Classic Racing: Swiss rapidly in shape 🎥

UPDATE TO THE PETER SERIES The popular Classic Endurance Racing Series (CER) of the Peter Auto agency began with the "Dix Mille Tours du Castellet". The Swiss celebrated their first season successes in various fields. A short film gives an insight into the atmosphere in and around the races at Circuit Paul Ricard. The "Dix Mille Tours du [...]

Editorial - August 22, 2020

A short film gives an insight into the atmosphere in and around the races at Circuit Paul Ricard.

The "Dix Mille Tours du Castellet" at the Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France usually mark the end of the season in October for the series of events for historic racing cars organized by the Peter Auto agency from Paris.

In this unusual year, many loyal participants met in the midsummer heat of Provence at the end of July for the belated start of the season. As on all race courses, masks were strictly required to be worn outside the cockpit and private areas.

Time penalty costs Yves Scemama the victory
In the CER2 (Classic Endurance Racing 2) field of 70cc sports cars, the French-speaking Swiss dominated as in the previous year. Yves Scemama landed a start/finish victory from pole position in his Toj SC304 with Cosworth V8 engine.

Start of the CER2 race: Yves Scemama immediately takes the lead in the typically golden Warsteiner-Toj, behind him the red Lola of Frenchman Lafargue (Photos: Photo Classic Racing/Peter Auto).

However, because the driver from Neuchâtel had inadvertently lapped a competitor under yellow during the one-hour race, he was subsequently given a time penalty of 33 seconds. Maxime Guenat in the Lola T286 thus inherited victory with a lead of just 4.2 seconds over Scemama.

No chance against the Frenchman
In the two-liter class, Patrice Lafargue in his Lola T298 did not give his opponents the slightest chance. The Frenchman was the only one to avoid being lapped by the two three-liter cars of Scemama and Guenat in 29 laps.

Maxime Guenat's pit stop. After Scemama's time penalty, he took the win.

Second place seemed to go to defending champion Beat Eggimann in the Cheetah G601. A few laps before the end, he was threatened with running out of gas, whereupon the man from Sissach had to slow down his pace. So Philipp Brühwiler in the Chevron B26 crossed the finish line in second place with a lead of around 5.3 seconds over him.

Toni Seiler with new engine
In the Le Mans sports cars from the sixties (CER1), Peter Vögele in the Porsche 908/3 finished 16th in the field and third in the class over two liters. Toni Seiler was around 7th overall in his Lola T70 MkIII B when he first had to slow down and then retire due to problems with the fuel pressure.

Unlike before, the Zurich native no longer has a 5.7-liter carbureted V8 engine installed, but a 5-liter V8 with Lucas injection. If Seiler gets it running properly, top places can be expected from it again.

Into the midsummer night in Provence. The Shelby Cobra 289 of Urs Beck/Patrick Simon won the Sixties endurance race.

Joy in the night for Urs Beck
Urs Beck celebrated a great victory in the 65-car field of the Sixties' Endurance. Starting sixth in the two-hour race that lasted into the night, Beck took the lead after 17 laps.

At the end of all the driver changes, the Shelby Cobra was still ahead with the German Patrick Simon at the wheel. The professional, who is also a shrewd TV presenter, never relinquished the lead.

Behind the duo, four other Cobras, including two Daytona Coupés, took the front places after 45 laps. The first non-Cobra was the TVR Griffith of Toni Seiler and Beat Eggimann in 7th place, who thus won their class solo.

Start of the touring car field, which was also sensational in Corona-Zeien. On the far left Erlich in the black BMW, in the middle pole setter Van Vliet in the Capri.

For once no Bernese ahead
The unbroken Swiss winning streak in the Heritage Touring Cup for touring cars from the 1970s and 1980s came to an end in 2019. Belgian Christophe Van Vliet led from start to finish in his Ford Capri 3100 RS.

Behind him, Michael Erlich occupied second place for a long time. At an outside temperature of 35 degrees, the tires of his BMW CSL were a tad too soft, so that they began to disintegrate from about the halfway point of the race.

Christophe Van Vliet ahead of Christian Traber. The Belgian ended the winning streak of the Swiss BMW CSL.

The fast notary from Belp subsequently fell far behind the identically built BMW of his neighbor Christian Traber. With a 15-second gap to Van Vliet, the garage owner from Toffen came in second and Erlich, with a 39-second gap, still finished third after one hour.

Podium for the Trabers
In the Endurance Racing Legends field of GT and sports cars from 1990 to 2010, Didier Denat took two second places in his class with a Porsche 993 GT2 in the two 25-minute sprint races.

Father and son Christian and Nicolas Traber had more competition in the class of GT cars built in 2000 and later, bringing their 2002 Porsche 996 GT3 home in third position in the first race and fifth in the second.

Touring car podium (from left): Christian Traber (2nd), Christophe Van Vliet (1st) and Michael Erlich (3rd).

Widmer twice second
In an invitational class, race car drivers from the Historic F3 1000 cc European Trophy and the FIA Lurani Formula Junior Trophy held two joint races as part of this event. In the Formula 3 race cars with single-liter engines, only Briton Jeremy Timms in a 1969 Chevron B15 was twice faster than Christoph Widmer in his three-year older and equally well-maintained Brabham BT18A.

In the Formula Junior race cars, Christian Traber finished fourth twice in the 1962 Lotus 22.

All results can be added to this Link can be taken.