Merlin MP23

Merlin MP23, Course de Cote du Mont Dore 2016, Daniel Nature.

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For more photos of the 2016 Mont Dore Mountain Hill Climb, click on the link above.

Merlin, France.  Founded by Patrice Merlin, this small sports racing car constructor founded in 1985 hand builds this aerodynamic car for Hillclimbs and sports car racing.  This car was conceived in 2003, has a sequential gearbox and can have either a 2 litre Honda engine or a 3 litre BMW engine.  t has had a fair amount of success in Belgium and France.

1961 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Speciale 101.20 (Second Series)

Patrice and Maxime Cornille, Alfa Romeo Giulietta SS, Tour Auto 2016

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For more photos of the 2016 Tour Auto, click on the link above.

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Alfa Romeo, Milan, Italy.  The Giulietta SS was a top of the range 2 door, front engine, rear wheel drive, sports coupé first seen at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show and produced from then to 1964. It followed on from the prototype Sprint Speciale, the low nose version and the Zagato SZ.  It thus was a Second Series Sport Speciale and in fact the production version.  It had the 1.3 litre 101 series engine which powered it to over 120 mph. In 1963 the 1.6 litre Giulia was introduced and it eventually replaced the Giulietta.  Although it was the production version rather than the racing version, the Giulietta SS was seen in events such as the Targa Florio and the Tour de France Automobile.

Seat Ibiza

The Seat Ibiza of Patrice and Nadia Leon start the sixth stage of the Rallye National de la Cote Fleurie.  They finished an excellent 15th overall and won their class.

Pour plus de photos du Rallye de la Cote Fleurie 2016, suivez ce lien.

For more photos of the 2016 Rallye de la Cote Fleurie, follow the link above.

Seat, Spain.  The Seat Ibiza supermini was first produced in 1984 and in his now in its fourth generation of design.  I think the car pictured is a second generation car produced after the 1999 facelift.  It is front engine, front wheel drive.  Seat is of course part of the Volkswagen group and the Ibiza shares parts with other parts of Volkswagen range such as the Polo.  The Ibiza has been a successful rally car and won the 2 litre WRC class championship in 1996, 97 and 98 in its Seat Ibiza Kit Car guise. 

This is the third year that Patrice & Nadia Leon have campaigned the Seat Ibiza.  Previously they rallied a Volkswagen Golf GTi for many years.  They frequently win their class.