Rouvier, Quagliozzi and Sabatier win the 2020 Historic Tour

En Formula 1, Lewis Hamilton grabs everything or almost everything; in Formula 3 Classic, Frédéric Rouvier plays this role perfectly. The pilot of the March 783 engine Toyota won this Sunday, September 27 at Val de Vienne (Vienna) its third consecutive title of Historic French Circuit Champion, Single-seater/Protos category.

The educational and sports manager at Oreca's Audi Driving Experience at Paul-Ricard almost shared his coronation with Christian Vaglio-Giors (Formula Renault Classic). Everything came down to the final race, contested in the rain and the cold.

“During the first laps, the track was dry, so I got a little ahead of Alain Girardet (Ralt), explains the winner. Then I slipped twice because of the downpour. As I saw that Alain was nursing faster thanks to his new tires, I let him pass. Second place allowed me to win the championship while being tied.

The clouds cleared, then I split with Alain again to take a gap of almost 9 seconds. At the start of the last lap, I was no longer attacking at all, when I arrived at a corner full of oil. The car went into the gravel trap, I saw the wall coming. I said to myself: “This is not possible! »

I stayed with my feet on the floor and returned to the track just in front of Alain, with 10 kg of gravel in the seat. I closed the last three doors to stay in front. Oh dear ! It was the craziest last ride of my life! »

Frédéric Rouvier's transition from a Ralt to a March therefore paid off. “The Blue is Blue team did a great job. There car was reliable, I never gave up. I had great confidence in the car, which is easy to take around. She will not retire in 2021. I am already thinking about some developments…”

In GT/Tourism, Franck Quagliozzi (Honda Civic in Youngtimers GTI Cup) and Laurent Sabatier (Porsche 993 GT2 in GT Classic) ended the year with an invincible score: 10 victories in as many races! The title is therefore shared between the two men, despite a drive-through for the first named in Race 2.

Find it in AUTO issue 2280hebdo, on sale Monday evening digitally and Wednesday on newsstands, the summary of the final of the Historic Tour 2020 by our special correspondent.