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| The winners of all four special stages were Julien Marty and Michaël Dussillos in this fast Citroën DS3 R5. However, they were later excluded from the results because they had removed their car from Parc Fermé too early. Here they are on the last stage ES4 Civrac. |
For me it is always good to end my motor sport year on a high note with a visit to the Rallye du Médoc. It is my nearest motor sport event as the crow flies but as I live on the other side of the Gironde estuary, getting there is another matter! This year it had just two stages, each run twice, making 4 stages in all.
This year the rally was rather wet but it didn't stop quite a few spectators enjoying the event. 117 cars started the main rally and 78 finished. This asphalt event was centered in Lesparre-Médoc with stages in Civrac and Ordonnac. I watched ES2 and ES4 at Civrac. The eventual top three were rather a surprise and different from previous years.
This post cover the modern rally cars. Posts on the older VHC and VHRS cars will follow.
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A couple of the top contenders in the Parc Fermé in Lesparre-Médoc on the afternoon before the rally.
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| As I waited for dawn and the first rally cars to appear, the sky was very red behind the church in Civrac. We were obviously in for some bad weather later in the day. |
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| The winners of the rally, Stéphane and Léa Pustelnik, in their Skoda Fabia R5 on ES2. |
They are a father and daughter team and this was their first win in this car and their first win since 2021. |
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| Second place went to another Skoda Fabia R5 driven by Patrice and Valérie Robert. This is them in the rain on ES4. |
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| Here they are earlier in the day on ES2 trying very hard and getting a little wide on a tight corner. |
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| It was getting very dark during ES2 and here the third placed Renault Clio R3 cuts through the gloom as it approaches a tight corner. It was driven by Aurélien Pion and Maëva Perrinaud. |
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| Fourth overall and winner of class R4 was Johann Hayet and Kevin Boisson in this Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X. |
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| A relatively rare French rally car from the nineties, this Hommell Berlinette Echappement finished the event but some way off the pace. However as the only GT10 car to finish, it won its group and class. it was driven by Philippe and Quentin Costeseque. |
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| The Porsche 996 GT3 leaves the road on ES2 but continues before eventual retirement. |
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Another car to end up in the ditch but continue was this Renault Clio Rally 5 of Sylvain and Ludovic Pina.
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| A Honda Integra Type-R driven by Sébastien Paille and Mickaël Gemon. |
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| A Peugeot 106 S16 has a moment. |
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| An Opel Kadett GT/E driven by Thierry Padilla and Aurélie Furlano did well to finish 43rd amongst the more modern cars. |
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| Another car, a Peugeot 106 Rallye, visits the ditch! |
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| The Renault Clio Rally 3 of Fabien and Antoine Senamaud that finished sixteenth. |
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| BMW 318 Ti Compact. |
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| This Peugeot 207 RC finished twentieth in the hands of Hervé Brouilliaud and Philippe Courtine. |
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.
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| A Peugeot 206 S16. |
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| A Renault 5 GT Turbo. |
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| An opposite locking BMW 318 Ti Compact that finished twelfth driven by Philippe Novotny and Michael Lafagne. |
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| The Citroen DS3 R5 of Julien Marty in the rain on ES4. |
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