Victories for Marc Pernot and Anthony Dubois at the Bagnols-Sabran Hill Climb

It wasn't just the French Asphalt Rally Championship that kicked off last weekend, as the hill climb specialists of the French Hill Climb Championship were also back in action at the Bagnols-Sabran Hill Climb, its 55th edition, organized by the ASA Rhône-Cèze in the Gard region. Nearly 170 drivers took part in the event, competing in the Sport category (open cars), the Production category (closed cars), and the VHC (Historic Competition Vehicles) category. The event proved demanding for everyone, competitors and organizers alike, as numerous incidents forced Race Control to cancel two of the three scheduled runs. Consequently, the overall classification was based on the best run time, rather than the combined time of the two best times as stipulated by the regulations.

Bagnols-Sabran Hill Climb: Marc Pernot is already making all the competition tremble

Marc Pernot, the reigning French Sport Champion, debuted his brand-new Nova Proto NP01 with a 1.2 Turbo engine. While less powerful than his rivals' cars, it was lighter and more agile, making it, on paper, perfect for the tight Provençal circuit. The driver from the Doubs region secured a hard-fought victory thanks to his time on the second run, but suffered from teething problems with his new car, issues he will need to quickly resolve for the next round of the season. Fabien Bourgeon, the reigning French Vice-Champion, placed his home-built Revolt 3P0 in second position, ahead of the unfortunate driver of the weekend, Belgian Corentin Starck (Nova Proto NP01 1.7 Turbo), who led after the first run but crashed out at the very end of the climb on his second attempt. The season has thus gotten off to a bad start for the winner of the 2022 and 2025 Turckheim – Trois-Épis Hill Climb.

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Big scare in the Production category at Bagnols-Sabran

In the closed-cockpit category, the main news was the serious off-road excursion of two-time French Champion Yannick Poinsignon (BMW M3 E92). Suffering from a stuck accelerator, the driver from the Vosges region went straight on in the middle of the course and left the road, requiring a helicopter after he complained of back pain. The atmosphere was therefore tense among the competitors in the Production category, but this didn't prevent reigning French Champion Anthony Dubois from securing his victory. Alpine A110 Evo. He relegates Jean-François Ganevat (Renault RS01) in second position, while Alexandre Garnier (Porsche The 991 GT3 Cup driver climbed onto the podium for the second time in his career and for the second consecutive time (3rd) after a similar performance in the final round of the previous season at Limonest – Mont-Verdun (Rhône). The next event for the CFM drivers is the weekend of April 11-12, again in the Gard region, for the Saint-Jean-du-Gard – Col Saint-Pierre Hill Climb.