Awakening The Ghosts Of Reims

French racing enthusiasts revive a classic venue, writes Russell Bray

By / Monday, 16 November 2009 / Loading comments

Do you believe in ghosts? I don't think I do, but there was certainly a frisson of something in the air on the narrow D27 road near Reims, 90 miles east of Paris a few weeks ago when I chanced by returning from holiday.

Jag XKs on hallowed ground

That's because in the 1920s, when motor sport was in its infancy and drivers were true heroes racing without seatbelts, this was the pit-straight public road used for the ultra fast Reims-Gueux circuit.

And now racing cars, including the £5 million Jaguar D-Type that won the 12-hour race in 1956 when it was driven by Duncan Hamilton and Ivor Bueb, were again hammering up the undulating French blacktop.

Bikers weren't forgotten, with Phil Read and Giacomo Agostini demonstrating some wailing Italian MV Augusta motorcycles.

The new event is proving popular

Unlike years ago there were chicanes to slow things down, but use a little imagination and it was easy to bring back the flickering black and white films of the epic battles of drivers like Mike Hawthorn, Stirling Moss, Jim Clark and Juan Manuel Fangio as they diced inches apart with the crowds only a few feet away.

Though the roads were closed for racing, they were fast, narrow and dangerous. Crash barriers were minimal to non-existent, so this circuit in the Champagne region was both feared and respected. With average lap speeds of more than 122mph, Reims-Gueux vied with Spa Francorchamps and Monza for the fastest Grand Prix circuit in Europe. Sadly the track will always be known for the death of Ferrari driver Luigi Musso, who died in 1958 after spinning into a field at the Muizon corner while in second place and chasing Hawthorn. His car shot into a ditch and Musso was thrown out, receiving fatal injuries.

A Delahaye and 'Alpeen'

Fourteen French Grands Prix were run here - Jack Brabham won the last in 1966 - but the circuit was abandoned in 1972 and the pits and control tower fell into ruin.

But a couple of years ago Les Amis du Circuit de Gueux (the Friends of Gueux) began some restoration and to organise small commemoration events. This year was the first time the Friends had managed to get cars running full laps rather than just up and down the pit straight.

Amazingly, the local authorities closed one side of a dual carriageway to traffic to create the return side of the circuit as the roads have long since disappeared. What a different attitude compared to, say Goodwood, Sussex, where people who have moved into the area in more recent years try to stop the circuit which dates from 1948 being used and have forced the local council into draconian noise regulations.

Much remains unrestored...

At Reims-Gueux drivers didn't need to have medicals, race licences or even race suits to demonstrate their cars, providing the cars were considered interesting enough and had been booked in advance.

The free car park was as fascinating as the crowded infield with, in typical idiosyncratic French style, Ferraris rubbing shoulders with Citroens or Porsches with Facel Vegas. Having visited the pits earlier this year when they were deserted, the crowds at the Weekend of Excellence event in September were a shock. It was also amazingly dusty and would be a massive task to return machinery to pristine cleanliness.

...but progress is being made

Our previous deserted Saturday morning visit (it's only 170 miles from Calais) was livened up by French registered Ferrari 360s and 430s (I didn't know there were any!) blasting up and down the straight. There was no sign of any police or speed traps. Imagine doing that just outside Basingstoke or Birmingham.