08-2015 The 40th Chamrousse Hillclimb, situated near Grenoble, was held over the weekend of 22/23 August. The first event took place here in 1962. Many of the leading names in French motorsport competed on the original 17.2 Kms course, including the likes of Guy Ligier, Johnny Servoz-Gavin and Gerard Larousse. However in 1976 the event ceased, to be reinstated in 1992 by the ACRVM under the well - organised direction of Yan Parvi.
The much reduced, though still spectacular, course, (by now 4.8kms) attracts a fervent public. A new 'historic' event is scheduled for Sept 13th. The 2013 event was dedicated to our very own Andre Marcadier. This year it was dedicated to the late Bernard Desray, who had died the previous week: he had been the Championship commentator on hillclimbs for over half a century.
The event, the eleventh of this year's National Championship, attracted a record entry, with no less than 131 'Moderns' and 54 'Historics'. Four Marcadiers were entered. In practice, held under glorious sunshine, Pascal Ferretti was fourth, behind the single-seaters of Gustarini, Bady and Debeaune, followed by the sports-racers of Vincent Lagache (7th) and Gilles Coursoux ( 10th). Michel Champelovier was eighth, plagued with over-heating and carburation problems.
Over the night the weather changed: damp and cold all day, culminating in rain for the final runs. The race results saw Pascal take second place behind Debeaune's Van Diemen single-seater. He led Class 6, dominated by Marcadier, with Vincent and Gilles just behind. Despite his weekend-long mechanical problems, Michel was still classed in 8th position.
