HPI Racing - 2001 HPI Challenge World Finals

2001 HPI Challenge

We go on tour!

Early Monday, groups of racers from different countries met at the roundabout (British for a traffic circle) near the Hotel d'Glacier near the center of Orange to go on a bus tour of the local area. Since Orange is within the famed Rhone wine region of France, it only made sense to drive through wine country and see some ancient remains of civilizations past. While some racers had to leave Sunday evening to get home for work or school, some racers were able to attend our now-traditional "VIP tour". Patrick of Avio & Tiger met the American, Greek and Austrian racers and their guests, as well as Ricky Copsey, Kristopher Ritchie and his family and Greg Hill and Frank McKinney of HPI.


Getting on the bus. Check out Ricky's football outfit!	Patrick telling the group about the area	Just one shot of the many vineyards we rode through

The tour started with a drive to Vaison La Romaine, Patrick's place of birth. This old Roman town was called Vasio but the name was changed to "Vaison the Roman" in 1924. The bus ride was about 20 minutes, and then the racers hopped out of the bus into the chilly air and began a hike up a steep hill through narrow streets of the "Medieval City" to the castle of the Counts of Toulouse. This castle was built at the top of a huge rock hill to provide defense for the citizens of the area 1800 years ago. Although the castle itself was closed for safety precautions it was definitely impressive enough to just walk around it and imagine the scenery at the time the castle was built in 1195 - it probably has not changed that much, except for paving the roads with asphalt and adding power lines. From the top of this giant rock, it was easy to see the surrounding town and several vineyards. The distinctive Provençal style was clearly evident in all the buildings, which looked like they could have been pulled from any picture postcard of rural European towns.


Trying to stay warm	Part of the Medieval City	A beautiful view	The tour group peers over the edge

Walking up the streets towards the ancient castle	Narrow, medieval-style streets!	How's this for scenic?	The first view of castle of the Counts of Toulouse

Unable to enter the castle itself because of the danger to visitors, the group wandered around the top of the hill and took many pictures, then walked back down the hill towards the Pont Romaine.


At the top of the Medievel City	A passage next to the castle	Vineyards, as far as the eye can see

Rusty had to hold Rodney when he saw how far the drop is (about 250')	Imagine taking pictures...	...swapping between 8 cameras!

Walking to the base of the hill, Patrick led the group through more winding narrow streets to a very old cathedral, then down the hill to a bridge called the Pont Romaine, or literally the "Romaine Bridge". This bridge was built in the first century AD and has an inscription on it noting that fact. It's used for foot and car traffic every day and is on one of the main streets of the city. The bridge crosses over the River L'Ouveze and has required restoration at times to repair it from flooding, but remains basically intact.


This is one big castle! Built in 1195, it's 1800 years old.	Straight out of The Hobbit...or Harry Potter	More narrow streets! They really test your knees going downhill

A cathedral in the Medieval City	A French fire hydrant	A view of the River L'Ouveze

After talking with this kind French local, the group headed to...	...la Pont Romaine, the local 2000 year old bridge	The local WWI monument

Crossing the bridge led the tour group past a World War I monument and into the primary shopping district of Vaison la Romaine, where many members of the group partook in assaulting a local bakery for cola drinks (which are almost the same prices as other bottled adult beverages) and various types of pastries. Although Patrick was concerned that the tour members may ruin their appetite for the forthcoming dinner it was much-needed sustenance for some! Nonetheless, everyone moved on and checked out the shops that were open. Postcards and local magazines were bought at a corner "tabac" store. Tabac stores sell not just cigarettes, but also newspapers and local books as well as more touristy items like gifts and travel books. These are the local convenience stores!

A walk through the main part of town brought the group to the ruins of a Roman settlement and open-air amphitheater which was in the process of restoration. Towns throughout Europe, including Germany, France and even Britain, feature Roman ruins in various stages of decay and/or restoration. Although icons like the Coliseum in Rome and Pompeii at the foot of Mount Vesuvius are obvious symbols of ancient Roman power and influence, it's not until you see ruins in places like Orange and Vaison la Romaine that you realize the spread of the Roman Empire at its height in the first centuries AD. Of course, the Greek racers had seen all this stuff before, but they still checked out all the ruins, since it's a new place to them.


Strange to find a "Wine for Dummies" book in France!	Some of the Roman ruins	Actual floor mosaics still intact in some places (see the fenced area)

Ancient Roman toilets - talk about cold seats!	An ancient catapult	The original amphitheater is still used today

Derek, Frank, Rusty, Werner, Rodney (kneeling), Werner's friend, Greg and Jon	Ricky, Kris, Rodney, Werner, Werner's friend, Greg, Kris's sister, Kenny Kris's dad, Kris's mom and Jon	A typical Provençal style house - contrasting shutters and all

Gathering on the bus, the group was able to shake off some of the cold - the day hadn't turned completely sunny yet and the "Mistral" winds were very evident blowing through the valley. The next stop was Le Palais du Vin (literally "The Palace of Wine") restaurant, a wonderful restaurant that could accommodate 20 people at two round tables and also had two bottles of chilled white wine (for the before- and after-dinner drinks) AND two bottles of red wine at each table. Both had been opened and breathing for the proper amount of time by the time everyone had taken their seat. White wine is supposed to be opened (to let the wine "breathe") about 10 minutes before you drink it, while red wine must be kept at room temperature for at least one day before drinking and opened about 30 minutes before drinking it. At least, room temperature in Europe (about 65 degrees Fahrenheit). These are the kinds of things you learn when you sit next to a native Frenchman during dinner!


Gee, more wine fields!	Le Palais du Vin	Part of the gift shop

A very sumptuous 4-course meal (salmon pate, rabbit with yam, chocolate cake, then espresso) was served by extraordinarily fast French waiters, during which much of the red wine was consumed. Just a warning: if you order "kafe" at a real French restaurant, you're not getting coffee, you are getting espresso! After Patrick looked over the labels of the wine the group was sampling, a question of where the wine came from was met with a casual reply, "From the Cotes Du Rhone (the Rhine (River) Coast) - near Vaison La Romaine" Wow! Nothing like visiting a rural French town then sitting down to a sumptuous dinner featuring wine FROM that town.


Say "fromage!"...	...that's "cheese" in French.	Any place that's called The Palace of Wine should have plenty of wine, right?

On the way out, the group looked over several Alfa Romeo cars that were lined up outside. Apparently a meeting of Alfa Romeo dealers or owners was going to be taking place at the restaurant, so all the available Alfa models were displayed outside. Even though none of these cars are likely to see American roads, it was great to see cars like the 156 (which HPI make a body for) and other models in real life and be able to peer inside for a bit. Even the brand new hatchback, the 146, was on display, with 3 different versions shown.


The new hatch Alfa	More cars the US will never see

Not an Alfa, but it's the Smart car!	Perfect for city dwellers, you could fit two in the space of one normal size car

After piling back on the bus, Patrick decided to take the group to Avio & Tiger headquarters, although it was during working hours. Patrick distributes a number of brands across France, and it was nice to see a wide range of cars, buggies, rally cars, boats and planes on display in the showcases in his conference room.


Rows and rows of HPI kits...	...and parts...	...and other kits!	Plus boxes of equipment!

Checking out the conference room.	Cool showcases stuffed with R/C models	That's an ejection seat!	Ooh, model airplanes!

After leading everyone through his warehouse, Patrick led the group through to the back of the property, where some larger types of airplanes were kept.

Patrick's father-in-law has a what you might call a unique hobby: restoring French jet-powered warplanes. When the French air force wants to get rid of a plane, they can't sell it to private owners, however they are able to give a plane to people like Patrick's father-in-law to restore, then the plane is returned to the air force and they pay for it with two more planes. Currently two planes are stored in a separate warehouse while restoration continues on them, and about a dozen more planes sat outdoors awaiting work. There is even a German plane, a helicopter and a battle-damaged plane that had the results of some antiaircraft fire.


Ooh, real airplanes!	The only helicopter, for now	The German plane	French fighter jets

Kenny plots his revenge for Frank's "Scottish Air Force" comments	Gather up!	Ouch!	One of the works in progress

Once the tour was over, the group was dropped off in Orange once again, and everyone agreed to meet up one last time for pizza and drinks. During the dinner, Patrick came by and dropped off the race result printouts for Greg and Frank, as well as his distinctive orange and black HPI decals he hands out to shops in France. These were handed out to the racers present, who found a marker and signed each other's decals (the decals are nearly 2 feet long!).

Everyone thanks Patrick for a terrific tour!

At the end of the evening, at another establishment, everyone shook hands, exchanged car setups and handling tips and shared what it's like to race in the different countries everyone came from. The beauty of a hobby like radio control really showed when it became the real "official" language of the weekend, bringing together people from around the world for a weekend of great fun.

The HPI crew and family hopes to see all of this year's racers and many more new racers next year at the World Finals and all HPI Challenge races around the world during 2002.

Grateful thanks and many congratulations go to:

HPI Racing
Tatsuro Watanabe

HPI Europe
Greg Hill
Jason Dearden
Jamie Booth
Dries (just Dries)
Austen Macrow
David Booth

Avio & Tiger
Patrick Berthet-Rayne
as well as his wife Beatrice and his hardworking employees

The town, mayor and city council of the town Orange
Mayor Bompard

LRP Electronic
Stefan Kohler
Reto Konig
Andy Kraemer
Karlheinz Scherer

Team Orion
Phillipe Neidhart
Didier

Every racer who traveled, took time from work and away from family, especially the USA team for flying in this time of uncertainty.

Cheers, bonswar, tchuss and good-bye!

Frank McKinney
HPI Racing Challenge USA Coordinator