2015 Rallye Monte Carlo Historique Depart Reims

I hadn't actually been to the start of a rally since 1968 when I saw the start of the London to Sydney Marathon at the old Crystal Palace circuit.  As Reims is somewhere I love both because of the motor racing and champagne bubbly connections,  I decided to go and see the start of the Monte Carlo Rallye Historique from Reims this year.   The city of Reims does this rather well as they are proud of their motor racing heritage unlike some towns who seem to want to hide it.    The 30th January started off as a cold snowy day, rather typical Monte Carlo Rally conditions, but at the end of my three hour drive to the Reims-Gueux circuit it had improved but was still overcast and grey. 

Early mornng stop at the Reims-Gueux circuit, the venue where Mike Hawthorn won two of his Grand Prix victories.

I would return to the circuit later in the evening but first I wanted to go to the Parc des Expositions in Reims to see the Verifications Technique for the Rally cars.  There I was was hoping to get my first glimpse of the cars and some of the more famous drivers and co drivers, most of whom were starting from Reims this year with the exception of Fred Gallagher who was starting from Barcelona.

The cars this year were all of a type that had competed on the Monte Carlo Rally in its heyday from 1955 to 1980.

Brits Steve and Tony Graham prepare their 1972 Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF

More serious work going on under the Norwegian 1978 Porsche 930 Turbo

Michele Petit "Biche" puts the decals on her 1973 Alfa Romeo 2000 GTV.  She co-drove with Jean-Claude Andruet to win the 1973 Monte Carlo Rally in an Alpine Renault A110

Meanwhile other teams indulge in a typical French lunch

The 1964 Mini Cooper S of Alistair Vines and Willy Cave lines up for its technical check

British entered 1964 MGB of Robert Livingstone arrives for its verification Technique.

Two beautiful cars from the fifities - a 1950 Aston Martin DB2 and a 1959 Alfa Romeo Guiletta Sprint

Rally navigator since the fifties, Willy Cave who will turn 90 this week, standing beside his Mini Cooper

No shortage of Alpine Renaults who are celebrating their 60th birthday this year

French entered 1969 Opel GT of Eric and Mathieu Gnat

General view of the exhibition hall

French entered 1973 Ford Escort RS2000 of Jean-PierreDucroux and Guillaume Balloy

Belgian 1968 Fiat Moretti 850S

1962 Porsche 356SC of Jonathan and Christine Miles

1972 Datsun 240Z of David Ring and Peter Moss

After spending a good few hours here I was off into the centre of Reims and the Hotel de Ville where the cars were to gather for the start.  There would also be opportunities to take photos of the cars actually driving around reims.

A 1976 Triumph Dolomite Sprint arrives from Glasgow

The Australian crew that started from Glasgow in a 1979 Porsche 924 Turbo

A 1972 Peugeot 504TI 

A Danish entered 1971 Lancia Fulvia 1600HF

A Belgian entered 1979 Fiat X1/9 on its way to the start

A 1970 Renault 8 Gordini entered by a team from Norway

The all woman team of Catherine Labbe  and "Biche" in their Alfa.

1972 Alpine Renault A110 1300S

The 1966 MGB of David Pengilly and Mark Denham 

Didn't we see this Lancia Fulvia earlier

"Biche" admiring the Lancia Stratos

Citroen DS line up for the start

This French entered 1970 Trabant was rather late getting to the Forum

My third venue of the day was the Place du Forum in Reims where the cars would have a podium start before their long 12 hour 600km drive south to Puy en Velay.

At 19.00hrs the cars began to depart starting with Jean Ragnotti seen here on the left whilst being interviewed on the podium.   He won the Monte Carlo Rally for Renault back in 1981 in a Renault 5 Turbo.

Thus he was an appropriate driver to lead the field off in this 18th edition of the Rallye Montecarlo Historique.

Jean Ragnotti is first away on route for Monte Carlo in his Renault 12

The second driver off was last year's winners Jose Lareppe and David Lieven in their Opel Kadette GTE.

A Renault 17 Gordini driven by Christian Chambord being flagged away.  The young boy flagging them off will have some good memories of the event.

A 1979 Polish Zastava 1100 leaves the podium

A Belgian entered 1970 Porsche 914/6 gets away

Bob Neyret gets back into his 1966 Citroen DS21 after the podium interview.  He was a professional rally driver in the sixties and seventies who won and had a couple of other high finishes in the Rallye du Maroc

It was certainly the year of the Renault 12 Gordini - the engines of these cars powered the original Formula Renault cars

A Norwegian 1971 Porsche 911T 2.2 takes the flag 

After a while it gets a bit repetitive seeing each car leave the podium so off to see some other photo opportunities and then off to the Reims-Gueux circuit.

A BMW 2002 TI speeds through the streets of Reims on its way to Monaco

BMW 320 on its way to the first control point at the Reims Gueux circuit

Some cars such as this Norwegian entered Volvo 142S didn't get very far!

2015 was the first year where the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique had had a control by the restored pits at the old circuit of Reims Gueux.  Thus it was a must to visit there on my way out of Reims.  I first visited the old pits in 1970 which was shortly after the last race in 1969. For me it is always a special place to visit.   It was very dark by the time I arrived but I managed to take a few photos.

The rally cars speed by the old pits at the Reims-Gueux circuit

The first control point by the pits

A happy Citroen GS driver at the control point

Leaving the check point

Spectators packed the pits by the control point

1976 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 leaves the pits

Citroen CX 2400 GTI passes the empty stands

Alpine Renault A110 1300 races through the night

At this point I decided that perhaps it was rather too dark to take more pictures with my camera and I started the three hour journey back home.   This was a rather shorter drive than the rally drivers had in front of them.  They will have a tiring week ahead.  A former competitor in the rally was telling me the story over the weekend about how he had driven the event and qualified for the last day only to oversleep because he was so tired and missed the best stages over the Cols!   I wish better luck to this year's competitors.

Finally a few more pictures of cars that I saw during the day:

An all female crew and their very feminine looking 1969 Lancia Fulvia Zagato 1300

The Renault 12 of Alain Serpaggi, a French F3 champion in the early seventies.

Two Renault 16 TS (nos 16 & 18) parked next to the Renault 12 of Jean Ragnotti (No 1).  The car in the middle is that of Michel Leclere the single seater star of the early and mid seventies.  He was a F3 champion, a F2 winner and a Grand Prix driver but now drives for the Renault Classic team.

An event I might well do again another day.  If you are thinking of doing this in 2016 I hope this post gives you some idea of what you might see.  A great thing about an event like this is that it is free apart from your travel.  Well done to Reims and the Automobile Club de Monaco!

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