6:Jean Marie
Jourdanmanag es a
smileonhis 1930
DFRJ1250...
7:...whereas
François Ga rnier’s
1932 NewMap
OHV 5gives him
everyreason
to smilefrom
ear to ear!
8:Nicola sPinon,on
his 1936 Koëhler
Escoffier KE 350,
exchanges thoughts
withFabrice
Ouvrard, whose
1939 BSAM24
Gold Star stands
alongsidehim.
9:In periodcompany,
ClaudeMertens on
his 1936 Norton
16Hawaitshis
turnonthe circuit.
10:Pierr eBoisson
astridethe
diminutive 1973
50cc KreidlerDRM.
examples presentwereFabrice Ouvrard’s1939 M24and
apair of B31s ,JeromeBoullon’s 1950example and that
of FrançoisRota from 1952. AlsocompetingwereGilles
Cousin’s1957B33, Marc Juillet ’s 1958SuperRocket,
François Laurent’s1968 ShootingStar andGuillaume
Delcourt’s1972Thunderbolt.
Nichol as Pinonis better known forpreparingclassic
sportsracing and rally cars in hisworkshopat Tours.
Examples of hiswork –arace-prepared Austin A35,
AustinHealeySprite andMini Cooper–attractedmuch
attention at Chinon.Butheconfessed his priv atepassion
to be motorcycles.
Said Nicolas:“It’s cars my clientswant me to prepare.
Butthat work enables me to indulge in motorbikes.I’ve
broughtfourtoChinonthis year.”Thefirst of thosewas
a1930Motoconfort, poweredbyaBlackburne 500cc
engine.“Ib oughtthe Motoconfortayear agofrom
Jean LucGaignard,”Nicolascontinued.“His vintage
motorcycle collection, near Laval, is legendaryand
immense.Itw as alsothe sourceof my late st acquisition,
a1936Koehler Escoffier,whichIboughtsevenweeks
ago.”But Nicolasdoes not confine himself to vintage
machines. “Today I’ malsoridingmy1970HondaCB350,
whichhascompetitionhistory, anda1975Ducati350cc
single.Unlik ethe cars,Ican’t seemyselfsellingany of the
motorcycles.And with my collectinghabit,Idon’t know
whereitwill all end.”
Jean MarieJourdan rode an example of one of the
lesser known Frenchmarques,DFR,whichmanufactured
its ownmodels foronlynine years (1920 to1929)before
comingunder thecontrol of Dresch.
“MyJ1, with atwo-strok eMoussar d250cc motor,iso ne
of thelater DFR models,” Jean Marieexplained.“I bought
it fromafriend,17 years ago, butits pr evi oushistory had
been lost.I’m noteven certainofits year ofmanufacture.
It’s either 1927or1930. It requiredamajor mechanical
restoration butas DFRs nowadaysaresorare, even in
Fra nce, theworkwas justified.Itt ooktwo years, mainly
becausesourcingparts wassodifficult .TodateI’veused
it mainly forclub events.Today is itsfirs ttime on acircuit.”
Curiously,French marques were few in number at
Chinon.In addition to thoseofNicolas Pinon andJean
MarieJourdan, the only otherwasFrançoisGarnier’s
exquisitelyrestored 1932NewMap OHV5.But the
same couldn’tbe said forItalianmarques –hardly
surprisinghavingregardtoorganiser ChristianHervet’s
passionforDucatis andDesmos in particular.His 1971
450ccDesmowasone of eightexamples of th eBologna
marque,perhaps the quickest of whic hwas Jean Pierre
Jolivet ’s 1970 350ccDesmoMk.III.Of thetwo Aermacchis
competing, particularly pleasingonthe eyewas Carlos
Balana’s 1972Ala d’Oro–and it proved to have an equally
pleasingperformance on the track.
As thedust settledatthe endofnine hours of the
ChinonClassic ,there wastime toreflect onwhythere
were so manyBritish motorcycles butsofew British
motorcyclistsparticipating–particularlynowthat the
ChinonClassic andthe BressuireGPHistoriquehave
settledonnon-clashing, consecutiveweekends,enabling
classic andvintagemotorcycle owners to participate in
twoeventsjustseven days andless than 80 kilometres
apart. So maybejust forgetabout Brexit andthinkabout
booking afortnight’sholid ay in Western France in
June 2020...
End
82 THE CLASSICMOTORCYCLE|SEPTEMBER 2019
6
7
8
9 10
