Grand Prix de Pau Historique

Report by Hugues Mallet

“Did you know that the race at Pau was the first race to have been named "Grand Prix" (1901), the name coming from the horse races that used to be run there? And that it was at Pau that a certain Argentinean racing driver, Juan Manuel Fangio won his first race on the Old Continent there?”

Pau is a mythical circuit, virtually unchanged since racing began there in 1901 and, since its inception in 2001, the Grand Prix de Pau Historique has been eagerly awaited each year by historic racers. Over the years there have been some sumptuous grids: Grand Prix cars with the HGPCA; Formula 1 – bringing with it the sound of the V-8 Cosworth or the V-12 BRM reverberating on the city’s walls; – Formula 2; prototypes with the V-12 Matras, the Lola T70s, Ligiers, etc; and the GT cars with the Cobras and the Berlinetta Ferraris. It was nothing like that this year and the disappointment could be read in the faces because even the grids that were present were less full than in previous years, and less full than the same series at other circuits this season.

Arnaud Rechede winner of the first Formula Ford race

Having said that, there was plenty of good sport over the weekend despite the appallingly wet weather conditions – worse even than in 2007.

Racing started with Formula Ford and offered a great duel between the local Arnaud Rechede in his Lola T540 and Neil Fowler in his T200, the two drivers passing and re-passing one another throughout.

Saturday also saw the fullest grid of the event with the Formula 3 Classic, a mixture of single seaters, including Formula Renault, so numerous they were split into two grids, with the fastest to race in a final on Sunday.

The second grid was, alas, cancelled because of a particularly violent thunderstorm and positions for Sunday’s final were determined on practice times. This took place in conditions that weren’t much better, and it allowed the eclectic Philippe Gache to run away without rival after Patrice Faurie lost all chance with two mistakes, one of which nearly cost him a trip into the scenery. Francis Dougnac took second podium step, with Walter Hoffmann third ahead of Bernard Honnorat.

	The Sports cars had a murky race

The first of two Formula Junior races took place on Sunday morning and it was François Derossi in his Chevron B17 who went first into the lead to be later overhauled by regular Paul Alquier’s Lotus.

The PMO Sportscars was one of the grids to suffer the most defections. Run on an extremely wet track Eric Perou and Luc Cheminot won the one-hour race with their Chevron B8 ahead of Paul Conway’s Morgan and the little Elva of Roger wills.

In the GT & Sports Car Cup qualifying, a track that became wetter and wetter saw Jeremy Welch put his faithful red Austin Healey 3000 on pole position, just 1/10th of a second ahead of Jon Minshaw’s Jaguar E-type and... seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field!

Put together by Mark Campbell of the Aston Martin Owners Club in Britain, there was also a one-hour race on the programme for Aston Martins, from ‘30s to ‘50s.

The meeting wound up under a deluge of rain as the ASAVÉ Challenge cars lined up for their traditional one-hour enduro. Porsche starred in this show, with Patrick Andreoli leading for just about the whole race winning ahead of Patrick Delannoy, FFSA official Philippe Gosset, local French Supertouring car driver Eric Cayrolle, and Jonathan Hartop making a remarkable fifth in his Mini, having won the U2TC race earlier and the accolade of drive of the weekend.

The lack of ambiance in a paddock that was not as full as usual, and the relentlessly wet weather meant that this edition of the Pau event will not be remembered as one of the best. With a new mayor of the city, and some fresh enthusiasm from the automobile club, the event should come back next year in a renewed state. When it’s good, it’s very, very good, and the Grand Prix Historique de Pau should not be allowed to languish unsupported by the racers. We would sorely miss it if it disappeared.

For a full report and results see our July issue

Jonathan Hartop won the U2TC race from a very competitive field, as well as coming a remarkable fifth in the ASAVÉ race with much later cars