ETAPE 4

READY FOR THE FINAL SPRINT! 

Saint-Tropez here we come. The turquoise coloured waters of Lac du Bourget reflected the snow-covered peaks of the Alps as the Princesses set off on the marathon stage. Over 400 kilometres on this 4th and penultimate stage of the RALLYE DES PRINCESSES RICHARD MILLE. There are no straight lines in the road book and the surrounding mountains help to apply the rule. It means these classic cars inevitably suffered. Engines overheated, drum brakes too. A few throw in the towel but the vast majority fight on. Sometimes they even managed to continue without losing any points. But all were relieved to get to the lunch stop in Sisteron. The pause is all too brief and the cork trees of the Maures Massif remained unmoved as the old cars push on, en route for BERTAUD BELIEU’s vineyards and the end of the stage. A quick shower and it was off to the famous Place des Lices for an alfresco dinner and a bowls match under the plain trees. 

THE PASS PARQUETOUT PLAYS ITS ROLE 

After some complicated arithmetic the results were finally calculated. Starting with the intention of using the Parquetout pass to pull out a lead, CAROLE GRATZMULLER and ELISA NOÉMIE LAURENT (Chevrolet Corvette Stingray n°56) lost concentration right at the end of this fourth and penultimate stage, allowing their rivals to take their second stage victory on the trot and come within two points of their rivals overall. The GRAND PRIX DE SAINT-TROPEZ, the final stage of the rally to be fought out over three zones tomorrow will no doubt be fiercely fought over. 11 and 15 points respectively behind the leaders, ADELINE PAQUIERS / HÉLÈNE EUVRARD (AC COBRA n°100) and MARINA ORLANDI CONTUCCI / VALÉRIE DOT (Lancia Beta Monte-Carlo n°90) are theoretically in with a chance, but are more likely to fight it out for the last place on the final podium of this 20th RALLYE DES PRINCESSES RICHARD MILLE. 

FLASHBACK: TWENTY YEARS AGO… 

Marie-Claire Levouedec: “We set off in the wrong direction!” 

Twenty years ago, almost to the day, the RALLYE DES PRINCESSES set off for their odyssey over France’s most scenic roads. With 18 cars on the start line this atypical event broke down stereotypes, allowing women to get behind the wheel on a rally specifically designed for them, by them… 

In 2005, Marie-Claire Le Vouedec and her mother Jacqueline made their first appearance on the RALLYE DES PRINCESSES RICHARD MILLE. Today, with 15 participations on the clock, the duo from Britany are among the most ‘regular’ participants on the event. A glance in the rear-view mirror is all you need to understand what binds this inseparable pairing to the most feminine of French automobile rallies.  “We rented an Alfa Roméo Duetto for our first outing”, remembers Marie-Claire, once again on the rally for this 20th RALLYE DES PRINCESSES RICHARD MILLE aboard her Mercedes 190 SL n° 30. “But neither of us had the faintest idea of what competing in a regularity rally entailed. We didn’t even know how to read a road-book ! That first year we finished second to last, but we had such a good time, and enjoyed the route and the atmosphere so much, we decided to come back the following year, with a bit more experience under our belts… » 

TOMORROW: THE GRAND PRIX OF SAINT-TROPEZ 

Thursday 6 June:  Saint-Tropez - Taradeau - Saint-Tropez (214 km) 

This 20th edition of the RALLYE DES PRINCESSES RICHARD MILLE obviously had to be a bit special. Which is why the Princesses arrive this Wednesday evening before embarking on the bouquet final of their dreams - three ZRs in the hills behind the famous port for a Grand Prix of St Tropez which will no doubt decide the winner. Care will need to be taken climbing up to the village of Mons (ZR18), the penultimate Regularity Zone of the rally. And then onto the perfect place to blow out the twenty candles of this anniversary edition – the Château Saint-Martin de Taradeau – birthplace of the Paris - St-Raphaël Rally. An essential homage before returning to Saint-Tropez and the final podium erected at the famous Places des Lices, prelude to the gala prize giving at the Domaine Bertaud Bellieu, among the best vineyards of the Gassin plateau, for the gala prizing giving. Let the festivities begin! 

INTERVIEWS 

Marie Mittou (Fr/Mercedes 190 SL n°15): “We’re pretty tired because regularity rallies demand a lot of concentration. It requires teamwork. It isn’t the driver, nor the co-driver, it’s both. Fortunately, we knew each other very well before coming on this rally. We have also been lucky with our car that hasn’t missed a beat since the start. Yesterday we were 33rd overall which is not so bad for a first attempt. And we’ve learnt a lot. Now we know how to use all our instruments. We did the navigation course before but obviously you only really understand once you’ve started.” 

Stephanie Brandys (Fr/Porsche 356 n°18): “Our bumpers are in wood because we are sponsored by Riva. We formed a relationship with them because their boats are elegant and this rally is all about elegance. And of course this race finishes in Saint Tropez where there are a lot of Rivas. This is our first Rallye des Princesses and we’ve had a great time. Sportingly it has been very demanding. It requires a lot of concentration and quite a lot of transpiration, but we’ll do another no problem. Honestly we’ve been surprised by how hard it is. We started badly because we got lost and picked up 1000 penalty points. But since then we’ve upped our game and today we finished one of the ZR in fifth place.” 

Linda Morselli (Ita/Porsche 356 n°2): “This RALLYE DES PRINCESSES RICHARD MILLE is really an extraordinary experience. Today, on the eve of the finish, we are a little tired, so we took it easy. I love driving and the roads are magnificent. The big job goes to my co-driver. It has taken us 3 days to understand all our navigation instruments. Tomorrow we’ll be ready to start the rally! We really enjoyed this last stage! This rally is much more competitive than we imagined and if we come back next year we intended to be properly prepared.” 

Trui Vanhaelemeesch (BE/Alfa |romeo Giullia Spider 1599 n°33): “This is our fourth participation and we wouldn’t have missed the 20th edition for anything! A navigation mistake cost us 800 points on the first day. But there’s worse things that can happen! Since then everything has gone according to plan… up until this morning. Our car overheated and we realised that it was low of water. Fortunately a spectator came to our help and filled us up. We’ll need to keep an eye on that over the last stage…” 

Genevieve Verhelst Grislain (BE/MG B Roadster n°69): “After having taken part in 2016 we really wanted to come back. It is an extraordinary adventure. We got lost the first day, which us cost us a lot right from the start. Since then we have been climbing up the score board. This morning we were 13th and we dream of finishing in the top 10 at the end. It is a daily battle with the crew starting just ahead of us. At the finish of every ZR we work out the results and wave at each other. It is very motivating. There’s only a few ZRs left and so we need to stay concentrated.”