Mercedes-Benz once again provided the star feature for September’s second running of the Weekend de L’Excellence Automobile de Reims, only instead of last year’s recalcitrant Streamliner, this year the company brought along a 1955 W196R Grand Prix open-wheeler. A period driver was provided as well, with Hans Herrmann taking over at the wheel, once Jean Alesi had to dash off to the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
Now 80 years old, but still with a twinkle in his eye, Herrmann demonstrated he’d lost none of the skills that helped him set the fastest lap of the race during the 1954 French Grand Prix at the legendary circuit. He managed to surprise a few people by roaring down the fast back straight to Thillois.
With the Circuit de Gueux being made up of public roads, that back straight is now part of a dual carriageway, one side of which was simply closed off for the weekend, so racecars ran down one side while the regular traffic picked its way through a contraflow on the other side of the barrier! Thankfully, Health and Safety legislation has not yet blighted French life. Having said that, building upon the experiences of last year, the circuit was made a little more secure, leading to fewer chicanes and higher speeds. That in itself led to a few accidents, particularly on the very wet Saturday, including a rolled Renault Alpine (wouldn’t have thought that possible) and an off-with-a-broken-wheel for a near-new Corvette.
Aside from the Merc, a goodly variety of machinery took part in the demos during the weekend. Essentially, the event is open to pre-1969 vehicles, but later stuff of interest is also allowed, hence the unlikely site of a Pikes Peak Peugeot 405 from 1988 taking to the circuit! Among the more interesting and unusual French cars were a 1910 Leon Bollee, a ’38 Peugeot Darl’Mat, ’49 Gordini 23S, and ’76 Rondeau Inaltera Le Mans car. Speaking of Le Mans, catching a lot of attention was a very good replica of NART’s 1972 Le Mans Corvette C3.
Hopefully, this is an event that will grow in stature year after year; it needs to attract more interesting machinery out onto the track, and also needs greater support from clubs to create a better static display. The organizers have put a lot into the event, and the public turns out in large numbers, but it needs the support of more car owners.
by John Elwin
