A Charade, Albi bound

Browse pages
Current page

1

Current page

2

Current page

3

Current page

4

Current page

5

Current page

6

Current page

7

Current page

8

Current page

9

Current page

10

Current page

11

Current page

12

Current page

13

Current page

14

Current page

15

Current page

16

Current page

17

Current page

18

Current page

19

Current page

20

Current page

21

Current page

22

Current page

23

Current page

24

Current page

25

Current page

26

Current page

27

Current page

28

Current page

29

Current page

30

Current page

31

Current page

32

Current page

33

Current page

34

Current page

35

Current page

36

Current page

37

Current page

38

Current page

39

Current page

40

Current page

41

Current page

42

Current page

43

Current page

44

Current page

45

Current page

46

Current page

47

Current page

48

Current page

49

Current page

50

Current page

51

Current page

52

Current page

53

Current page

54

Current page

55

Current page

56

Current page

57

Current page

58

Current page

59

Current page

60

Current page

61

Current page

62

Current page

63

Current page

64

Current page

65

Current page

66

Current page

67

Current page

68

Current page

69

Current page

70

Current page

71

Current page

72

Current page

73

Current page

74

Current page

75

Current page

76

Current page

77

Current page

78

Current page

79

Current page

80

Current page

81

Current page

82

Current page

83

Current page

84

Current page

85

Current page

86

Current page

87

Current page

88

Current page

89

Current page

90

Current page

91

Current page

92

Current page

93

Current page

94

Current page

95

Current page

96

Current page

97

Current page

98

Current page

99

Current page

100

Current page

101

Current page

102

Current page

103

Current page

104

Current page

105

Current page

106

Current page

107

Current page

108

Current page

109

Current page

110

Current page

111

Current page

112

Current page

113

Current page

114

Current page

115

Current page

116

Current page

117

Current page

118

Current page

119

Current page

120

As the historic racing season drew to a close, Richard and Trisha Pilkington’s TOPS historic racing car club masterminded an ‘end of term’ October tour culminating in a Grand Prix car demonstration at the Albi historic meeting. This was prefaced by a period of tyre-testing with the new range of Michelin-produced Englebert historic racing tyres, and a private familiarisation session at the splendid new Charade circuit at Clermont Ferrand, the quieter interludes being filled with some good-spirited socialising and cultural activities along the way.

The group, which ultimately totalled 15 cars, comprised well-known British and European historic racers augmented by preparation experts Peter Shaw and Ted Rollason, and automobilia dealer Colin Warrington.

On the Wednesday, proceedings commenced at Michelin’s test facility at Ladoux, just outside Clermont Ferrand in the heart of the Auvergne, where the tyre giant’s manufacturing enterprise is based, with seven cars selected to test the latest developments of the Englebert competition tyre which has been developed by Michelin for use in historic racing, under the enthusiastic guidance of division director, Jacques Rouffet. The group of testers included the 308C Alfa of Paul Grist, the ERAs of Martin Morris and Sir John Venables-Llewelyn, the Talbot Lagos of Richard Pilkington and Belgian Francois d’Huart, Kirk Rylands’ HWM, and Trisha Pilkington’s Alfa Monza.

For some it was their first sampling of the new tyre, while others had been involved from the outset when the TOPS group were selected by Michelin to undertake a test programme in conjunction with the relaunch of the Englebert name. The general reaction was favourable, and in particular the comment heard was that the tyres offered progressive breakaway and recovery characteristics. Wet-weather testing continued the following morning for all except the Grist Alfa which developed a fuel leak from the bottom union of its bag tank; this was ultimately rectified in time to proceed to Albi.

Thursday afternoon was spent at the ‘new’ Charade circuit, which incorporates the southern section of the former Grand Prix circuit, part of which still remains a public road, with the two extreme points connected by a new link section. Although facilities are in their early stages of development, the only permanent building being a grandstand, the circuit capitalises on the undulating geography with considerable rise and fall within its 4km lap. Here the tyre-test group was augmented by a further seven cars and of these, Ted Rollason in the only disc-braked car, Tony Smith’s B-Type Connaught, was ecstatic in praise of the circuit. It places a high premium on braking, and lacking a straight of any consequence tends to favour more modern cars, the older and heavier drum-braked cars suffering from severe brake-fade. The circuit occupies a most magnificent setting, and although, in length, now a shadow of the original Grand Prix circuit, the new track retains echoes of the 8km road circuit where Clark won in commanding style at its first GP in 1965, and where Stewart won in 1969 and 1972, when Kiwi hero Chris Amon left the outright lap record standing at 166.751kph after nearly winning with the V12 Matra. It was also the circuit where the switchbacks made Jochen Rindt physically ill in the Lotus 49B in 1969, when he dispensed with his full-face helmet and raced in an old open-faced version borrowed from close friend Piers Courage, but was still unable to complete the distance. These men are all heroes of the enthusiastic circuit director, Patrice Besqueuet, who had generously arranged for the road to be closed and the circuit marshalled for the afternoon to allow the TOPS group some familiarisation time, and to allow for some local publicity. Although restricted to only four race meetings per year at present, it is Patrice’s ambition to host a major historic race event along the lines of the Silverstone and Nürburgring festivals within the next two years.

The following day was spent by most of the group in taking in some of the splendid scenery in the immediate vicinity, the main features of the landscape having been formed as the result of volcanic activity, with lunch being taken at the top of the highest of these, the spectacular Puy de Dome, with diversion taking the form of a group of parascending locals above the restaurant terrace.

By various routes, the participants wound their way the next 300kms further south to Albi on the Saturday, part of the entourage being delayed to assist Paul Grist’s daughter Nathalie, who was conducting the family D-Type. It stuttered to a halt on the road to Rodez with recalcitrant fuel pumps, only being restored to some form of health after swapping one of the pumps from Graham Burrows’ Cooper-Bristol with the assembled expertise of half the teams in transit. It was also on this leg of the journey that Brian Dollamore’s newly-rebuilt Talbot 150C caught fire while in the course of some extended ‘running-in and from which team driver Robert Heelis was ready to eject himself before it was brought to a halt with thankfully little damage.

A gala dinner was the prelude to Sunday’s meeting, during the course of which Richard Pilkington and Francois d’Huart were inducted into the local chapter of sommeliers, a ceremony which involved intake of the best part of a bottle of Gaillac in one draught accompanied by some incomprehensible singing in praise of the grape, all carried out with the quiet dignity becoming of Talbot-Lago drivers.

Somewhat surprisingly, all were in good fettle come Sunday morning, although for the first time during the trip the weather had taken on a decidedly unwelcoming look, and for the morning session the track was very wet, although the worst of the rain had abated. The meeting was typical of French historic events which are run, in the main, as demonstrations and feature fairly diverse categories, with a couple of motorcycle classes thrown in for good measure and is the brainchild of circuit owner, collector and sometime historic racer Rene Mauries, who wielded the tricolour and chequered flag throughout the day in a style reminiscent of the late Toto Roche.

The circuit itself is the airfield perimeter track used for the post-war F2 races, and still in use for French national events such as F3 and touring cars, and was much to the liking of the TOPS contingent, the only chicane being of the ‘bus-stop’ variety and with some decent straights, although flag-marshalling left a good deal to the imagination. In the first session, the two ERAs, the Grist Alfa, Pilkington’s Talbot-Lago and Ted Rollason’s Connaught put on a spirited display in the damp conditions at the head of the field with Ryland’s HWM and Graham Burrows’ Cooper Bristol indulging in a close scrap, and ‘Spike’ Milligan’s A-Type Connaught slicing through the field after trouble with his first gear off the line. After lunch, the track had dried and the rain held off, and the lead battle developed, once again, between the ERAs, the Alfa which Paul had very sideways on a number of occasions, the Talbot-Lago, and briefly Burrows’ Cooper-Bristol, having lost Ted Rollason when the de Dion tube sheared leaving the rear wheels at odds with each other.

The leaders held the crowd’s interest while other dices down the field kept them well entertained and appreciative of the effort involved in assembling a group of cars of a type rarely seen in this part of France, and in return the French hosts had made the group most welcome, rounding off an excellent itinerary in which the participants (and their wives) had had some fun and hopefully entertained a few people along the way, which should augur well for expanding interest in the world of historic racing.