Rouen-les-AFX: Lotus

Monday, 15 July 2024

28e Course de Côte régionale de Marquay, 2024

Fabrice Galla in his Osella JRB 21 speeds up the D6 towards Marquay to win again as he did last year.

The Course de Côte de Marquay is a French regional Hillclimb coumting towards the Coupe de France de la Montagne 2024 and is located not far from the tourist attraction of Sarlat la Caneda. This was the second time i had attended this hillclimb as it is one of four reasonably accessible from where I now live. It is the only hillclimb in the Dordogne department of France. It was free to attend and the crowds seemed high this year with most of them locals and a few mad hillclimb enthusiasts like myself. This year it was held on French National Day, July 14th in fine weather.

This year 46 cars were classified compared to 35 last year. Although there were more cars, the extra cars were at the less interesting end of the field.

I have been watching French hillclimbs since 2013 and this was the first I have been to one without a Norma competing. At least the top end sports cars were represented by Osella.

The top 17 classified cars and a few others are shown below in the order that they finished.

1st. No.1 Fabrice Gallo, Osella JRB 21.

Preparing the Osella

The Osella on its first run of the day as a family watch from the "safety" of their garden.

2nd. No.3 Nicolas Filiatre, Dallara F398 Evo 301. Only D/E car present.

The only Dallara F3 car present came second overall.

The Dallara at speed.

3rd. No.5 Gabriel Baillou, TracKing. Winner of the CM Group and Class.

Gabriel Baillou in the TracKing.

The "BMW DTM" style TracKing.

TracKing in the usual grassy paddock during the usual long French lunchbreak.

4th. No.9 Frédéric Rousseau, Speedcar GTR. Second of the CM cars.

The Speedcar GTR.

The Speedcar at speed!

Paddock scene.

5th. No.6 Didier Giminez, Fior. CNF class winner.

The unusual Fior.

Fior at speed in one of the wooded sections.

Fior entering the final corner.

6th. No.40 Kévin Jarousse, Renault Megane 3 RS. First of the production cars.

How nice to watch from your garden as the hillclimb races past!

The Renault at speed. This was the only production car to dip below the 1 minute mark.

7th. No.4 Françis Segond, Merlin MP23.

Merlin MP23.

Accelerating out of a corner in the wooded section.

Merlin at speed.

8th. No.25 Eric Sauteur, Renault Clio. First in the FA Group.

Passing the house just before the finish line.

Renault 25.

9th. No.31 Jean-Louis Trayaud, Talbot Rallye 3. First in Class FC.

The officials have a nice view of the Talbot racing up the hill towards them.

Tranquil paddock scene.

10th. No.39 Cédric Bouffeteau, Honda Civic. First in Group F2000.

Honda Civic exiting the final bend.

11th. No.15 Yves Dubrana, BMW M3 E36.

BMW in the final turn.

BMW M3 at speed.

12th. No.42 Jean-Michel Douche, Renault Clio Ragnotti.

The Renault Clio climbs the course past the little house.

The others:

Christophe Mazet working on his 13th placed Renault Clio near the winning Osella.

The 14th placed Lotus Exige of Christophe Carrere.

The 15th placed Simca Rallye 2 of Philippe Quioc.

The 16th placed Renault Clio 5 RS Line crosses the finishing line on one of its runs.

This unusual Talex M3 was placed 17th.

Ford Sierra Cosworth races up the hill.

José-Marie Lara works on his Ford. The village church provides the backdrop.

Nissan 3650Z

Sadly the second Osella didn't complete a run. Here it comes up the hill very slowly.

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.

A Renault Super 5 GT Turbo locks up under breaking.

A Peugeot 106.

For photos of the 2023 Course de Côte de Marquay click here.

Wednesday, 29 May 2024

60ème Course de Côte de La Pommeraye - Voitures de Production - 2024

The winner in the Production car category and in the GTTS group was this BMW M3 E92 driven by Yannick Poinsignon.

La Pommeraye was celebrating it's 60th Course de Cote this year. I was there on Saturday for the practice and first timed run. The first cars off were the production cars that you see in this blogpost. This was the fifth round of the Championnats de France de la Montagne - the French hillclimb championship. The fastest cars in the category are the GTTS cars (various GT Cup, sSpercars, Silhouette Touring Cars and Mitjets). Yannick Poinsignon has been dominating this category this year in his BMW and looks likely to defend his 2023 title.

Also running in this category are the groups A, FA, N, FN, F2000 and the crowd pleasing FC cars (old Simcas etc). Examples of all the categories are shown below.

A Citroen Saxo Kit Car making its ascent.

The first car to leave the start line on the first timed run of the 60th running of the Course de Côte de La Pommeraye was this Renault Megane.

The rest of the top ten and winners of their group can be seen below, along with a number of the other runners.:

Second was Anthony Dubois in this Alpine A110 Evo. He drove well on Saturday and was fastest in practice.

Third was this Porsche 991 GT3 Cup of Jean-Francois Ganevat who also won the 2nd division.

Fourth was this Porsche 991 GT3 Cup driven by Jean-Marc Gandolfo.

Fifth production car and winner of Group A was this Seat Leon Supercopa Mk3 of Sébastien Lemaire.

Sixth production car and winner of Group FC was this wonderful Simca CG Turbo of Christophe Poinsignon

Seventh production car this Simca Rallye III of Romain Richardeau.

Eighth production car was this Seat Leon Supercopa Mk3 of Francis Dosieres.

Ninth production car was this Volvo Touring Cup TC10 of Julien Dupont.

Tenth production car and winner of the GT group was this Porsche 997 GT3 RS of Alexandre Garnier.

Twelfth production car and winner of the F2000 group was this Honda Civic EP3 Type R of Ferdinand Loton.

Thirteenth production car and winner of Group FN and the Ladies Cup was this BMW M3 E36 of Morane Cat Mackowiak.

Eighteenth production car and second in the GT group was this Alpine A110 Cup of Yann Durieux.

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.

The Renault RS01 of Philippe Schmitter seen here on the first practice run where he was fastest. However, he was later disqualified from the timed runs for not wearing his fireproof socks! Otherwise he would have been on the podium.