2010 Neige & Glace Rally: from February 7th to 10th!

FFSA Regularity road rally
Open from pre-war to 1990 classic cars
2 categories Historic and Tourism, plus a third for a special trophy

The 56th Neige & Glace rally runs from Sunday 7 to Wednesday 10, 2010.
Threee laps around Malsuisson (in Doubs) and a lot of new routes in these nice landscapes of Jura, Bugey, Ain and Doubs

2010 All the rankings day per day

Find the press releases of each day

• Sunday 7 february 2010: Administrative and Technical chekcs at Malbuisson(Doubs).
  
• Monday 8 february 2010: 1st lap: Jura. Malbuisson / Damprichard (lunch) / Malbuisson
  - Mardi 9 février 2010: 2nd lap: Haut-Bugey and Ain Malbuisson / Marchon-Oyonnax (Lunch) / Malbuisson.

- Wednesday 10 february 2010: 3rd lap: Doubs. Malbuisson / Métabief (Lunch) / Malbuisson

Podium Neige & Glace 2010

1er	28	DEFLANDRE Yves / GULLY Eddy (B)	4/3	Alfa Roméo Coupé Bertone 1966	1208	1208	-
2è	20	LAVAL Marcel / DOZO Francis (B)	5/4	Opel Ascona A 1,9 SR GR2 1974	1362	1362	154
3è	30	HORGNIES Raymond / HAYEZ Christophe (B)	4/4	Porsche 911 1967	1484	1484	276

Deflandre is… de winner!

Snow, ice and… cold for this third and final phase of the 56th SNOW & ICE RALLY accompanied the teams on their trip to Métabief, the cross-country capital. With temperatures well below zero, the teams wound their way through the Col du Lancier and the La République at an altitude of over 1,000 metres for two thrilling, chilling morning loops and one last one to return to Malbuisson. Ice skating their way through this decisive stage of the game, the suspense was a thick as the fog draped on the Monts du Doubs. This morning, as the cars left the enclosed parking area – frozen – four teams were battling it out for the top spot on the podium! In the end, despite the challenging final phase (not without a few spontaneous spins n spills), the Belgians Deflandre-Gully (Alfa Roméo Coupé Bertone) were the big winners, passing up their fellow Belgians, Laval and Dozo (Opel Ascona) and Horgnies-Hayez (Porsche 911)...

The Audi… circuit sensation.

Even if the icy circuit in Métabief didn’t count in the overall ranking, all of the teams put their hearts into this exercise to dazzle the many spectators who showed up for the event. The authors of a ‘double 0’ the Belgians Jacques Fievez and André Lys (Audi 80 GLS) proved their prowess of their oldie but a goodie, just in front of the younger version Audi Quattro Turbo (1981) driven by the British team of Adam Marsden and Richard Ingleby. Congratulations go out to Olivier Guitteny and Jean-François Mace who managed to make it into the VIP circle despite a frustrating day with their Simca P60 Monthléry.

When Graziella focuses her energy…

Total novices in terms of regularity rallies Christian Jupsin and his partner Graziella Sablone (Opel Manta) learn fast! In fact, by Tuesday, on the RS9, the Belgian-Italian duo had the best score with only eight little penalty points. Remarkable! Especially if you consider the particularly tricky level of skill needed to successfully compete in the Snow & Ice Rally.

One hundred points, that’s it!

After an evening of careful counting to determine the penalty points to apply to the rather wild 2nd phase on Tuesday the preliminary overall ranking kept everyone on the edge of their seats. Taking the lead all last year, the Belgians Yves Deflandre and Eddy Gully (Alfa Roméo) were a mere 94 points ahead of the 2009 champions, Marcel Laval and Francis Dozo (Opel Ascona). Whereas the Willy Lux and Michel Périn (Lancia Fulvia HF) who led the pack on the first day, slipped to 102 points behind the front-runners. Needless to say anything could happen in this final stage of the game.

Alfa Roméo dented Bertone.

Did the previous day’s leaders succumb to the stress, too concerned about keeping their prime position? At any rate, Yves Deflandre and Eddy Gully seriously changed the look of their beautiful yellow Alfa Roméo Coupé Bertone. Just after a fresh make-over, the winner of the 2010 Snow & Ice is heading home all banged up. But the Belgians couldn’t be happier, especially after seeing victory slip through their hands in 2009 due to mechanical problems.

Delayed by the local residents.

Leaders at the end of the first stage, dropping to third place on Tuesday night, Willy Lux and Michel Périn (Lancia Fulvia) finally lost all hope of making up for the hundred or so penalty points that separated them from the leaders after the first RS of this final stage when they were delayed by the local residents. Precious seconds quickly converted into penalty points that made their Franco-Belgian’s mission completely impossible. Sadder still, the Lancia even lost the preliminary 3rd place to the Horgnies-Hayez duo (Porsche 911). Good sports, the champions accept their situation with a positive attitude, knowing that this type of vagaries is part of the challenge when driving on open roads in a regularity rally.

An impossible incline?

During the morning’s first loop, several competitors were forced to take an alternate route, blocked by a totally icy hill. And what proved impossible for rear-drive propulsion vehicles, was absolutely doable for the front-drive models with better traction, notably the Jacques Fievez’s Audi 80. However, given the massive traffic jam this all created, the on-site race commissioners decided to close the hill and reroute the rest of the caravan.

A tough dessert.

For those who wanted more, the final phase of the 2010 Snow & Ice Rally proved especially tough. Despite the cancelation of one RS and the shortening of the itinerary by some ten kilometres, many of the participants were exhausted when they finally made it back to Malbuisson. And there were a few more dents on various vehicles, notably on the Liquière-Achard team’s Porsche 914.

INTERVIEWS

Yves Deflandre (Belgian/Alfa Romeo): “We managed to ward off the bad luck we ran into on the last day of last year’s Rally. This year’s event was truly superb, though challenging in many ways. The car suffered quite a bit as did the crew. This victory will certainly count more than the others given the particularly high level of difficulty.”

Marcel Laval (Belgian/Opel Ascona): “What counts above all is having fun. And in that respect, Francis and I had our fair share. We got off to a bad start because we neglected the importance of the prologue. But our performance on the second stage of the rally was absolutely perfect. I’m thrilled to see our friends Deflandre and Gully take home the trophy this year. In 2009, we inherited the victory following their mechanical complications. So it’s only fair they get their chance to shine.”

Michel Périn (French/Lancia Fulvia): “Willy and I really had a great time during this very special rally. The weather conditions were ideal and the organization was excellent. It was a tight competition between the top three, or even four front runners. There were several quirks, but that’s all part of the game and we need to accept it when competing on open roads.”

Henri Pescarolo (French/Opel Manta): “After sliding off the road on the first day, we were no longer vying for victory. It’s just a shame we couldn’t demonstrate our ability in the days that followed due to a few navigational mistakes and other setbacks. All in all it was still a super rally. As always, here on the Snow & Ice!”

Patrick Zaniroli (French/Organizer): “The Snow & Ice Rally has certainly never deserved its name more than it did this year. Looking at the beaming smiles on all the participants’ faces, it’s obvious we made the right choice when we switched regions in 2009. The Doubs and Jura have so much to offer that I can already say we’ll be back here again next year for more Snow & Ice!”