Report on the Rallye Historique du Var

Report of Silver Arrows Racing's participation in the 26th edition of the Rallye Historique du Var, race counting for the FIA European Historic Rally Championship

HERTSBERGE – December 1st, 2010. From November 25th till 28th the area around Sainte Maxime at the French Riviera was the location for the 26th edition of the Rallye Historique du Var. 45 rally cars registered for this event which also counts as race for the FIA European Historic Rally Championship. The total distance of the course was 583 km including 9 special stages counting for 188 km. Porsche had the most entries with 15 cars followed by 9 beautiful Renault Alpine cars. Silver Arrows Racing was respresented by Bart Vanhaverbeke with co-driver Filip Lecomte in their black Mercedes 500 SLC. Only other Belgian team was Kurt Vanderspinnen with Raud Stroper who would battle for the first place in the European Championship in their Ford Lotus Cortina.

While the Silver Arrows service team pitched its tent on the parking of the amusement park of Port Grimaud the recce was carried out under a radiant sun accompanied by a hard and cold Mistral wind from the northwest. From the beginning it was clear that narrow and winding trails in the hills would not only be very technical but would also punish any mistake with a fall in a ravine or a tasting at a mountain or tree. Moreover, the evening before the rally it started raining quite heavily which made the team fear for the worst.

Fortunately, during the night the strong Mistral wind had blown everything dry again and after the noon the rally was able to be started in sunny and dry conditions. Rain was however forecasted for Sunday, last day of the rally.

The team Vanhaverbeke-Lecomte started with number 242 as 32nd in the first and 16.5 km long special stage of Pignans. Despite a rather nervous start the team found its rhythm quite fast but was held up halfway by a slower competitor in a Fiat 124 Coupé who didn’t make room and as such could not be overtaken. Nevertheless, a 16th time was set at only 1 minute 4 seconds behind stage winner and favorite for overall victory Jean Charles Redele with co-driver Laurent Cordonnier in a Renault Alpine A110. Mechanical problems forced the team Vanderspinnen-Stroper to retire after the first stage and thereby losing any chances for class victory in the European Championship.

The second stage of Collobrières was 33.15 km long with in the first part a slow hill climb with lots of hairpins and in the second part a long descent with a rapid succession of fast curves along the mountainside. Detailed knowledge of the stage was a considerable advantage and as this was the team’s first participation they decided to not take any risks. The Silver Arrows team set the 20th time, 2 minutes and 26 seconds behind stage winners Redele-Cordonnier.

After a short service time of only 15 minutes and a half hour regroup the rally continued along the French Riviera coast to Canadel where the 3rd and last stage of the day would be driven. Once arrived, the team looked at a delay and waiting time of over 2 hours because… a spectator had fallen out of a tree and had to be hospitalized with an open fracture.

In the mean while it had become very dark in the mountains and the stage had to be raced with a cold engine, cold brakes and cold tires. Outside temperature had fallen to just above freezing. Knowing that the rally would not be won or lost in this stage, the team decided to drive carefully and arrived on the 30th place, 1 minute and 16 seconds behind stage winners Frédéric Raynal and Jérome Louveirol in a Ford Escort RS.

The Silver Arrows team concluded the first day in a provisional 19th place in the overall ranking that was still led by the team Redele-Cordonnier in a Renault Alpine, followed by Gérard Morière and Odette Gabelle in a Porsche 911 SC.

The second day of the event on Saturday started early as the first car had to leave the start park at 6.11 hours. The freezing cold had not done any good to the battery of the Mercedes and 7 minutes were lost to get the car going again. However, the resulting 70 seconds penalty time motivated the team to set a good time in the first special stage of the day, the 14.2 km long stage of Gonfaron. This stage is partly driven on the first stage of Pignans but in opposite direction. Despite the annoyance of a low sun the team managed to clock the 10th time, only 47 seconds behind stage winners Miroslav Janota and Pavel Dresler in an Opel Kadett GTE.

Next, came the 10.6 km long stage of Bormes les mimosas where the Silver Arrows Mercedes set the 15th time, 33 seconds behind winners Redele-Cordonnier. The final stage in the morning was again Canadel and here the team arrived in 17th position, 34 seconds behind Redele-Cordonnier who were also leading the rally with 25 seconds advance on the team Morière-Gabelle in a Porsche 911 SC.

Upon the return to the service park clouds began to appear and first snowflakes began to fall. Since the 32.2 km long stage of Vidauban would be driven in the mountains and as the drive to the stage was over an hour Bart Vanhaverbeke decided to replace the slick tires by intermediates for a wet and damp road surface. A wrong decision as it turned out because at the start of the stage the road was still sufficiently dry, despite some light snow.

The stage of Vidauban starts with wide and fasts corners that allow high top speeds. The second part descends in a small, slippery and dirty road along a steep mountainside. Despite the lack of grip the race started very well for the powerful Mercedes and the rhythm was quickly found until…half way on the Col de Gratteloup driver Bart Vanhaverbeke came out of a left turn followed by a treacherous right to fast, lost control of the car and slid into a ditch against the mountainside. The team immediately realized that the rally was over for them. The numerous spectators helped the car back on the road but the hard impact had torn off the left front wheel which made further continuation impossible.

After being towed back to the service park the damage could be better analyzed and did not seem so bad after all. With a new bumper, front wing, left triangle and revised damper the car would be ready again for its next race.

Bart Vanhaverbeke is despite his disillusion about his forced retirement still very happy: “It’s a pitty we had to retire as a result of a wrong tire choice. This event also proved how important it is to be familiar with the stages. I am nevertheless very satisfied with the progress we have made since the Ypres Rally and the Tour of Flanders rally afterwards. Besides the increased reliability we have made immense progress with the road handling and the gearbox of the car.”

He explains: “Due to my limited experience with the stage I only used 70% of the potential of this car. While on the first day I was lagging between 1 and 2 minutes behind the leaders I already managed to reduce the gap to around 30 seconds on the second day. With the Silver Arrows Mercedes an experienced driver could battle for a place in the top 5 without any problems and who knows could even win.”

Bart Vanhaverbeke concludes: “I would also like to thank the service team that managed to preventively replace a servo pump in a 15 minute service slot and as such kept us in the race. Thanks to them we had a smooth rally without any worries. I already look forward to next year where we will be at the start of several national and international rally events.”

Overall victory in the rally went as expected to the team Redele-Cordonnier in a Renault Alpine A110, followed at 1 minute 12 seconds by the team Morière-Gabelle in a Porsche 911 SC. Third place was taken by team Myrsell-Esko in a Porsche 911 RS at 2 minutes 34 seconds behind the leaders.

About Silver Arrows Racing
Silver Arrows Racing is an organization specialized in full service renting of Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC historic rally cars for participation to historic rally and regularity events. Aside from the rally cars the company has a complete infrastructure for the maintenance, transport and storage of the cars before, during and after an event. Silver Arrows Racing focuses on Belgian events but offers its clients also the possibility to take part in international events.
For more information on Silver Arrows visit www.silver-arrows.com

About the Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC Rally car
The Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC rally car participated in its first official rally during the Vuelta America del Sud in 1978 and immediately won 1st, 2nd and 4th places in this 30.000 km long endurance race. Famous pilots such as Bjorn Waldegard, Hanu Mikkola en Andrew Cowan offered Mercedes in the following years many victories and top scores in WRC rally and other events. The car has a 5L V8 aluminum engine with close to 300 HP and has been completely adapted for the rally circuit. Apart from an automatic/semi-manual gearbox with 4 gears the car also has a hydraulic hand brake, Reiger dampers, BBS monobloc rims and a FIA certified roll cage.

Ref. 09/10

For more information and high resolution images contact:
Filip Lecomte
Press Relations
Silver Arrows Racing
pressinfo@silver-arrows.com
Tel.: +32 475 42 93 65