Circuit des Remparts

PostPost by: JJDraper » Fri Sep 21, 2007 10:35 pm

Last weekend was a blast! A trip down to the Circuit des Remparts event in Angouleme, France. The venue is smaller in scope than CLeM, further away from the UK, but a jewel of an event - highly recommended. My intention to take the +2 was met by raised eyebrows, but an idle boast cannot be withdrawn easily!

Half an hour out of Caen I had to do an emergency stop (looking at the scenery instead of the road...). The car stopped OK, but it pulled heavily to the right. This pull on braking continued, so I concluded that something was not right. A stop at the side of the road confirmed my fears.... one of the lower front wishbones had fractured the stub mounting on the chassis, pushing into the chassis cross member slightly. Limping into Argentan, I found a 'Speedy Pneus' (equivalent of Kwik Fit for those in the UK). The proprietor sportingly agreed to put it on a ramp and have a look. Much tutting and shaking of heads confirmed that he could not repair it, but he made a phonecall and directed us to a garage on the outskirts of the town to a man 'Il repare les camions' (forgive my appalling French). The car was guided over a deep dark pit, and the garage owner had a look and said 'Pas de probleme'. 20 minutes later, the weld was done and I parted with an improbably modest amount of Euros.

Taking it rather more easily, we continued down to our accomodation near Angouleme. The car performed brilliantly, even with the hot weather and only one stop for petrol.

Race day was buzzing and arriving early, we were directed (rather unexpectedly) into the display area in the centre of town. There were quite a few modern Loti; Elises and some Caterhams, but no other Elans.... One French Europa, but I think this had a Renault engine. The +2 got quite a bit of attention, but I was somewhat embarressed by the very flakey paintwork and corroded alloys. Perhaps a trip to Options 1 is in order.

French food and drink was all as expected; I broke my Lotus, one member of the party fell in a ditch and broke a rib, while another fell in the river. So all in all quite a successful 'Grumpy Old Men on Tour' event, with plenty to laugh at.

Date is booked again for next year....

Jeremy

PS I took a bottle of the local stuff to both the garages on the way back, which was greatly appreciated. If you are ever stuck near Argentan, call Garage Berson, 02 33 67 45 85.... but try and speak French!
Attachments
Angouleme 5.jpg and
The Jag got quite a bit of attention as well, fresh from Frankfurt.
Angouleme 4.jpg and
Some Lotus interest..
Angouleme 3.jpg and
Angouleme 2.jpg and
+2 on display in Angouleme
Angouleme 1.jpg and
Guess which one got there first!
Chassis weld.jpg and
Temporary Chassis repair - soon to be made permanent by Spyder.
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PostPost by: steveww » Mon Sep 24, 2007 10:02 am

Good to hear you had a great adventure. My S4 missed its trip to France this year due to a cracked dizzy :cry:

I went to the Circuit des Remparts in my Lotus 2 years ago and it is indeed a great event.
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PostPost by: rjaxe » Fri Sep 28, 2007 1:44 pm

JJDraper wrote:Last weekend was a blast! A trip down to the Circuit des Remparts event in Angouleme, France. The venue is smaller in scope than CLeM, further away from the UK, but a jewel of an event - highly recommended. My intention to take the +2 was met by raised eyebrows, but an idle boast cannot be withdrawn easily!

Half an hour out of Caen I had to do an emergency stop (looking at the scenery instead of the road...). The car stopped OK, but it pulled heavily to the right. This pull on braking continued, so I concluded that something was not right. A stop at the side of the road confirmed my fears.... one of the lower front wishbones had fractured the stub mounting on the chassis, pushing into the chassis cross member slightly. Limping into Argentan, I found a 'Speedy Pneus' (equivalent of Kwik Fit for those in the UK). The proprietor sportingly agreed to put it on a ramp and have a look. Much tutting and shaking of heads confirmed that he could not repair it, but he made a phonecall and directed us to a garage on the outskirts of the town to a man 'Il repare les camions' (forgive my appalling French). The car was guided over a deep dark pit, and the garage owner had a look and said 'Pas de probleme'. 20 minutes later, the weld was done and I parted with an improbably modest amount of Euros.

Taking it rather more easily, we continued down to our accomodation near Angouleme. The car performed brilliantly, even with the hot weather and only one stop for petrol.

Race day was buzzing and arriving early, we were directed (rather unexpectedly) into the display area in the centre of town. There were quite a few modern Loti; Elises and some Caterhams, but no other Elans.... One French Europa, but I think this had a Renault engine. The +2 got quite a bit of attention, but I was somewhat embarressed by the very flakey paintwork and corroded alloys. Perhaps a trip to Options 1 is in order.

French food and drink was all as expected; I broke my Lotus, one member of the party fell in a ditch and broke a rib, while another fell in the river. So all in all quite a successful 'Grumpy Old Men on Tour' event, with plenty to laugh at.

Date is booked again for next year....

Jeremy

PS I took a bottle of the local stuff to both the garages on the way back, which was greatly appreciated. If you are ever stuck near Argentan, call Garage Berson, 02 33 67 45 85.... but try and speak French!
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