all you need to know about the Howmet TX click here.

A Lola T70 leads the amazing field around for the rolling start.

The second half of this large field with Ford GT40s, Chevron B8s and the Howmet TX.

This beautiful 1970 Ferrari 512M finished fourth in the hands of Carlos Monteverde and Gary Pearson.   A Chevron and a Lola follow at this stage although the Lola went on to win.

For all you want to know about the Ferrari 512M, click here.

The 1970 Ferrari 512S.

For all you want to know about the Ferrari 512S, click here.

Midfield variety - Ford GT40, De Tomaso Pantera, Chevron B16, Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 911 RSR and Porsche 910.

The Gérard Lopez/Dickie Meaden 1969 Lola T70 MkIIIB with a Ferrari 512S giving chase.

The winning 1970 Lola T212 FVC of Mark Percy.

Two 1970 Ferraris.  The 512S about to be lapped by the 512M.

A Ford GT40 chases an amazing battling group of endurance racing cars along the start finish straight.

The 1970 Ferrari 512S leads a 1965 Elva MkVIII.

The track became quite crowded at times.  Here a Porsche 911 RSR shares th corner with an Alfa Romeo T33/3 and a Chevrolet Corvette.

The second placed 1968 Lola T70 MkIII.

1968 Lola T70 MkIII laps a 1971 Chevrolet Corvette.   Tony Seiler came sixth in the Lola in its beautiful Ulf Norinder colours.

1970 Ferrari 512M.

1965 Ford GT40 driven by Grant Tromans and Dickie Meaden.

1967 Lola T70 MkIII Spyder.

1969 Alfa Romeo T33/3 fights out a challenge from the Elva.  Emmanuele Pirro was one of the drivers of this Alfa.

A close battle between a 1974 Porsche 911 RSR 3.0L and a 1971 Lola T212.

A real shame that the Howmet TX only lasted 3 laps.

For the Classic Endurance I cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Classic Endurance 2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Group C cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Heritage Touring Cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Euro F2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Trofeo Nastro Rosso cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

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.

Sixties Lola T70s in the paddock.

Work in the paddock on this 1968 Lola T70 MkIII.

A real shame that this Alfa Romeo T33/3 didn't start.

Again, this 1968 Alfa Romeo t33 "Daytona" graced the paddock but not the track.

Group C Racing - Dix Mille Tours du Castellet - 2017

The battle for the lead in race 2 between Kriton Lendoudis in his 1989 Mercedes Benz C11 and the 1990 Porsche 962C shared by Michel Lecourt and Raymond Narac.

By the time the second Group C race was ready to start on Sunday afternoon the Mistral wind was really blowing up a storm.  At times it was really difficult to hold the camera remotely still!   I was glad I had my monopod with me and that I had already taken pictures of the cars during Saturday's qualifying.  Paul Ricard is a nice track with good spectator access but the Mistral can be rather unpleasant and turns a pleasantly warm autumn day into a miserably cold one.   However, it was nice to see a brace of Mercedes Benz C11s in this race and a field of sixteen cars.  Below are the photos I took of the Group C cars over the whole weekend.

The Group C cars come round in formation for the rolling start of Race 2.

The winning 1989 Mercedes C11 being chased by the 1992 Spice that eventually retired.

The second placed 1990 Porsche 962C showing off the distinctive stripes of the Paul Ricard run-off areaqs.

The third placed 1990 Porsche 962C of Ivan Vercoutere and Ralf Kelleners.

The No.21 Porsche led for much of the race.  here it is chased by the next three cars, so very close racing.

There are trees and mountains near Paul Ricard.  It is not just striped run off areas.

In fourth place was this 1990 Mercedes Benz C11 driven by Roald Goethe and Stuart Halldd

Winner of class C2A and fifth overall was Laurent Fort in this 1988 Tiga GC288. 

The sixth placed 1989 Porsche 962 of Max Von Braunmuehl.

The second of the C2A class was this 1988 Spice SE88C of Frédéric Da Rocha.

Xavier Galant was third in the C2A class with this 1988 Tiga GC288

Group C cars entering the start finish straight.

Winner of class C1b was Christian Perrier in this 1985 March 85G

The battle for ninth place.

Rounding out the top ten was this 1990 Porsche 962C of Hans-Jörg Hübner and Wolfgang Destree.

Final Classified finisher was this 1988 Spice SE88C of Thomas Dozin.

Running at the back of the field was this distinctive 1982 Rondeau M382 driven by Hugo Mezaed.

Very fast and an early contender was this 1992 Spice SE92 Michiel Campagne and Allard Kalff.

It only completed 9 laps but it was nice to see this 1989 Tiga GC289 of Philippe Colançon.

Loved seeing this 1989 Cheetah G606 of Eric Richenbacher.

Really sad to this 1990 Porsche 962C expire at the end of the Mistral straight before even a lap was completed.

For the Classic Endurance I cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Classic Endurance 2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Group C cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Heritage Touring Cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Euro F2 cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

For the Trofeo Nastro Rosso cars at Paul Ricard, click here.

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.

Group C cars at the end of the Mistral straight.