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Photography

Dix Mille Tours Le Castellet 2019 Yann SEITE - 18/20 October 2019

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ello,

2019 was the 10th birthday of the Peter Auto Dix Mille Tours, an event that has become major in the ever growing historic racing galaxy.
This year, no less than 350 historic cars were present, breaking a record : some waiting lists were put in place in some series ! The weather did not really make things easy for the photographers... Little - or no - light and even a thick fog on Saturday morning, which led to the premature end of a GroupC session.

Here are few of my pictures, that reflect the events I attended at the Paul Ricard race track, on October 18, 19 and 20.

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here are no superlatives that can correctly describe the Jaguar Group C contingent, in traditional 'Silk Cut' liveries.
First of all, the XJR9 chassis J12-C-188, 3rd at the 24 Hours of Daytona 1988 (Cheever / Watson / Dumfries) :

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his 1991 XJR14, based on a spare chassis (X91), is not less desirable. Mastered by Eric Helary (winner at Le Mans in 1993), it is a 'jet fighter', with the matching sound of its HB V8 Ford Cosworth !

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or what concerns this XJR12 (J12-C-891), predecessor of the XJR14 in the Jaguar family tree, it took the 4th place at Le Mans in 1991 (Nielsen / Wallace / Warwick). One year after, painted in Bud Light colors, it participated to the 24hrs of Daytona as well as the 12hrs of Sebring, where it finished 2nd.
Today, it still wears the famous purple livery of Le Mans, and its 7-liter V12 roars like in the good old times !

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o be exhaustive on the 'Big Cats', let's illustrate the presence of the XJR 11 chassis 189, V6 3.5L double turbo, which has made very few laps at Le Castellet.
It won the pole position at Brands Hatch 1989, finishing 5th (Lammers / Tambay), its best result of the season. In 1990, his only outing was Suzuka (did not finish, oil pump problems). From then on, it would be used as a spare car.

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o need to present the deadly weapon of the early 90s in sport prototypes, created by André de Cortanze for Peugeot Talbot Sport.

This EV16 chassis is in 'Evo 1Bis' configuration : adjustable front wing, biplan rear wing, tunnels beside the cockpit to feed two side radiators. These were some of the improvements to take a step ahead on the rivals: it will indeed be successful, in 1992 and 1993.
EV16 has taken the 3rd place at Le Mans 1992 (Alliot / Baldi / Jabouille), and has won Donington and Magny Cours meetings. Damaged during the LM 1993 trials, it did not enter the race.

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nother Star of the 10000 Tours is the Porsche 917, with 3 units present this weekend at Le Castellet !
The most 'controversial' is this one, announced as a reconstruction on the basis of the 'remains' of 917-005, the well known accident victim of the first lap at Le Mans 1969... Apart from the id plate (?), is there something authentic about this 917 ?

Its resurrection, under the original colors of John Woolfe Racing, took place at Le Mans Classic this year, and ended in a big crash (again) ! To exorcise bad luck, it was brought with another livery at Le Castellet, the one of the non-starter at Le Mans 1969.

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ere is 917-008, from the same litter as its 25 homologation sisters of 1969.

After a second laptime at the 1969 Le Mans trials, it led the race for 18 hours, before giving up due to gearbox troubles (Elford/Attwood).
It then served as a test car to remedy the perfectible aerodynamics of the 917: it is therefore the first 917K ('Kurz') in history !

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ike 917-008, 917-025 was born in 'long tail' configuration.

Its best race result is a 3rd place in Montlhéry in 1970, under the Swiss banner of Zitro Racing. 18th on the grid of the 1971 Le Mans 24 Hrs (Martin / Pillon), it climbed up to 9th place in the early morning before giving up (gearbox troubles).
Its career would take a new start in ... Brazil in 1972, as it was bought by Emerson Fittipaldi and raced for his brother Wilson (victory at Interlagos). It stayed in the Fittipaldi family until 1982.

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he Porsche 910 chassis 005 was a factory team car at the 1967 12 Hours of Sebring (Patrick / Mitter), with a brilliant 3rd place and a class victory at the end. At Spa, the Mitter-Koch duo finished 7th, then it was used as a spare car at the Nürburgring.

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ire !
Wearing the legendary Jägermeister colors, this Porsche 934 (chassis 930 670 0168) holds a Group 4 category victory in the 1000km of Nürburgring 1976, in the hands of Helmut Kelleners. It had a long career, punctuated by a 9th place overall at the 1982 24 Hrs of Daytona.

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oys for big boys... No need to say more. The Porsche 935 K3 (chassis 009 00016) stands like a swollen and ferocious mutation of the 911 !

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rom Porsche to Ferrari... Easy transition, as the trajectories of the two 'prancing horse' brands are closely linked.

512S-1004 is one of the 5 Ferrari 512S, officially engaged in 1970 at the Daytona 24hrs, but its race ended early due to an accident, with Ickx behind the wheel. After a factory repair, its acts of glory are a third place at the Monza 1000km, and at the Targa Florio as well.

Among the 26 certified chassis, The history of this one is... Surprising.

Ferrari sold it at the end of the 70s, inexplicably under the label 1024 ! During the 80s, the real 1024 resurfaced. To avoid a double numbering, Ferrari renamed the 'false 1024' into 1012... But, during a certification procedure, the experts discovered the proof of the Daytona repair on this chassis !
Ferrari then published: 'the 512 we had sold as 1024 was in reality 1004. Apparently we made a mistake'.

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nd the best mechanical symphony is awarded to ... The Ferrari 333 SP (chassis 034) : like most of the last 333 produced, it has never been put on the track for racing. Never mind, its current Endurance Legends pilots (Narac / Lecourt) are enjoying the climbs of its fabulous V12 4.0L 60 valves, that happily exceed 10,000 rpm !

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ard braking, at the end of the pits straight ...
Precisely, this 512 BB LM chassis 35525 benefited from some improvements, such as... The Porsche 935 brakes (!) and the specific BBS wheels, 17 inches at the front, and 19 inches at the rear.
It was entered at Le Mans in 1981 by the Rennod team for the Belgian trio Dieudonne / Xhenceval / Libert. The 'European University' Ferrari would see the checkered flag, 9th overall and 3rd in the IMSA GTX class.

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nother BB LM, the 26683 chassis of the NART (North American Racing Team)
It participated to the 1979 and 80 24 Hrs of Daytona, and to Le Mans 1979 24 Hrs (and did not finish in these 3 races).

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K, this is a replica based on a GTE, but it is gorgeous anyway !

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et's stay in the gray tones matching with the sky's : another Ferrari (250 GT Berlinetta), entered in the 'Greatest Trophy'.

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ifty shades of grey.

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iew on the entrails of a Ford GT40, through the hood grille.

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wo means of transportation... When the base and the top of the pyramid meet...

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hilippe Gache demonstrated his talent behind the wheel of a Lola T292.

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he Lola T600 has such a particular silhouette, dictated by aerodynamics... This streamlined rear wheels prototype makes a maximum use of the ground effect, generated by tunnels profiled like inverted aircraft wings. The T600 was initially compliant with the new GTP category of the American IMSA championship. It succeeds in bringing down the Porsches, that reigned there since 1977.
Matching both IMSA GTP and Group C regulations, it has raced on both sides of the Atlantic.
This HU2 chassis was entered at the 1981 24 Hrs of Le Mans, powered by a Porsche 3-liter turbo engine. Delivered in a hurry just before the event, it failed to qualify despite the talent of Brian Redman and Bobby Rahal.

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hat a fantastic car this ACEMCO team Saleen S7R is. Third of the 2004 ALMS (Brabham / Mowlem / Borcheller), it only arrived in the European FIA GT... 5 years later.
This GT1 (chassis 029R) may be seen as 'rustic' with its 7.0 liter Ford V8, but its loooooonnnnng bodywork is a true beauty !

FORD Capri 3100 RS 1975

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his is a BMW M1 Procar (id #4301076), which livery cannot pass unnoticed...

The Procar races were occuring as preliminary events of the European F1 Grand Prix, in 1979 / 1980. Some F1 drivers were selected to compete in it, according to their performances in their single-seaters; some others, coming from other championships (endurance, tourism), were completing the grids.
The overall winners were Niki Lauda in 1979 and Nelson Piquet in 1980.

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confess I really enjoyed this spot (Virage du Camp), also because a shy ray of sun had deigned to appear !

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ome French blue ('Bleu de France')...
This Ligier JS 2 (chassis 2538 73 03) is a glorious one : winner of the 1974 Tour Auto, powered by a Maserati V6, then 2nd in the 24 Hours of Le Mans the year after, with the Cosworth V8 !

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nd some Gulf blue, accompanied by its traditional orange companion !

The Mirage GR7 / 704 is a conversion of the M6 / 604 chassis which began its career in 1973; at the 24 Hrs of Le Mans, it was driven by Mike Hailwood, John Watson and Vern Schuppan. Schuppan was cruising at a promising 3rd position... When he lost its control.
In 1974, after repair and conversion, Bell and Hailwood took it to the 2nd place in the 1000km of Spa, and to the 4th place at Le Mans despite problems with electronics and suspension.
Beautifully preserved, it is now a member of the very exclusive ROFGO collection of Roald Goethe, the president of Gulf Oil Europe. He drives it regularly in historic races, supported by Stuart Hall (4th at the 2007 24 Hrs of Le Mans) that we see here on the Paul Ricard starting grid.

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nfortunately, the sublime Lola T92 is driven at 50% of its possibilities ... A mixed lineup with a professional pilot would be a great added value, to show its real potential on the track.

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ore and more recent historic cars are aligned in the Endurance Legends series ! The 'art car' livery of this JMW Aston Martin Vantage was the winner of a Dunlop Internet design contest.
Tim Sugden, Rob Bell and Bryce Miller would be forced to resign during the 2010 24 Hrs of Le Mans. This 006 chassis is one of 10 official Vantage GT2s built by Prodrive.

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he Panoz Esperante GTR1 is not lacking originality, with its huge front hood housing a big Ford V8 6.0L block.
Called the 'Batmobile', this Reynard-designed GT1 was rewarded with a great love rating by the fans ! The white chassis 003 has competed, among other races, in the 1997 and 2004 24 Hrs of Le Mans, under the flags of David Price Racing and Larbre Compétition (withdrawals).

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ll the Porsches we could hope, and some surprising ones like this Zagato-bodied 356 !

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n the pack of the 2.0 liters 911 series (35 competitors !), the drivers happily fight in a festival of slides.

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his Kremer Porsche 962 is built around the Thomson CK6-08 / 03 carbon chassis; it raced 3 times the 24h of Le Mans in 1991, 1992, 1993, taking respectively the 9th, 7th and 12th places.

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bermaier Racing 962-155 still wears the Le Mans logo and drawing, like in 1993.
This livery was at the origin of a fight between the team and the ACO, which initially denied Obermaier to compete under these colors, in spite of an honorable 9th place in the trials.
Curiously (when one knows the traditional inflexibility of the ACO), the organizer finally gave up, and this 962 crossed the line in 7th position, with the unofficial title of first Porsche classified.

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till a Porsche 962C, the 962-170 chassis of the Japanese team Trust Racing, which is one of the last delivered by the Porsche factory. It was never raced on a track !

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he Trifecta of the Group C, second race.

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ood bye, and see you soon for a next event !