Tour Auto 2022, Compétition Group H-I (1972 - 1981)

The winning 1975 Ligier JS2 of Mr John of B / Le Commandeur on the EC8 Special Stage near Puisseguin.

My favourite group of cars on this year's Tour Auto was those of Groups H-I which are cars built from 1972 to 1981.   Forty one Group H-I cars started the rally and 24 of them finished.  Many different manufacturers were represented including Ferrari, Ligier, Alpine, Lancia, De Tomaso, Jidé, BMW, Ford and of course Porsche.   Seventeen of these cars are featured below in photos I took at the Circuit Val de Vienne and on a special stage at Puisseguin near Bordeaux.

The Tour Auto is a rally for cars of the type that competed in the original Tour de France Automobile between 1951 and 1981.  This year it started in Rambouillet and went down the western side of France to finish in Andorra.  It took five days and included special stages and circuit races.

1st.  Mr John of B / Le Commandeur, Ligier JS2 1975 (251)

Seen here at Val de Vienne, the Ligier JS2 dominated on the circuits and won at the Bugatti, Val de Vienne and Nogaro circuits.  With others suffering misfortunes, this was enough to ensure a win in Group H-I despite being slower than the faster GT and Touring Cars on the special stages.

Another view of the Ligier JS2.  This is a Cosworth DFV engined car such as raced at Le Mans in 1975.

2nd.  Florent JEAN / Yves JEAN, Porsche 911 SC Gr.IV 1981 (253)

One of the later cars in the event, this Porsche in seen here on EC8, one of the many stages where it was fastest.

The Jeans' Porsche at Val de Vienne where it finished third.

3rd.  Emmanuel BRIGAND / Yann ALBERT, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 1974 (262)

The Porsche on special stage EC8 near Ouisseguin.

Here the Porsche challenges the Ligier at Circuit Val de Vienne.

4th.  Grégory DRIOT / Quentin VALENTE-DELPLACE, Porsche 911 Carrera RSR 3.0 1977 (Replica) (281)

A beautiful car even if a replica.

The Porsche at Val de Vienne.

5th.  Rémi GUILLOT / Matthieu IZIDI, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 2.7 1973 (292)

Kicking up the dirt on EC8.

6th. Nicolas LEROY-FLEURIOT / Adrien AUDIBERT, BMW M1 Procar 1979 (272)

The impressive looking BMW M1 near Puisseguin on EC8.

At the circuit Val de Vienne.

7th.  Christian CHAMBORD / Stéphane BASCHIERA, Alpine A110 1800 Gr.V 1972 (260)

Difficult to imagine a Tour Auto without an Alpine Renault.

The Alpine on EC8.

8th.  Norbert FRADIN / Claire FRADIN, De Tomaso Pantera Gr. IV 1972 (265)

One of Two Panteras on the Tour Auto this year.

Here the Pantera is the meat in a sandwich between an Alpine A310 and a Ferrari Daytona.

9th.  Florent POIRIER / Sébastien VILLEROY, Porsche 911 Carrera RS 3.0 1975 (Replica) (267)

Another Porsche replica.

Here the Porsche replica is chasing down the second of the Panteras.

10th.  Martin MOURIES / Yves MOURIES, Ford Escort I RS 2000 1973 (238)

The Escorts were  real challengers but this was the only one to finish in the top ten.

The Escort at Val de Vienne.

Other notable competitors:

Johan ALLAGNON / Joanna BOUQUILLON in their 1973 Jidé 1600 come over the hump but understeered off the corner and through the ditch.  They continued on and finished fourteenth.

Philippe LEFAURE / Jean CHENEBEAU in their 1973 Volkswagen 1303 S "Beetle" finished thirteenth beating all the Ferraris in the group!

First of the Ferraris, in sixteenth place was that of Yann ROBIN / Vincent ROBIN. It is a 1981 Ferrari 308 Gr.IV Michelotto.

My favourite Ferrari on the Tour Auto was this 1975 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Competizione of Alexander RITTWEGER / Sam HANCOCK.   It finished 23rd.

A real contender on the first two days was this 1975 Ford Escort I RS 1600 of Emile BREITTMAYER / Alexis THOMAS.

Seeing a 1975 Lancia Stratos Gr. IV always makes my day but this one retired on day 3.

Special mention:

The team that really challenged for the win this group but who retired on the last day were Kevin JONES / Lee JONES in their 1972 Ford Escort I RS 1600.  A fantastic performance!

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.

The Ligier leads a group at Val de Vienne on the warm-up lap.

Tour Auto 2022, Compétition Group G (1966 - 1971)

 

The Group G winning 1971 Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Gr.IV of Jérémy LANCKSWEERT and Christophe VAN RIET on EC8 near Puisseguin.  Lovely to see a Ferrari Daytona win this year as fifty years ago Jean-Claude Andruet / "Biche" won the Tour de France Automobile in one of these cars.

In the Tour Auto, the Competition Group G cars are those models that were built from 1966 to 1971.   This year, one of the models being celebrated was the Ferrari 365 GTB/4 which got the nickname Daytona because Ferrari scored a 1-2-3 finish in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1967 and this was the next new Ferrari produced after that.  The Ferrari Daytona achieved its own Daytona success when it finished second overall and won its class in 1973, thus reinforcing the name.   In the original Tour de France Automobile, two Charles Pozzi entered Ferrari 365 GTB/4s finished first and second in the 1972 running of the event.  Thus it was very pleasing to see a very competitive Ferrari Daytona compete in this year's Tour Auto and actually win  Group G.  To win, it had to beat a number of Porsches, Alfa Romeos, BMWs, Lancias and a Chevrolet Camaro.  Not to mention of course the Ford GT40 of Tour Auto regular Philippe Vandromme.  Ford GT40s started in the original events of 1969 and 1970 but didn't finish, although since the revival in the form of the Tour Auto they have been very successful.

Nineteen Group G cars started this year's Tour Auto and seventeen finished.  Over a dozen of them can be seen in the pictures I took below.  The pictures were taken on days 2 and 3 of the five day rally down the west of France to Andorra.

The Top Ten in Competition Group G

1st.  Jérémy LANCKSWEERT / Christophe VAN RIET, Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Gr.IV 1971 (273)

Belgian drivers did well on this year's Tour Auto with Thierry Boutsen winning the VHC section and Jérémy Lancksweert winning Group G in this beautiful Ferrari Daytona.  here he is at the Circuit Val de Vienne.

Another view of the Daytona at Val de Vienne showing off its streamlined shape.  The car had a fast consistent run to win the Group.

2nd.  Urs BECK / Christina SCHAFFNER, Porsche 911 2,3L ST 1970 (276)

This Porsche came second but was giving away nearly 2 litres to the Ferrari.

The Porsche at Circuit Val de Vienne.

3rd.  Olivier GUITTENY / Erwhan CORDELET, Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm 1971 (279)

First of the Group G Touring Cars was this Alfa Romeo.  Here it is on EC8 in the vineyards of Puisseguin

The Alfa showing off its 'rivets' at Circuit Val de Vienne.

4th.  Claudio RODDARO / Adriano OSSOLA, Porsche 911 2,3L ST 1970 (263)

The fourth placed Porsche on the EC8 special stage on the way to Bordeaux.

At Circuit Val de Vienne.

5th.  Christophe JOUET / Jacques GUGUEN, Lancia Fulvia HF 1970 (182)

The fastest of the Lancia Fulvia HF was this example seen on special stage EC8.

The Lancia at Circuit Val de Vienne.

6th.  Philippe VANDROMME / Frederic VIVIER, Ford GT40 1969 (215)

Just coming into view is the wonderful 1969 Ford GT40 of Philippe Vandromme.

Here the GT40 leads a mixed group of Lotus, Porsches and an Alfa Romeo at Val de Vienne.

7th.  Didier VILLECHALANE / Jean-François DEMAY, Lancia Fulvia HF Speciale 1969 (181)

The Lancia Fulvia in classic works livery on EC8.

The Lancia exits "Trop-Tard" a corner at Val de Vienne.

8th.  Rémi GARUZ / Raymond HUZET, BMW 2800 CS 1971 (185)

The BMW at speed at Circuit Val de Vienne.

This big BMW looked quite unwield on special stages and circuit.

9th.  Christophe THIBOULT / Nicolas KAPLAN, Mini Cooper S 1275 1969 (193)

The fastest of the small capacity touring cars was this Mini Cooper, seen here on EC8.

A few seconds later it is cornering fast around a tight left hand curve.

10th.  Timm MEINRENKEN / Lara MEINRENKEN-SCHWIERING, Alfa Romeo 1750 GTAm 1968 (246)

This car was in contention until it suffered a long delay on ES8 after hitting a problem and bouncing over the ditch into the vineyard.

Other notable competitors

The 1967 Renault R8 Gordini of Emmanuel GALIVEL / Antoine CONAN.

The 1971 Chevrolet Camaro Z28 of Richard KOLLE / Matthieu MESSEAN

Alain CHARRIER / Alain GANDON in their 1971 BMW 2002 TI kick up the dust on EC8.

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.

The Ferrari Daytona leading some Group H-I cars in the Plateau 5 race at Val de Vienne.

Nice to see a real Ford GT40 on the roads of France.