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Herringbone and rural turning maneuvers at the 2014 Routes des Vosges Rally

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Created on October 27, 2014

Text:

Thomas Suter

Photos:

Route des Vosges

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Route des Vosges

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Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Pre-war Aston Martin - at the 17th Route des Vosges Rally 2014

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Jaguar Mark 2 - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Lancia Fulvia Zagato - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Rally cars - MG B GT, Alpine A 110, Alfa Romeo GTV - 17th Rally Route des Vosges 2014

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Fiat 850 Sport Coupé - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Sometimes at least the signposts help - 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Jaguar Mk II - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Alfa Romeo Alfasud TI - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Lancia Fulvia Zagato - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Lancia Stratos - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Lancia Stratos - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Jaguar Mk II - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Maserati Mistral - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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MG A - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Triumph TR4 - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Maserati Mistral - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Chevrolet Corvette C2 and MG A - 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Refueling the Maserati Mistral - 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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We're about to continue with the Corvette C2 - 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

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Award ceremony - 17th Rally Route des Vosges 2014

Is "herringbone" an ingredient in a recipe for you? Do you mix "Chinese characters" into your alphabet soup? Then you shouldn't go to the Vosges at the end of October. That's when the "Routes des Vosges" rally takes place, a small but excellent event.

Lancia Stratos - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

Lancia Stratos - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

Copyright / Photographer: Route des Vosges

But if you have an intelligence quotient that tends to be higher than average, then that's half the battle. There is still a danger lurking for teams made up of pairs: There is an acute danger of completely drifting apart within 48 hours!

Experts at work

The "Routes des Vosges" starts in two classes, the "Experts" and the "Tourists". And if you're going to do it, then do it: register for the Experts right away as a cold start, true to the motto "no risk, no fun".

The prologue takes place on Friday evening into the night. After a gentle run-in according to the road book with Chinese signs and section driving, the nastiness begins with the map cut-outs and the herringbone and with map cut-outs that have to be put together. Everything on the same map scale? No, that would be far too easy. Incidentally, the road book for the stage is only handed out one minute before the start time. So no chance to prepare for it properly. This then leads to rally participants coming from all directions suddenly meeting at a crossroads in the middle of nowhere during the map section tests ...

Maserati Mistral - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

Maserati Mistral - at the 17th Rallye Route des Vosges 2014

Copyright / Photographer: Route des Vosges

The chronicler's team had a particularly difficult time in the prologue (which was fortunately scored separately), but at least managed to keep the broom wagon, which had to clear the license plates at the roadside, at bay!

Across the Vosges

We really got going on Saturday morning at 08:00. In the following 12 hours, the area around Plombières-Les-Bains (Greater Epinal region) was criss-crossed, all on beautiful side roads, criss-crossing the Vosges, so to speak.
From time to time, the drivers had the opportunity to enjoy the beautiful scenery, while the co-drivers had to work hard and concentrate, bent over the road book and maps.

All in all, the route made up for the effort - but it still made you wish you were back at a Gran Premio Tazio Nuvolari, which is a real "nose water" compared to the "Routes des Vosges": anyone can ride a tube and the route doesn't have to be painstakingly puzzled together. In the Vosges, you were already proud in the evening if you crossed the finish line well ahead of the broom wagon; behind closed doors, the self-esteem grew that you had more or less completed the tests and reached the stage finish.

Sunday saw the end of two more stages, which were similar to those on Saturday. The race ended at midday and most of the participants must have been glad that there was no night stage like on Saturday evening: no more poking around in endless side roads, through farmsteads and through confusing forests with multiple turning maneuvers and new searches ...

Without fancy-pants

The bottom line: a group of enthusiasts led by chief organizer Michel Thomas managed to put on an outstanding event without any fuss. Passages took place without staff in self-control and oh wonder: that also worked. The life partners of the organizing team probably did nothing else for days before the start of the "Routes des Vosges" than bake fruit cakes and quiches, which were served to the rally participants during the short breaks - all this in a relaxed, easy-going atmosphere despite the high demands on the co-drivers.

Local winners

Oh yes, there was also a winner, a Frenchman of course (teams from France, Luxembourg, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland were at the start): Thierion/Thierion led their Alfa Romeo GTV to 1st place, followed by Fluck/Fluck (F) in a Renault Alpine A110 1300 and Hansen/Hilger (F) in a Triumph 2000.

In the net classification, the best Swiss team was Rickenbacher/Küng in a Lancia Stratos, followed at the bottom of the ranking by T. Suter/C. Steinegger in the Alfasud ti; R. Suter/Gabriel in the Aston Martin; D. Suter/Vetter in the MG A; Schorno/Betschart in the Maserati Mistral; and Burri/Rogger in the Fiat 850 Coupé (time lost due to a gas cable repair).

But there will be an opportunity for a rematch next year. Further information and the complete results can be found on the event website.

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