4ème Course de Côte d'Argenton-Bouglon, 2021

Doing demo runs all day was this great little Honda engined Mini driven by Arnaud Crasset.  It, unfortunately, is not homologated for competition in France.

Organised by the Club Automobile Marmandais, this was the fourth running of this regional hillclimb and it took place on Saturday 21st August 2021.   The course runs for 1,200 metres and six turns with an average slope of about 8%,  first up the D106 and then for the longest part up the D147, between Argenton and Bouglon in the Lot et Garonne (47) department in the southwestern part of France.  A rather short course the action is frenetic as there is only a short gap in time between each car.  It was free for spectators to get in and there were about six well sign-posted areas for spectators to get an excellent view of the cars.   I found it very well organised, with an excellent commentary throughout  the day, and certainly hope I can come here again.  On the Sunday was a slalom up the same course (that I was unable to attend) so it makes for a good sporting weekend during the vacation if you are ever in the area.

The lower part of the course in Argenton with a Renault 5 GT Turbo starting its ascent.

This year, as there were in 2020, there were just over 40 participants with a lot of variety in the type of cars as you can see below.   The winner in 2020 and 2018, Fabrice Gallo, was not present, but there was an exciting battle for the win between the top three competitors.  For some of the competitors this was their first hillclimb and for others they were competing whilst visiting the region on vacation.   All in all a great day for fans of grass-root motor sport away from the armco and safety fencing of modern circuits!

1st - Sébastien Jacqmin - Norma M20 FC - No.5 - Overall winner

The winning Norma exits the penultimate corner in the morning practice.

Sébastien was only in second place after three runs but then was the only person to dip below 37 seconds to finally take then win.

2nd - Benoît Taviaux - Dallara F305 Opel - No.2 - Group winner

The fastest of the single-seaters on its first timed run.

Benoit provided a strong challenge all day but finally had to settle for second and thus was unable to repeat his 2019 victory. He was also runner up in Sunday's Slalom event.

3rd - Michael France - Dallara F304 - No.3 - Class winner

The final podium position went to this pretty Dallara F3 car.

This second Dallara also got below 38 seconds twice and was only 2 hundredths of a second off of second place.

4th - Fabrice Gallo - BRC B49 - No.14 - Class winner

This BRC was fastest of the motor-cycle engined sports cars.

5th - Frédéric Rousseau - Speedcar GTR - No.11

The fastest of the Speedcars passes a marshal as he ascends the hill.

6th - Marc-Antoine Blanchemain - Speedcar GTR - No,15

Another Speedcar.

7th - Alain Volbart - Speedcar GTR - No.16

8th - Didier Giminez - Fior F 05 - No.8

A car that I not seen before.  I believe the car has a 2 litre Honda engine and was built in Nogaro in around 2005 by Fabien Fior.

The spectators can get close to the cars.

9th - Jean-Louis Simorre - Renault 5 GT Turbo - No.72 - Group winner

10th - Florian Patacconi - Simca Rallye 2 - No.76 - Class winner

11th - Philippe Quioc - Simca Rallye 2 - No.79

12th - Nicolas Delpierre - Simca Rallye 2 - No.74

13th - Julien Zambon - Peugeot 306 - No.54 - Group winner

14th - Guy-Philippe Patacconi - Martini Mk69 - No.1 - Class winner

15th - Fabrice Ousset - Speedcar GTR - No.10

16th - Vincent Rannou - Renault Clio 2 Cup - No.24 - Class winner

17th - Alain Jauvat - Honda Civic VTEC - No.61 - Class winner

18th - Loîc Larquey - Renault Clio 3 RS - No.53 - Group winner

19th - Nicolas Ammeloot - Renault 11 Turbo - No.51

20th - Jose-Marie Lara - Ford Sierra Cosworth - No.20 - Class winner

Nostalgic to see a Ford Sierra Cosworth competing!   Their main successes were over thirty years ago.

A wider angled view of the penultimate corner.

21st - Tony Doimo - Renault Clio - No.52 

22nd - Ophélie Poitevin - Citroën Saxo VTS - No.30 - Fastest female competitor

Ophélie did well and beat the other three women racing up the hill despite not having the fastest car.

23rd - Romain Vassal - Mitjet 2L - No.18 -Group winner

These funny looking cars are often prese nt in French hillclimbs and compete in the GTTS category.

25th - Jean-Marie Delage - Simca Rallye 2 - No.66 - Class winner

26th - Guy Calbet - Porsche Cayman Cup - No.19 - Group winner

Top GT car present was this Porsche Cayman.

The marshals look on as this good looking Porsche speeds by.

28th -  Loïc Ammeloot -  Renault 11 Turbo - No.151

29th - Mickaël Mansencal - Renault Clio Williams - No.26

33rd - Bruno Guillon - Alfa Romeo 75 V6 - No.21 

34th - Francis Lagarrue - Renault 5 GT Turbo - No.35 - Class winner

35th - Jacques Lesaulnier - Renault Clio 3 Cup - No.25

38th - Marie Volbart - Speedcar GTR - No.116

40th - Patrick Leveque - Opel Astra OPC - No.42

41st - William Mercadier - Citroën Saxo VTS - No.59

The Citroën Saxo heads into the final curve near the top of the hill.

43rd - Christophe Bourgeon - Peugeot 106 GTi - No.33 - Class Winner

Final place of those classified went to this Peugeot.

NC - Christian Serre - Renault 5 GT Turbo - No.155

This Renault only appeared in the practice runs

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.

Another view of the demo run Mini.

The village of Bouglon at the top of the hill.

14ème Course de Côte du Mont-Dore / Chambon-sur-Lac, 2021, VHC

Fastest of the VHC cars was this Martini Mk36 driven by Frédéric Assenault.

I always look forward to seeing the great field of VHC cars they have at Mont Dore each year.  This year I was, of course, not disappointed and in addition I had the treacherous conditions that made some of the photographs a little different to normal.  VHC stands for Véhicules Historique de Compétition.  In theory cars from 1919 to 1990 can take part and they are arranged in various classes depending on the age, type and cubic capacity of the car.   There were about 18 VHC cars taking part and most can be seen below.    All the pictures were taken in the two wet practice sessions on Saturday.  On Sunday the sun decided to appear and the times came down considerably, but I was rather pleased to have been their on Saturday.

The Martini Mk36 in the wetter conditions later on Saturday.

Second fastest VHC car was this Martini Mk30 of Gilles Cursoux.

Third fastest VHC cars was Jean-Marc Debeaune in this Van Diemen RF82.

Fourth fastest VHC was Jean-Marie Almeras in the Porsche 935 Silhouette seen here about to overtake the slower Porsche 911C of Norbert Rieu in the very wet conditions of early Saturday afternoon.

Another Martini Mk36, this one driven by Jean-Marc Coster.

Bernard Penilla his Martini Mk57.

The Geri RB08 of Daniel Louis.  This is a late seventies two seater sports racing car.

Another Martini, this one a Mk15 driven by Michel Ritzenhaler.

The same car later in the day.

Class winning Viviane Bonnardel in her Volkswagen Scirocco heading a Simca Rallye 2 driven by Philippe Ginel.

Another class winner, the Chrysler Avenger 1500 of Malival Castelli.

A wet Renault 8 Gordini driven by Gérard Toral.

The Lancial Delta HF of Philippe Colin.

The Simca 1100 Ti of Francois Durat.

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 Jidé Type Original of Gabriel Lejeune.

2ème Course de Côte VHRS du Mont-Dore / Chambon-sur-Lac, 2021

 

The winner in VHRS at Mont Dore was Jean-Paul Hugon in this BMW 325i.  Here he is early on Saturday morning.

The VHRS runners were making their second appearance at Mont Dore.  Judged by their closeness to a set time rather than outright speed, they are a welcome addition by providing yet more variety of cars.   I was there on early Saturday to see them, when the conditions were rather wet and they worsened just after lunch with more mist obscuring the view.  

Coming through the mist early on Saturday afternoon is second placed Jean-Luc Baudin in his Porsche 911S.

Coming down the hill earlier in the day we can see the mist rising behind the Renault 8 of Denis Eyriac.

The Peugeot 205 Rallye of Sébastien Ganhito driving through the treacherous conditions.

Alain Delort and his Ford Sierre.

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 final VHRS runner was this Porsche of Francis Verbigue.