For the third consecutive year, Richard Mille was the Principal Partner of the “Grand Prix de Pau Historique”, which took place over the weekend of 5th and 6th May.
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For the event, the famous street circuit was decked out in the colours of the watchmaking brand, which has always been passionately involved in motorsports. Over two days, six competing grids followed each other on a selective course and in changing weather conditions, in front of 11,000 spectators who thoroughly enjoyed the event.
In the “Trophée Phil Hill”, the powerful AC Cobras largely led the way, with Dominique Guénat winning the first race before losing out, following a mechanical failure, to another Cobra in the second race driven by Briton Shaun Lynn.
With 36 single-seaters on the starting line, the “Trophée des Pyrénées” was one of the event’s highlights. Shaun Lynn’s son Alex brilliantly secured victory in both races ahead of Alain Girardet and Pierre Lombardi.
The new “Trophée Flat4” was reserved for four-cylinder Porsches dating back to the German carmaker’s early years: the 356, 550 and RS 61 models. 21 of them started both races, which were won by Albert Otten in a 550 A and Andrew Prillin an RS 61.
A wonderful evocation of the first Grand Prix races of the 1930s, the “Trophée Légende” featured 20 pre-war cars, including a number of Bugattis and several BMW 328s. In the end, it was Richard Pilkington’s splendid Talbot T26SS that clinched victory in both legs.
In their element on the Pau course, the 19 little single-seaters of the “Trophée Junior” also made for a superb show, which culminated in French driver Stéphane Rey’s victory at the wheel of a Lola Mk5A.
In the new “Trophée Mini Classic”, a remarkable collision (which was thankfully not serious) characterised the first leg, while the second was won by British driver Nick Swift.
Vintage car clubs also turned out in force in Pau for this “Grand Prix Historique”, with 800 collector cars displayed in the grounds of the magnificent Palais Beaumont receiving much admiration throughout the weekend.
The “Grand Prix de Pau Historique”, followed a week later by the more ‘modern’ “Grand Prix de Pau” marks the beginning of a 2012 season rich in motorsports events for Richard Mille. The brand will be the Principal Partner of the Le Mans Classic on 6, 7 and 8 July 2012, for which it has already unveiled two limited-edition timepieces: the RM 011 LMC and RM 008 Tourbillon LMC chronographs.
Photo copyright: Please note that the copy right for one of the images is Didier Gourdon and for the others the copyright is Julien Philippy.
