Small gaps and foreign victories in the Historic Tour: the facts of Saturday in Dijon

Of the nine races on Saturday August 15, the smallest gap was recorded during the Lotus Trophy: 41 thousandths of a second separated the winner Xavier Jacquet from his runner-up Anthony Delhaye! The Lotus Seven also allowed the organizers to play the French anthem, which was not a refrain on this public holiday.

In fact, around a hundred foreign drivers have joined the regular leaders of the Historic Tour. Among this cohort, there were 11 different nationalities! Our neighbors across the Channel wore the Union Jack high in the Formula Ford Historic Challenge, this category accepting for the occasion Formula 3 of 1cm000, the “screamers” (because of their shrill noise). Jeremy Timms, aboard an ex-Reine Wisell Chevron B3, won ahead of the more modest Lola F. Ford of François Belle.

The Brabançonne also resounded in Dijon thanks to Geoffroy Horion, winner of the Formula Ford Kent Trophy. The Germans finally distinguished themselves in the race mixing F. Ford Zetec, F. Ford 2000 and F. Opel with Marvin Brandl ahead of his compatriot Max Wutke.

The reference field, the Formula 3 Classic, gave birth to a duel at the top between the title holder Frédéric Rouvier and the Italian Valerio Leone. On board an identical model (a March 783 with an engine Toyota), the duo exchanged leadership several times in the fast curves. The Frenchman finally won the Transalpine by 6 tenths.

Finally, the Asavé Racing GTs should have a British accent. In the pre-1965 field, two TVR Griffith 400s had the luxury of monopolizing the first row ahead of the Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe of Pierre-François Rousselot, while in pre-1975, the qualifying advantage went to Emmanuel Brigand in its Chevron B19.

Sunday at the Historic Tour is accessible to the public for 15 euros. Wearing a mask is mandatory indoors and outdoors. Think about it!