Course de Côte Saint Pierre de Varengeville 2015

Saint Pierre de Varengeville is a small village in the woods a little north of Rouen.  Once a year they hold a regional hillclimb leading up the hill to Saint Pierre.  This year it was held on a sunny Sunday 19th April.  It was the fourteenth occasion that this Course de Côte had been run.  As with almost all French hillclimbs it follows the great tradition of racing on public roads.

The most popular section for viewing is around the hairpin.  Here Olivier Dumont is driving the BRC CM 05 evo.

After the first hairpin the road rises steeply to another.  Here Claude Laurent exits the hairpin in another BRC CM 05.

It was good to see a fellow Brit tackling the hill, John Page coming over regularly to France to speed up their hills in his ex-Gary Brabham F3 Ralt RT32.  I assume this is the car that Gary Brabham drove to four wins in the1988 British F3 Championship to finish second to JJ Lehto..

John Page gains a lot of time in his final run up the hill in his ex-Gary Brabham Ralt RT32 F3 car......

.....and gives us a big smile afterwards!

As usual the majority of the cars were touring cars including this rather nice Nissan Almera driven by Michel Bineau seen here really attacking the first hairpin and generating some understeer.

Romauld Thuillier in his nicely turned out Citroen AX GTI in the popular F2000 class.

Jimmy Burette speeds up the hill in his F2000 class Peugeot 205

Sébastien Dupont round the fast corner before the hairpin in his SEAT Super Cup.

There were a number of nice Grand Touring cars including Alpine Renaults, Porsches and a Lotus.

Léonard Lusardi rounds the hairpin in his Lotus.

Guy Mureau in his Porsche 

Jean Marie Bouhin in an Alpine Renault A110

In the same FC class was Geoffrey Carcref in a Scora Maxi

The sports car class featured a number of interesting cars including the ubiquitous Normas.

A Jema 630GT taking the fast corner with a Normandy château in the background....

.....but the real beauty of Pierre Louis Foullen's Jema can be seen in this shot

Competing in the CM class was Vincent Bertheuil in his unusual GRC proto

Cyril Aubert in the Norma M200

Jean Yves Dore in the pretty little Grac MT145

However, the fastest cars were the D/E class Formula Three cars.

One of the faster cars was Dallara F394 of Anthony Guedry

A wider angle shot of Eddy Ravenel in his Reynard 913

All in all a very nice afternoon's sport and thanks to Gareth for the company.

Gareth talks to John Page's mechanics whilst eyeing up another shot

Eric Lecerf in his Tatuus FR2000

The photographer, John Etherton, asserts his copyright to the photographs in this blog post.  However, you may post them elsewhere on the web as long as you credit the phographer and this blog, Rouenlesafx@blogspot.com and provide a link to this page.

What is that? Number One.

You know what it is like when you see a car in the distance and don't know what it is?   You have to go and find out.  This is what happened to me at Montlhéry a couple of weeks ago and this is what I saw.  What is it?   Answer below.

Answer -

This was a car produced by a small British manufacturer based in Greenwich from 1962 to 1964.
Only twelve were built so they are now rather rare.
This one had a 1 litre Ford Anglia 105E engine (some had the bigger Ford 1,500cc engine).
It had a Glass Reinforced Plastic Sports Coupé body bonded onto a steel backbone chassis and plywood floorpan.
In kit car component form it cost £580.
It's name was the Heron Europa.
Not many people know that!
Luckily for me the information was on the back shelf of the car.  A thoughtful owner!

Pre-War Cars at Montlhéry Printemps 2015

Because it is a circuit with a long history racing dating back to 1925, it is always nice to see these very valuable Pre-War cars out on the Linas-Montlhéry circuit.  At the Coupes des Printemps 31 March 2015 there was a variety from Delage and Bugatti GP cars to an unusual Morgan.

1. 1923 B.N.C.
One of the oldest cars at the meeting was this 1923 BNC.  BNC, Bollack, Netter & Co,  was a small car manufacturer in Paris in the 1920s.  This was one of their first cars.

1923 BNC in the paddock at Montlhéry

2. Morgan Monotrace

This strange motorbike/car going out onto the circuit and following the Alfa is a Morgan Monotrace

Undercarriage up and up to full speed!

The Monotrace had two seats one behind the other as on a motor bike but had bodywork unlike a motorbike and two stabiliser wheels when going slowly.  Very strange!

This was a French Marque that had nothing to do with the British Morgan company.  These unusual machine were built in the twenties.

This contraption got the most attention in the paddock aside from the Alpine Renaults!








3. 1936 Riley Sprite

Riley was a successful British sports car achieving some success at Le Mans and in the Tourist Trophy with cars such as these.

1936 Riley Sprite at Montlhéry

4. 1927 Delage 15 S 8
Cars like this dominated the Grand prix of 1926 and 1927 with drivers such as the great Robert Benoist winning the World Championship for Delage.  Victories included the French GP at Montlhéry.  They were supercharged 8 cylinder machines.  Some later raced in the thirties with ERA engines.

Delage 15 S 8 at the Montlhéry chicane

5. Delage D6 Special
Delage produced the D6 during the thirties and also immediately after the war.  Some were used successfully for racing.  I think this one is from around 1936.  A very beautiful car.

Delage D6 exiting the Montlhéry chicane

Delage D6 at speed on the Montlhéry start finish straight

6. Bugatti
Their were at least three Bugattis at the circuit including examples of T35B and T51.

Two Bugatti T35Bs on the Montlhéry banking.  In the twenties cars often raced with a riding mechanic so appropriate to have two in each car.

Bugatti T35B in the Montlhéry pitlane

Bugatti T35B heading out of the chicane at Montlhéry

7. Memorial
Just outside the gate at Montlhéry is a superb memorial to two brave and fast French racing drivers, Robert Benoist and Georges Boillot, who were killed fighting for their country in World War I and II.  If you go to Montlhéry don't miss it.

Coupes de Printemps 2015 - 10 Makes of car that made my day!

1.   Big Thundering Fords

Ford GT40 on the Montlhéry banking

Ford Mustang leads a group of cars off of the high banking

2. Lovely Lotuses

Lotus 11-Climax in the Montlhéry paddock

Coventry Climax engine

This Renault engined Lotus Europa seems to have spent some of its life in the USA as it had some Lime Rock stickers on it.

1969 Renault engined Lotus Europa on the banking

3. Jolly Jaguars

Three fast E-Types follow each other through the pit straight chicane

Work in the paddock on this nice British Jaguar XK140

Semi-lightweight E type getting a little sideways slide on into the chicane.......

.......and then onto the banking as the storm clouds pass us by.

4. Luscious Lancias

Concours condition Lancia Flamina Super Sport

5. Smoking Corvettes

Lovely old Chevrolet Corvette in trouble, unfortunately.

6. DBs

1959 750cc Le Mans D.B. "Camionnette".  Very nice!

7. Bee Ems

Mid Seventies BMW 3.0CSL.  A real beast!

8. Porsche Abarth

I somehow had these cars missing in my knowledge bank and didn't know Porsche and Abarth had any connection until Montlhéry!

Early Sixties Porsche Carrera Abarth

9. Gorgeous Gordini

Gordini sports cars won at Montlhéry so appropriate to have a nice one here today.  I believe this car was driven by those great Argentinian drivers Gonzales and Fangio.   So really special!

1950 Le Mans Simca-Gordini T15S

10. Uncle Tom Cobley and all!

Not to forget all those British sports cars the French love so much - MG, Austin Healey and Triumph.

An enthusiastically driven MG at the chicane, lifting a wheel and our spirits!

Austin Healey pulls into the gravel trap as a Porsche speeds by

The photographer, John Etherton, asserts his copyright to these photographs on this blogpost.  however, you may copy them elsewhere on the web as long as you accredit the photographer and the blog Rouen-les-AFX and provide a link to this web page.

Single Seaters at the Coupes de Printemps - Montlhéry 2015

There were not many single seaters at the Coupes de Printemps 2015 but three if them particularly caught my eye.

Formula Junior races were held at Montlhéry from 1959 until 1963.   Some of these races were for the Coupes de Printemps that is nowadays a "Rencontre Automobiles" and track day.  Some of these cars from the late fifties and early sixties were represented on the track at this year's event at Montlhéry last Saturday.   Here were some of my favourites:

1. Stanguellini-Fiat

Stanguellini were one of the first manufacturers to produce a Formula Junior car in about 1959.

 Formula Junior was an Italian inspired low cost single seater formula designed to replace the 500cc F3.   They truly look like mini-GP cars of the late fifties and were quite successful in the formula from 1959 to 1960 but then became uncompetitive with the rear engined cars.   They had 1.1 litre 4 cylinder Fiat engines with twin choke Weber carburettors and used a number of modified Fiat components.  When you get close to them you realise that the cars are quite asymmetrical due to the transmission that is on the right hand side of the car rather than the middle.  More than 100 of these cars were built and quite a number survive to today.

At Montlhéry in the Coupe de Printemp meeting their best result was third in the 1960 driven by Pierre Houdusse.  However, the same year at Montlhéry a Stanguellini won the Prix de Paris Formula Junior race driven by the Portuguese driver Manuel Kelecom de Soussa Eusebio.   Elsewhere they were also winners driven by the likes of Lorenzo Bandini, Taffy Von Trips and Walt Hansgen. They apparently had a top speed of about 110 mph.

I couldn't recall seeing one of these beautiful cars before so I took rather a lot of pictures!

Is it a Ferrari, is it a Maserati?  No its a Stanguellini!

A Stanguellini won at Montlhéry in 1960 and was here again winning our hearts in 2015!

Not a symmetrical car at all!

You take the high road and I'll take the low road!

Stanguellini into the Chicane at Montlhéry....

.....and out again

My companion of the day, Gareth Rees, also taking a photo of the Stanguellini

2. Envoy-Cosworth

This car from about 1959/1960 was a Formula Junior car designed by Ken Cooper and built in Chelmsford.  At Montlhéry we saw a Mk1 of the type raced by Ian Raby amongst others.  It had a Cosworth modified Ford 105E engine.  Only about nine of these cars were built so nice to see one today.

Envoy-Cosworth Mk1 FJ on the Montlhéry banking

Cosworth modified 105E engine and cockpit of the Formula Junior Envoy

3.  Porsche Formula Vee

Formula Vee started just as Formula junior was fading, in 1963, although it didn't become big in Europe until 1966/67.  I remember seeing F.Vee in the sixties with great drivers such as Gerry Birrell.  World Champions Jochen Rindt, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi, Nelson Piquet and Keke Rosberg also drove in Formula Vee.

It was nice to see this F.Vee car at Montlhéry with its nod to James Dean's Porsche 550 and its "Little Bastard" nickname.

Porsche "Little Bastard" Formula Vee car at Montlhéry

Being air-cooled there is no need for a radiator

I was impressed about how high on the banking this driver went!

Diving in between two Porsche 356s

The photographer, John Etherton, asserts his copyright to the photos in this blog.  However, you may publish them elsewhere on the web as long as you accredit the photographer and this blog site and provide a link to this web page.