From 1970, for 30 years, the races at Chamonix, on the Circuit du Grépon at the foot of the Mont Blanc, were the fourth most important motor sport event in France, after Le Mans, the Grand Prix de France and the Rallye Monte-Carlo. The competition stopped in 2004 due to the weather being too mild to support racing on the ice.
Now Franz Hummel, organiser of the event, has decided to revive it outside of France, where the weather conditions will be more reliably suitable. The first revival event will take place on the ICAR circuit, situated at the former airport of Montréal-Mirabel in Quebec, Canada. Using the old airport structures, the venue offers exceptional comfort including enclosed spectator grandstands. The 1.350km circuit has been made to resemble as closely as possible the old Chamonix circuit, but the new one will be wider, lessening the risk of incident and also providing more scope for overtaking.
Entrants will be offered ample free practice and six heats of 30-minutes each over the weekend. Usually two or three drivers share one car with passengers! Organisers are taking care of everything, from car shipping, to hotel reservations and airline tickets.
Cars are limited to two-wheel drive cars, built before 1981. Amongst the first to enter is recent Tour de Corse winner, Philippe Gache, with a Porsche Grp 4, and his team, SMG, has also entered a Talbot Lotus Grp 2. Team Promogyl has entered evergreen Bob Neyret in a Citroën Grp 2, and Patrick Henry has entered his Alpine Renault. Amongst other famous names on the entry list are Erik Comas and Jean-Claude Andruet, where they will no doubt continue their fight from Corsica. Rumour has it that Tuthill Racing will be entering some of their super-prepared Porsches, and who better, with their winter driving school, to set the cars up for just such a competition. The dates are 24-26 February and those who would like to be on the list to receive more information should email info@24heures-sur-glace.com.
