7ème Course de Côte VHC de La Pommeraye, 2024

 

The fastest VHC car at La Pommeraye was this Reynard 903 driven by Pierre-Alain Bureau.

This was my first time at the Course de Côte de La Pommeraye, which is in the Loire Valley near Angers, which was celebrating its sixty years in 2024.  This is actually only the seventh time that the historic cars have run here.

Running after the modern production cars and before the modern sporting cars, the VHC cars (Véhicule Historique de Compétition) provided some nice variety.  This was a round of the Championnat de France de la Montagne VHC.

Classification was decided by the cumulative time of the best two runs made out of four.  Cars run in different groups and classes as there is a huge variety of types and ages amongst  the 15 or 16 vehicles competing.

I started my day at the first of the esses.  Here is an Alpine A110.

I then moved up to the main viewing area near the passarelle.  This is a Talbot Simca Rallye.

Second fastest VHC was this very quick Ford Escort RS1600 Mk1 driven by Alexandre Chamagne.

Third fastest VHC car was this Martini Mk30 (Formula Renault 1980) driven by Pierre Joly.

Fourth fastest VHC car was this Géri RB08 driven by Daniel Louis.

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Fifth fastest VHC was this beautiful Martini Mk15 (1975 Formula Renault) of Viviane Bonnardel.

Sixth fastest VHC was this Porsche 911 SC of Michel Rolland

Seventh fastest VHC car was this Lucchini SP90-Alfa Romeo driven by Christian Bouvier.

Eighth fastest was this Ford Cortina Lotus driven by Philippe Vernay.

Ninth fastest VHC car was this Simca Rallye II driven by Jean-Claude Brazey.

Tenth fastest was this beautiful Volkswagen Scirocco of Jean-Michel Godet.

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 Ford Fiesta Mk1.

A Jidé Type Original.

Renault R5 Alpine.

Tour Auto 2024, Regularity VHC

 

This 1958 MG A 1500 of Marc Jay and Etienne Bruet won the VHC Regularity part of the 2024 Tour Auto.  Here it is in Boutx in the Pyrenees.

This post covers the Tour Auto 2024 and the top ten VHC cars competing in the regulartity section of the rally.

The pictures were taken in Boutx in the Pyrenees or in Pau.

Second was this 1964 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 of Gérald D'Incau and Nicolas Pagano.

Third was this 1965 Porsche 911 2.0L of Martin H and Francisco Sucari, seen here descending the Pyrenees.

Fourth was this 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Lusso of Jean-Claude Bel and Eric Fischmeister.

Fifth was this 1953 Aston Martin DB2 Sports Saloon Coupé of Inés Allard and Caroline de Villaucourt.

Sixth was this 1965 Ferrari 275 GTB of Alejandro Oxenford and Jose Luis Celada.

Seventh was this 1964 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint Speciale 1600 of Bruno Menicucci and Bernard Imbert.

Eighth was this 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL of Dominique Poels and Stéphane Prat.

Ninth was this 1957 Maserati 200 SI of Tomas Hinrichsen and Solange Mayo.

Tenth was this 1958 Porsche 356 (A) 1600 Coupé of Jean-Francois Penillard and Philippe Goutard.

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.

Tour Auto 2024, Competition Group VHC

 

The winning 1962 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 of Emmanuel Brigand and Yann Albert.  Here they descend through the village of Bourpeuil in the Vienne.

This blogpost covers the top ten competitors in the Competition Group VHC of the 2024 Tour Auto.  These cars are 1965 and prior of a model type that competed in the original Tour de France Automobile.  AThe Tour auto is a long distance r5 day ally through France which this year started in Paris and ended in Biarritz.  I followed days 2, 3 and 4 from Gencay to Pau taking in the towns villages and countryside that the Tour auto passed through.

The second placed 1964 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 of Patrick and Alexandre Bonnardel in Gencay.

The third placed 1965 Shelby Cobra 289 of Frederic Wakeman and Patrick Blakeney-Edwards in Gencay.

The fourth placed 1962 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 of Laurent and Marion Desplaces.

The fifth placed 1962 Jaguar E-Type 3.8 of Jean-Marc and Sophie Merlin in Bourpeuil.

The sixth placed 1965 Porsche 911 2.0L in Gencay.

The seventh placed 1965 Porsche 911 2.0L of Rémi Terrail and Eric Zuccatti exits Martel in the Lot.

The eighth placed 1965 Porsche 911 2.0L of Steven Osborne and Chris Ward in Gencay.

The ninth placed 1964 Shelby Cobra 289 of Romain Belleteste and Christophe Gadais enter Gencay.

The tenth placed 1964 MG B of Benjamin Engrand and Théo Masurel enter L'Isle Jourdain in the Vienne.

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.

The MG B exits Boutx in the Pyrenees.

3ème Rallye Régional Val de Boutonne VHC - 2024

This Lancia Delta Integrale was leading the VHC rally early on but eventually retired.

 March 24th 2024 saw the 3rd running of the Rallye Régional Val de Boutonne and as in the previous editions it included a rally for VHC / Classic rally cars.  I watched two of the six stages (ES2 and ES3) which were near Lussant and Moragne. Blessed by relatively good weather after the recent rain, there were plenty of spectators at both stages I attended.   

The rally was based at the Cooperative Agricole at Tonnay-Boutonne.

All of the cars that competed on the VHC / Classic section of the rally are shown in this blogpost in the order that they finished.

The winners of the VHC rally were Bruno and Rémy Mainguet in the Alpine Renault A310 2700 VA.

Second and winner of their group were Romauld Hostein and thierry Brillaud in this Honda Civic.

This BMW 323i won the Classic section of the VHC rally and was third overall driven by Alain and Antoine Kieffer.

Fourth position overall went to this Peugeot 205 rallye driven by Benoît Charron and Romain Huesca.

Fifth position went to Anthony Lleu and Mathilde Lleu-Brossard in this Honda Civic Vtec. 

Sixth position and group winners were Anthony Raud and Cyril Lhomet in this Peugeot 205 GTi.

Seventh was this Opel Kadett GSI 16V of Eddy Allard and Bryan Derosier.

Eighth and group winner was this Talbot Sunbeam Lotus of Sébastien Sullam and Jean-Philippe Le Cam.

Ninth were Daniel and Enzo Dupont in this Peugeot 205 GTi.

Tenth was this Ford Sierra XR4i of Samuel Charron and Sylvie Dufau.

Eleventh overall was this BMW 323i of Christian and Céline Longe.

Twelfth was this Peugeot 205 GTi of Nicolas and jean-Claude Berard.

Thirteenth was this Ford Fiesta XR2i of Michael Robin and Thomas Rochefort.

Final classified finisher was this lovely Renault 5 Alpine GR2 of Jean-Luc Giraudeau and Johan Rateaud.

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.

This Porsche 911SC didn't finish.

This Alpine A310 didn't finish.

This Ford Sierra 4x4 didn't finish.