When, in 2019, the last motorcycle was loaded onto the last trailer to pull out of the campsite adjoining the Puy Notre-Dame circuit, no one envisaged what waited around the corner.
The event closed with many an ‘à l’année prochaine’. No one foresaw that, in consequence of Covid-19 and the restrictions generated by the virus, it would be three years before substance could be given to the farewell greetings, and the GP Rétro du Puy Notre-Dame could celebrate its 25th running.
Despite the three-year wait, the faithful didn’t abandon the le Puy Notre-Dame. Whilst numbers were a little down on the immediate pre-Covid years, with more than 140 registered entries, the organisers were entitled to feel pleased – and relieved. However, unlike previous years, when class criteria were determined empirically, for the solo machines, this year the classes appeared to be determined by a mathematical split – bend saw Guy Ripoche part company with his 1938 Triumph Speed Twin and, with a broken wrist and a bent bike, make his departure from the circuit in an ambulance.
