Tour Auto 2021: Opel and the emotional lift

Monday is rarely our favorite day and on the Tour Auto it is the same. The minutes pass far too slowly in an ephemeral Grand Palais without architectural interest . Few light, many people, technical checks that take time. Fortunately, the cars present brighten it all up, with their plastic, their rarity, their density per square meter. Here and there, a Ferrari 250 GT, a Porsche Carrera 6 or RSR in the middle of the pack of 356, more or less bodybuilt BMWs from the light 1800 Ti to the M1 Procar via the 3.0 CSL, a few Alpine berlinettas or even many All kinds of Jaguars . But that's not enough to speed up time and when the evening looms, we don't hang around.

It begins badly

Backed by last year's experience and a very good result with a second place in the category, the Opel crew set off confident in the early morning. Despite small eyes due to waking up at 5 a.m., there are smiles and everyone takes advantage of this special, cozy atmosphere, in an orderly and silent crowd, each team pushing their extinguished car towards the exit, before driving off and disappearing into the night under the dreamy eye of a hundred passionate early risers who came to admire the show.

Still led by Mélina Priam – journalist at Auto Journal – at the wheel and Anne-Chantal Pauwels as co-driver – a role she held in the world rally championship – the little Opel GT sets off for a day of 399 km marked out by a special stage on the road and the circuit of Dijon Prénois. Time is running out on the liaisons and the crews don't have time to hang around on pain of starting the rally with a penalty, some use the excuse to free themselves from certain rules of the highway code while the majority play the game without taking any risk with the legality, which, barring technical difficulties, is enough to reach the various stages in time. First last year in the first special and full of confidence, things will not go in the right direction with an 11th place and 50 second penalty after which we will have to race the rest of the week. On the circuit, same result with an 11th place again and 5 additional penalty seconds. If it is at the end of the ball that the musicians are paid, the atmosphere is rather between gloom and anger. What could have happened? Everything is called into question, from the flawless preparation of the car by the 2 HP Compétition team – present for assistance, to the wrong size tires, including regularity tables that are not precise enough when they come. to be redone? All possibilities are considered, the car fully checked, the new tires changed and the regularity tables from last year brought out of the closet.

Regularity, by the way, how does it work? On the Tour Auto, it is forbidden to use digital measurement tools and everything must be done “the old fashioned way” and the role of the co-driver is at least as important as that of the driver, the two having to be perfectly synchronized. To do this, there is of course the roadbook to follow, then the regularity tables and mechanical times. The regularity tables are declined on each average speed that can be imposed and are calibrated on the odometer of the car taking into account the errors of this one. Thus the tables display, for each average speed, the real and therefore official distance of the Tour Auto, the equivalent distance displayed by the counter of the Opel GT (therefore including measurement errors) as well as the lap times at each hectometre. The co-pilot sets the pace with “3.2.1.Tops”, and the pilot must pass the hundred meters right on the top… and this for 15 to 20 km, while following the paper roadbook. Metronome work!

Tomorrow is another day

If the circuit of Bresse sees our 100% female crew take a modest 14th place and 7 seconds of additional penalties, the two closed road specials of the day will be very different. Between the changes made and the unfailing motivation of Mélina and Anne-Chantal, nothing seems able to resist them for the rest of the day. Thus, the 1900 GT first placed 3rd on the midday special before taking first place on the last special , each time with penalties low enough to move up the general classification and take first place in their category. . A day of 322 km which ends in the best possible way in Aix-les-Bains, but no one is fooled and the lead is particularly low, just 4 seconds, so as not to feel safe.

Shoulder to shoulder

The following two days will see our crew cover 446 km between Aix and Valence then 289 km between Valence and Nîmes with a total of 5 specials on the road and one on the very hilly circuit of Ledenon. Breathtaking roads throughout the day, punctuated by stages and systematic expectations of results, our noses on our phones refreshing the organizer's site, and often looking for the network to do so. This race for regularity, this search for excellence in driving, in pressing the right pedal to always measure out and be in the second you need to be, is done with the 94 crew in Lancia Fulvia 1600 HF, winner in 2020. It's a race within the race that is beginning, where everyone is getting ever closer to the perfect time, often sharing the first 2 or 3 places in each special, by just a few seconds, all with a mutual respect that commands admiration.

At the end of the 4th day, after driving in a downpour at Ledenon, 18 seconds separated us from the leaders while Mathieu Sentis and Géraldine Gaudy, from Argus, took a very good 3rd place with their BMW 2002 Tii 1'20'' behind our Opel GT .

It goes too fast

Already on the last day, the assistance finishes the last checks, like every morning. They are the first in the morning, the last in the evening. Often at the front, looking for a place to fill up if necessary, waiting for the girls shortly after the exit of a special if necessary and then having to get ahead again. Some electrical problems came to liven up the week, which we had to try to solve within the time allowed by the organization, with success in the end. It will therefore be a departure from Nîmes, at the foot of the arenas that the sun tints timidly orange at this early hour. What will follow until the Castelet circuit will be particularly soothing. While the previous days, superb roads followed superb roads, this connection is carried out almost entirely on the motorway. The result is that our two girls must have had a leap in concentration since they only took 11th place on the Paul-Ricard, but only 3 seconds behind the 94 crew. Three short seconds which they immediately took back in the following special where they impose themselves , while we are in the middle of the public. The latter admires the Mercedes 300 SL and other iconic models exceeding one million euros, but all are moved by these few popular models that are the Peugeot 204 of François Allain and Nicolas Guenneteau and the frail Opel . Many remember so and so who had his baby corvette, who loved it. Everyone remembers this friendly, accessible, fun little coupe with even more pleasure than seeing a superb Ferrari 250 GT Lusso.

The last special sees this baby corvette climb to the second step of the podium, 2 seconds ahead of its direct competitors and therefore take a superb 2nd place in the general classification , out of 94 crews, just 16 seconds behind the first after 1,930 km covered. and 14 specials. Congratulation !