After some years, the UTAC has accepted to re-open its famous Montlhéry track to a limited number of private events for 2009 and we are delighted to be part of them. To start the season, we will use the famous 3.3 kilometre-track, using the banking and its three chicanes, on Saturday 14th March 2009.

 

This is a social event to enjoy this very historical venue, without any notion of competition and no times being recorded. We are therefore asking each person,who participates as an entrant, a driver and a passenger, to respect the track’s regulation.

  

The program will be as follow:

 

8H - 9H: Welcome

9H: Briefing

10H - 12H: Track time

12H - 14H: Lunch

14H - 18H: Track time

 

Cars will be divided into three groups running consecutively, by sessions of twenty minutes. There are strict regulations both in terms of safety and noise to be able to access Montlhéry, which must be respected. Therefore,wewill have to have the details of every person entering the site and all cars must be silenced to be allowed to run. Already entered are Grand Prix Bugattis, a Delage 15S8, two Gordinis (the straight eight cylinder T24S and the T15C Coupe driven by Fangio and Gonzales at Le Mans in 1950, both cars having raced at Montlhéry in period) and perhaps the Porsche 917K, which won the last major International race held at Montlhéry: the 1971 1000 kilomètres de Paris. To keep a period feel to the event, cars will need to be pre-72.

 

If you would like to take part in the ‘Coupes de Printemps’ on 14th March 2009, please fill in the enclosed entry form, each entry is for one car and two people, to include lunch. Each driver (and passenger) must sign the entry form, the number of drivers being limited to two per car. Each additional person must be detailed on the form and his/her access to the track also includes lunch.

 

Should you need any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us quikly :

 

AUTOMOBILES HISTORIQUES

46 avenue du Président Wilson

75116 Paris

Tel: +33 (0) 662 43 64 30

E MAIL: flavienmarcais@hotmail.fr

 

The most famous French historic rally will be back in 2009 on one of the most mythical track, the Montlhéry Autodrome. The first special race of the 2009 Tour Auto will take place on the 12,5 km routier on April 21st.
For ten years this historic rally had been away from the Autodrome.



The Tour de France had been a regular user of the track before WWII. Between 1956 and 1960 several races took place at Montlhéry and in 1959 the Jaguar MKI began its long string of victories in the French race.






With the 2009 Tour Auto Optic 2000 the Linas-Montlhéry track will again welcome an international event. Together with Le Mans Classic, the Ronde du ventoux and the Historic Grand Prix de Pau, Peter Auto is doing its best to revive the memory of French automobile sport.




Organisation : Peter Auto et ASA Tour Auto
Press contact :
Marine Allainguillaume
mallainguillaume@peter.fr

Bertrand Waldbillig
bwaldbillig@peter.fr

Tel : 33 (0)1 42 50 73 40
Fax : 33 (0)1 42 59 48 28


Photo : l'arrivée de l'équipe Chenard & Walker lors du Tour Auto 1930

Last saturday the mythical Autodrome of Linas-Montlhéry welcomed several hundred historic French cars and thousands of visitors.

Organized by UTAC within the French National Heritage days, this exceptional meeting has shown that, when they have the opportunity to come back to the old banking, owners of historic cars and visitors alike are willing to drive hundreds of Km just to be able to walk on this historical site.
                                                                                              

When owners are also been given  the possibility to drive their own car on the only complete period banking in Europe, they are ready to drive thousands of Km. When they know that really exceptional cars will be on show or even seen on the track, they will come from all over the world.

That is what happened last Saturday.

Exceptional cars were present, such as the Renault 40 CV record car, the Peugeot 301 C

Miramas record car and the exceptional Renault "Etoile Filante" powered by a Turboméca turbine which reached 309km/h in 1956. As it was made to go straight it was not driven on the curved banking.

But very rare cars were also to be seen in the paddock. Such as the D8S Delage driven by Patrick Delâge, grand-son of Louis Delâge. A 1923 Léon Paulet, a car manufactured in Marseille. A rarely seen 2 litre Bignan, the Chenard & Walker "Torpille", several DB racers, Amilcar CGSS, Georges Irat, Bugatti, and an exceptional racer built by Ferry powered by a 750cc Renault engine and capable of 200 km/h.



There were also several racing monoposto, among them a F1 Matra, driven by Jacky Stewart in the 70s, another F3 Matra and several Formula junior or Formule France.



Of course there were also hundreds of Renault, Peugeot and Citroën. A rare 2 CV Sahara with two engines was an interesting sight.









But cars were not everything. Spectators have noted with great pleasure that UTAC has begun to renew the historical buildings of the Autodrome. The outside of the banking, the pits and the grand-stand have been repainted and period advertisements have been added to give a 50's atmosphere. A lot of funds have also been spent on the track and amenities. This shows that the managers of UTAC have understood the historical importance of the Autodrome for the classic car owners and also for the general public. We now can be certain that the Autodrome will be preserved for the near future.

The Montlhéry Autodrome will welcome French sports and racing cars up to 1978 on Saturday September 20.


Only pre registered participants and spectators will be admitted, so don't wait to register with UTAC.                                                  

On Saturday August 29, UTAC has received several journalists belonging to the Association des Journalistes du Patrimoine.

UTAC has spent more than 1,5 M Euros in  the year 2008 to renew and enhance the Autodrome. The pits and Grandstand have been repainted as well as the exterior of the banking. 

Period advertisements, such as Yacco and Michelin, will soon be painted on the walls. 

More than 500 cars have registered for the September 20 meeting and registrations are now closed, except for exceptional cars. Utac is also waiting for more than 115 motorcycles. 

There will be three record  cars on the track; a 40 CV Renault of 1926, a peugeot 301 Miramas of 1932 and, of course, a 1933 Rosalie Citroën.

Several other racing cars will also be driven on the banking.

Visitors wishing to come to this meeting should register promptly, as pre-registration will soon close.

         Please go to the French version for details and to see the pictures of the newly painted buildings.        

Translated by William Hunter

The Great War with its death toll in the millions permanently changed our society.  During that conflict women were recruited in trades that until then had been the exclusive domain of men.  Women were recruited as ambulance drivers, mechanics, and similar jobs. And these occupations opened new perspectives for women and offered new challenges. With the change of circumstances, new attitudes and modes of behaviour followed.

 
The motor industry offered opportunities and challengs iin plenty.

 

When the war was over, only a vestige of the market for automobiles remained. The market had been limited to the well-off middle-classes.  But now a new class of working women wee seen as a powerful influences in the market. And manufacturers were at great rivalry to woo this new potential.

Car racing, rallies and concours d'élégance from that time on were to become the most favoured spot for the privileged class to be seen at the wheel of the most beautiful racing cars.

 

From 1923 women were participating in great motoring events like the Bol D'Or.

 

It was in 1925 that women for the first time put their names down for the Monte Carlo Rally.  Mme Mertens in a Lancia, having left from Tunis, had best time in the third Monte Carlo Rally, but was only placed second, having had only one passenger, her husband.  In fact judging was on eight points basis, with six points attributed for each passenger in the car.

 

The first feminine automobile club was created in 1926 and by the 83 year old Duchesse d'Uzès, who had also been the first woman to have obtained a drivers permit as far back as 1898.  It was she who signalled the start of the first women's automobile championship in 1927; an event organised by her club, and run on the Autodrome.

Many competition events were created specifically for women at that time; the best-known being the Paris-La Baule event for women, the Paris St Raphael Rally for women, the women's Automobile Championship organised by the women's automobile club of Paris and which was made up of a series of events for women which were held every year from 1927 on the Autodrome.

The Autodrome, which opened in 1924, was naturally destined to become one of the high points of motor racing for these new female idols.

 

Several such women drivers were highly competitive in races that were reserved for women.  But record books for all categories show that some women set standards that were a challenge to many of the best men drivers.

 

In 1936 the Autodrome featured a series known as "critérium féminin" which was a series of elimination races involving 10 Simca 5s distributed by lottery.

 

Here are some of these famous women who completed on the Autodrome.

 

The English driver Glenda Stewart was well-known for the records she set at the Autodrome.  She also rode motorcycles, for example a Rudge 350 cc.  In 1930 at theLinas-Montlhery Oval, Miss Glenda Stewart reached 185 km/h, and beat the speed record for one hour driving a three wheeled Morgan.  In a straight line at Arpajon she set records for the flying mile and kilometre at 117 mph (160 km/h).  In 1932, she set records for the mile, the hour, and 200 km driving a Derby-Miller 1500 cc.  In 1934, she set a record of 234 km an hour for the oval, which stood for many years.

 

Elisabeth Junek, the Czech driver won the 50 km handicap on the Autodrome in 1927.

 

The most celebrated French driver was Mariette-Hélène Delangle, better known as "Hellé-Nice".  In 1920 she passed her driving licence and bought her first car which was a Citroen.  A famous dancer, she she was often seen in motor racing circles.

 

On 2 June 1929, she entered the third Women's Motoring Day at Montlhéry, where she drove an Omega 623 her by the racing driver Daubecq. She was immediately successful, taking out the Women's Championship  run over 50 km, the Women's Grand Prix over 50 km, and the Concours d'élégance.  She soon became the idol of the news media, and it was her face that the company Lucky Strike, used in its publicity, calling their product: "The cigarette the champion smokes. "

 

Sometime later, Ettore Bugatti offered her a new challenge of joining the select 200 km/h crowd in a 2 l Bugatti 35C as a promotion exercise aimed at attracting women customers.  On the 18th December 1929 at Montlhéry during an officially-conducted test at high-speed run over 10 laps of the oval, she unleashed a lap at the average speed of 197.7 km/h, and in so doing established a new women's record for the circuit, which now stood at 194.3 km/h over 16 km.  The media made her the most famous woman in France.

 

In May 1937 she participated, along with four other women, in a record attempt organised by Yacco on the Montlhéry circuit.  Taking it in turns, they drove for 10 days without stopping, the first Matford 3 .621 litre V8 produced in France. After the withdrawal of Claire Descollas, the attempt took place on the 19th to the 28th of May with Odette Siko team captain, Simone des Forest et Hellé Nice.  The team established 10 world records and 15 international class C. records at average speeds of 140 to 144 km/h.  They covered no less than 32,000 km, gaining, for example, the record for 10 days at an average speed of 139.99 km/h.  The Matford, fitted with special bodywork, was baptised Claire, perhaps in honour of the driver who had to withdraw.

 

Mmme Schell took part in several events at the Autodrome.  In 1928 she won the Paris -- La Baule automobile event for women.

 

Mme Anne-Rose ITIER, in 1928, won the second Grand Prix for women at Montlhéry.  She competed five times in the 24 hour Le Mans race between 1934 and 1939

 

Mme Charlotte Versigny beat the gentleman drivers to win the 1927 Grand Prix de la Baule, driving a Talbot.  She took out the women's championship at the Autodrome in 1928 driving at the Getty ahead of Blanche Meignan in a Sizaire and Mme Lejeune in a BNC.  It was she who inspired Helle Nice to take up motor racing.

 

MmeViolette Morris was an accomplished sportswoman, performing at the highest levels in a number of disciplines.  She was winner of the Bol d'or Automobile in 1927 driving a Benjamin 1100 cc, third in 1926, fourth in 1922 and 1923, in each case driving a Benjamin cycle car.  From 19281932, she managed a motor accessories shop in Paris, Porte de Champerret.  She was known to be quite a wicked lady. http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violette_Morris.

 

Mme Odette SIKO was a competitor for times in the Le Mans 24-hour car race from 1930 to 1933.  She finished fourth in 1932.  In 1937 she was a participant in the Yacco record-breaking team on the Autodrome, driving the Matford.

 

Mme Annet Badel was president of the Georges Boillot racing drivers club created in 1935 at the Autodrome.

Books : 
 

The Bugatti Queen: In search of a motor racing legend
by Miranda Seymour
Editor : Random House (décembre 2004)
ISBN-10: 1400061687
ISBN-13: 978-1400061686  
 



Femmes pilotes de course auto 1888-1970
by J.-F. BOUZANQUET
Editions ETAI
ISBN : 978 2 7268 8749 3  
 




BUGATTI - ELISKA JUNEK - MA VZPOMINKA JE BUGATTI   
OLYMPIA - JUNKOVA Eliska ( JUNEK Elisabeth) 
by Eliska Junek and her husband

Violette Morris, la Gestapiste
by Jean-Emile Neaumet
Editor Fleuve Noir: Crime Story   
 





Violette Morris, la Hyène de la gestap
by Raymond Ruffin
Editions Cherche-Midi (2004)
ISBN : 2 74910 224 3   
 




La Diablesse - La Véritable Histoire De Violette Morris
by Raymond Ruffin
Editor Pygmalion (1989)  
 






Look also this URL :
 
http://speed-queens.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/driver_list.html

In this article, Géo Ham's Drawing com from R&B collection