Saint-Bresson. The Les Belles de Mai tourist rally pays tribute to the luron driver Jacques Henry for the 70th anniversary of the Alpine

Nine months of preparation, 1,500 km of reconnaissance. This Saturday, May 24, 110 crews, including 21 Alpines, will be at the start of the 13th edition of the tourist rally "Les Belles de mai," organized by the A110 & Cie club. "We're full. It's become a great adventure, we're welcoming participants from eighteen departments in France," rejoices the association's president, Christian Bresson.

This year, the famous sports car celebrates its 70th birthday. And through this anniversary, Christian Bresson wanted to pay tribute to his idol, who was a part of his childhood: the luron driver Jacques Henry , double French rally champion (1974 and 1975), on the legendary Alpine A110 berlinetta and who died in November 2016. "I have always been a fan of Jacques Henry, when I was little I went to see the rallies. His sons will be there. Patrick (Editor's note: himself titled French rally champion in 2007), will be at the wheel of his dad's Alpine and Stéphane is coming with a Clio Williams," reveals this great enthusiast who has given the bug to his whole family, children included. He has also been the proud owner of an Alpine for 15 years now.

In addition to the famous Alpines, the public will be able to admire Ferraris, 205 GTIs, Clio Williams, Mini Coopers, Porsches, Triumphs, Maseratis, and Fiats, "the oldest of which dates back to 1934," he explains. But at this event, there's no concept of speed; "the average is 26 km/h," Christian explains.

This navigation event is offered on three levels: in leisure mode, the most popular, "it's friendly, they stop whenever they want"; in navigation or mixed mode. The starting signal will be given from the Saint-Bresson community hall at 8 a.m. The teams, roadbook in hand, will crisscross the small roads of the Haute-Saône countryside and the Vosges, where lunch will be taken at the Xertigny community hall. Then head to Rupt-sur-Moselle and return through the region of 1000 ponds. "We try to change the route every year. We avoid cities, we just pass through a few villages, localities. Our goal: to show off our beautiful region. Some participants come back afterward, with friends," mentions Christian Bresson.

Tourist rally "Les Belles de mai", Saturday, May 24, Saint-Bresson village hall. Briefing at 7:30 a.m., departure at 8 a.m. and return around 5:30 p.m. An exhibition on the career of Jacques Henry will be visible during the lunch break at the village hall in Xertigny and in the evening in Saint-Bresson.