08-2016 The weekend of the 20th/21st August saw the penultimate round of this year's National Hillclimb Championship, held at Chamrousse. On a wide but twisty 4.8km course, much liked by drivers, engines have to be tuned to cope with the altitude, as the finish, in a glorious mountain setting, is at 1600 metres.
This year there were no changes necessary to the course, which met with drivers' full approval and conforms scrupulously with the safety norms dictated by the French Motor Sports Federation. One of the most popular events, it is fortunate enough to be able to count on the unconditional support of the local municipality, which offers great organisational assistance.
Despite running on the same weekend as the Ste Ursanne les Rangiers climb, it nevertheless attracted a full entry of 150 participants, more than one-third of which were 'Historics'. The first practice runs on Saturday morning were held under rain, with the afternoon runs still damp.
Four Marcadiers were entered, all front-runners : Pascal Ferretti's 1600 barquette ( ie sports prototype), the 1300 barquette of Gilles Coursoux and another 1300 driven for the first time by "Gomme" ( this being the car driven by Vincent Lagache to second place in 2014's National Championship). In addition, Michel Champelovier brought his ex-Roger Riviere Formule Libre single-seater, equipped this year with a fresh engine.
In practice, held in wet conditions, it was "Gomme" who took a creditable third place, with Pascal,Gilles and Michel following in his wake. Sunday's timed runs were held in dry conditions, once the morning mists had cleared.
The battle for Groupe 5/6 was fiercely disputed, with the leadership changing between them on all three timed runs. It was eventually won by Pascal, despite clutch problems, followed by Gilles and then "Gomme".
As for Michel, it was a weekend to forget, with an engine blow-up on his final run. He did, however, secure third place overall, behind Bady's 1600cc Martini and Veillard's trusty 'silhouette' BMW 320.
