The shareholders of ASA Morvan, who were not as numerous as the previous week in competitions, nevertheless added some very nice lines to their trophy collection.
The great joy of Eloise Duchaine When former Dijon resident Philippe Baffoun, now living in Provence, looks for a co-driver to participate in a rally, he often turns to ASA Morvan because he knows he will find the right person there, as the Autun club is overflowing with specialists of a very high level. After the Bligny sur Ouche rally, where he called on Eloise to co-drive in the Ford Fiesta WRC, Philippe solicited her a second time to compete with the Alpine GT+ in the Antibes rally, the 3rd round of the French championship. After a very regular race, the crew finished 14th overall out of 55 classified and 78 starters, 4th in 2-wheel drives and 2nd in the amateur challenge.
“It’s a great pleasure to drive such a high-performance car. Antibes is a very tough rally with legendary special stages like Col de Bleine-Mas d’Aiglun, Col du Turini, and Col de Brauss. In the pace notes, there is no respite, it’s non-stop turns. We barely have time to breathe. My next challenge will be the Rallye des Vins Mâcon with Franck Jovin, and then Autun with Philippe,” said Philippe.
At Antibes, there was another ASA Morvan shareholder, Jean-Luc Torliguian, who was the Race Director at the start of a special stage.
Tranquil like Jacky Jacky Duchaine, Eloise’s father, has also become an experienced and highly sought-after co-driver, especially by VHC drivers. To compete in the historic rally of Morocco spread over six days and hundreds of kilometers of special stages in the Atlas and the desert, Aix-en-Provence driver Philippe Galland called on him to co-drive in the Triumph TR7. In the end, Jacky handled his task with all the passion and seriousness he is known for, stating, “During the first stage, we hit a big rock, which twisted the steering rack, making the car unable to turn right. We finished the stage on the trailer and worked all night with the assistance team to repair it. With the time lost, we were no longer looking to improve our ranking. We then drove at our own pace, taking great pleasure, to finish 28th out of 33 classified and 43 starters.”
Glory to the Mountaineers The weekends are similar for Florent Séchepine, who, a week after Coligny, participated in the regional race of Azé-Donzy in Macon where he achieved the same result behind the wheel of his Caterham, finishing 2nd in the Production Cars out of 68 classified and 169/1000th off the winner. Cedric Josserand placed his Peugeot 106 in 13th place overall, including 2nd in the F2000 group and 1st in the F2/2 class. Rachel Zeiler improved significantly on her lap times compared to last year, finishing 66th overall with the Renault Clio, 4th in the N3 class, and winning the Ladies’ Cup. Didier Chaumont placed his Nova Proto with a Honda engine in 11th place out of 28 classified, 2nd in the CN2 group and class.
Additionally, two officials from ASA Morvan, Hervé Chevalier and Hervé Petit, were present at the event.
Jean Moncharmont Photos provided by Eloise and Jacky Duchaine
