Course de Côte de Tancarville 2015

The Course de Côte de Tancarville was run this year on 12th July.  I was there but this report will be quite short as I fell over and broke my camera soon after getting there!   C'est la vie!

BMW at the Tancarville hairpin

The Tancarville Hillclimb has been run since the late nineteen sixties and past winners include Jean-Pierre Jaussaud who won in 1973.  It is 1,500 metres long and its main feature is a tricky hairpin bend. Being both narrow and short it tends to favour the F3 cars over the Norma sports cars.

Bertrand Lasalle in a Dallara F300 Formula Three car

The unpredictable Normandy weather hit this years event and the track was wet when we arrived after a nice lunch with friends in Le Havre.  Thus many cars were tip toeing around the course and I wouldn't blame them as they are some steep drops if you make a mistake on the section after the hairpin.

Sebastien Dorien spins his Peugeot 205 at the hairpin in the tricky damp conditions...

.....but recovers and gets going again quickly

This is one of those wonderfully amateur events run on public roads that can only happen in France.   Very little security in places, we were asked for no admission fee, but a lovely event nonetheless.  Long may they continue to run it.

The drivers have a nice chat at the top of the course

A Citroen negotiates the dark section between the trees leading up to the hairpin

Wide angle view of the hairpin bend 

The section after the hairpin leading back into the dark wooded section leading to the finish

As I mentioned earlier, some drivers were being very cautious but some were really trying and giving us good entertainment.  These were mainly the modified touring cars and small sports cars.  I think it was Antoine Cordonnier in this Simca 1000 who was the luckiest of this brigade as he ended up in a ditch but was retrieved and got going again.

Arthur Saint Germain in a Norma M20

Dupont in a Porsche 996 Cup

Francois Prieur in his beautiful CG 1300, a Simca based sports car

Gerard Brianza in an Alpine Renault A110.  A110s have been running here since the seventies.

Olivier Compain in his Peugeot 309 GTi

Patrick Laine in a Peugeot 205

This Renault Rally Car was very entertainingly driven as a course car in the damp conditions...

....whilst other cars seemed to send some spectators to sleep!

Must't fall asleep for the Alpine Renaults!   This one in an A110 of Maxime Bertrand.

Touring Car heading up the Tancarville Hill

Jerome Debarre pushing his Dallara F305-Mercedes around at the top of the hill.

All in all a gloomy day with the weather and busting my calendar but made up with some nice company at lunchtime and some nice cars going up the Tancarville Hill.  In the end I got a few pictures so the blog wasn't that short!

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