Under a bright sun, there were about a hundred people on Friday, September 10, at 9 a.m., who came to cheer on the crews of the 14th Jean Berha Historic Rally. Using a microphone, Philippe Lassalle, one of the organizers, presented the vehicles one by one before their departure and encouraged the participants. “We wish you an excellent journey and an excellent rally,” he announced to the crew members seated in the MG BGT, one of the historic cars present on the circuit. Spectators attending the start could admire some Alpines A 310, a few Lancia Fulvia, an Alfa Romeo from 1928, “the oldest on the circuit as it is celebrating its 82nd birthday today,” revealed Philippe Lassalle.
900 kilometers covered by 39 cars
The 80 competitors traversed the roads of the Nice hinterland, the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, the Hautes-Alpes, and Italy over a weekend. Almost a thousand kilometers were covered in this regularity rally on open roads. Philippe Lassalle explains: “the average speed of the rally must not exceed 50 km/h.” He adds that the Jean Berha Historic Rally, organized by the Automobile Club of Nice, is “one of the most beautiful races in the region.” A club that also wanted to show that sustainable development and a historic rally are not contradictory. Since the different vehicles emit CO2, the Nice Automobile Club decided to offer each town on the route a quota of tree saplings to plant. The goal? To offset CO2 emissions.
To complete the loop, the 80 competitors in the running joined the Promenade des Anglais on Sunday, September 12, at noon.
