04-2015 Marcadier cars have been leading the French Historic Hillclimb Championship from the very first event, held at Bagnols Sabran in the Gard Dept. This is a 3,1 km climb, which twists between guardrails and rocks: the first part involves fierce acceleration and braking, followed by a very fast stretch with a long right-hander, whilst the finish is once again twisty with a hump-back taken under braking.
There were 38 entries in the Historic section. Practice was dominated by Pascal Ferretti in his Lancia-engined CanAm, ahead of Almeras' powerful Porsche 935. Also amongst the front runners was Michel Champelovier in his F2 single seater: Michel, who has held a competition licence for 52 years, is at last returning to National Championship hillclimbing after many years doing slaloms.
Gilles Coursoux was there too in his inexhaustable barquette, his excellent driving skills compensating for the relative lack of power of his 1300cc Simca engine. The race was won by Ferretti, followed closely by Champelovier. Coursoux was 6th, sandwiched between Michon's Ford GT40 ans Stockli's 1800cc Alpine. A great result for Marcadier. The next race: Col S Pierre on 10th April.
