48 hours at the Linas-Montlhéry autodrome with Atelier Chatokhine

8:00 AM, I wake up at Frank Chatokhine's and find him in the kitchen. The coffee is hot, the light from outside is already bright, and the first cigarettes draw plumes that mix with the coffee vapors.

The doorbell rings, Rénia, Cyril, and Jean-Yves Sellin enter all smiles, already in their gear. Another coffee, a shower, and we're ready to hit the road between Chartres and Montlhéry. The stand is already set up with the bikes that will race and those that will be on public display. The event at the Linas-Montlhéry autodrome is classic; vintage motorcycles and a majority of very rare pre-World War II cars. Presenting rare machines is one thing... but tackling the legendary and chaotic Montlhéry track with machines from another era, with all the dangers that entails, is quite another!

We put on our helmets, Moleskine Worker jackets for Frank and me, and we roll out the bikes. They spent the night in very good company in Chatokhine's workshop, surrounded by English motorcycles. Frank gives his Velocette a kick, Rénia on her Triumph, her Ruby helmet firmly on her head, is impatient, same for Jean-Yves. Cyril, very calm, will take to the road on his BSA. Speaking of really stylish vintage motorcycles, I, like an idiot, could have taken one of my old bikes... But no, they're broken down, so I stand out a bit with my Kawasaki W650.

Anyway! An hour separates us from the event, an hour of cruising coolly through the countryside and undergrowth, the smells of humus and dew filtered by the rays of a spring sun.

Already, around the roundabouts, as if we had arranged to meet them, other machines are waiting for us. There are strangers and friends, I question Frank with my eyes, he obviously doesn't know everyone, but it seems normal. The further we go, the larger the group gets, we go from five to thirteen motorcycles. Christophe Decombard has just joined us with a Suzuki-based café racer prepared by himself. I watch them ride... they surf... they glide... it seems so fluid and synchronized, it's beautiful to watch...

Once we arrive, everything happens quickly; we prepare the bikes, talk, exchange, shake hands, and get to know each other. For once, I have nothing to sell! I came as a tourist, to ride, and I came for Frank. Enthusiasts come to inspect and admire the bikes from Ateliers Chatokhine while Frank puts on his racing suit to start the first races. Black vintage leather suit, Redwings shoes, and a Ruby Castel helmet... he climbs onto his prepared 1937 Triumph Speed Twin. At the starting line, there's a deafening roar coming from old machines of all origins: V-twins, Manx-type singles, Italian, English, American, German, and French bases, though quite rare. It's not every day you get to see and hear "Motosacoche - Gillet Herstal - Excellsior Motorcycle - Indian..." racing.

The riders' stress affects the throttle, making even more noise! Stress is a dull, contagious sound!

[caption id="attachment_398" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Velocette logo, Atelier Chatokhine[/caption] [caption id="attachment_399" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Atelier Chatokhine, Triumph, BSA, Norton, Velocette[/caption] [caption id="attachment_400" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine's Velocette from Ateliers Chatokhine, Triumph, BSA, Norton, Velocette. Classic English motorcycles[/caption] [caption id="attachment_401" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine with a vintage Gentlemen's Factory "Motor Fucker" motorcycle sweatshirt[/caption] [caption id="attachment_402" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Rénia Seulin and her classic Triumph[/caption] [caption id="attachment_405" align="alignnone" width="1299"] Frank Chatokhine and his Norton for circuit racing, vintage class[/caption] [caption id="attachment_406" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine and his 1936 Triumph Speed Twin[/caption] [caption id="attachment_407" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine and Gentlemen's Factory worker jacket[/caption] [caption id="attachment_409" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine and his Triumph Speed Twin[/caption] [caption id="attachment_410" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine and his Triumph Speed Twin[/caption] [caption id="attachment_411" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Laurence Chatokhine[/caption] [caption id="attachment_414" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine on the Linas-Montlhéry track[/caption] [caption id="attachment_430" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine with his 1936 Triumph (500CC) photo Laurent Scavone[/caption] [caption id="attachment_429" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine with his 1936 Triumph photo Laurent Scavone[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_426" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Laurent Scavone, Gentlemen's Factory on the Linas Montlhéry track[/caption] [caption id="attachment_431" align="alignnone" width="1299"] Frank Chatokhine with his 1936 Triumph (500CC), photo Laurent Scavone[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_433" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine with his 1936 Triumph (500CC), photo Laurent Scavone[/caption] [caption id="attachment_435" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Rénia Seulin of Ateliers Chatokhine[/caption] [caption id="attachment_434" align="alignnone" width="1300"] Frank Chatokhine with his 1936 Triumph (500CC), photo Laurent Scavone[/caption]

Birth of the Linas-Montlhéry Autodrome:

The autodrome opened in 1924, under the impetus of Alexandre Lamblin. This inventor 4 and industrialist, born in 1884, made his fortune manufacturing radiators for airplanes, then for automobiles; passionate about sports, he owned a specialized newspaper: L'Aéro-sport5.

In the early 1920s, the automobile industry was buzzing, striving to break records, especially speed records. Previously unprecedented challenges, such as races between a car and an airplane, were fashionable and interested the general public.

Great Britain had the Brooklands circuit since 1907, the United States had the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, built in 1911, Italy used the Monza circuit, opened in 1922.

In 1922, Alexandre Lamblin, with the Aéro-sport team, conceived the idea of creating a place dedicated to all sports; in 1923, he acquired land located on the Saint-Eutrope plateau, in Linas, a village traversed by National Road 20, located between Longjumeau and Arpajon. The land was inexpensive and close (about thirty kilometers) to Paris. Two projects were studied, the less expensive one was chosen. It consisted of a two-and-a-half-kilometer speed oval, occupying the Saint-Europe plateau. The oval would later be extended and complemented by a road circuit built on two of the communes bordering Linas.

The Saint-Eutrope plateau is geographically connected to the Hurepoix, in the former Yveline forest. Formerly the location of the seigneurie6 and the Château de Fay7, it was then vast, wooded, sparsely inhabited, and undeveloped: a manor house (the "Château de Saint-Eutrope")8, near Linas, as well as the Fay farm9, to the northwest.

For Alexandre Lamblin, the speed oval was central, essential; he saw it as "a gigantic velodrome, on the scale of the speeds possible for the era", "a grand sporting theater"10.

Designed by the architect Raymond Jamin, the speed ring of the track is thus oval, comprising two straight sections measuring one hundred and eighty meters. It notably features concave turns; their cubic parabolic shape with a vertical axis includes a junction traced according to a logarithmic spiral. The design aims to allow one-ton vehicles to reach a speed of 220 km/h at the top of the turns. The circuit, measured on its median axis, is exactly 2,548.24 meters long.

Construction of the speed track, built on both a metal and concrete framework, began on March 15, 1924.

One thousand tons of steel and eight thousand cubic meters of concrete were needed by two thousand workers to complete the structure; the work lasted six months. The use of prefabricated elements made it a pioneering construction site. The tracks were covered with Cold Asphalt, with the exception of the banked turns, which were concrete.

The autodrome was inaugurated on October 4, 1924 11.

Linas-Montlhéry today:

A new homologation (driving without competition) for the speed ring and the 3.405 circuit was granted in 2010. This allows collectors and motorsport enthusiasts to return to the autodrome tracks. It was renewed in 2014.

Since then, about ten events take place each year. These events are managed by UTAC's event unit: Paris Auto Events. During the week, the autodrome transforms into a test center for everything related to terrestrial mobility.

In 2014, the "1924" building was inaugurated 24, 25.

In 2016, the Autonomous Vehicle Test Centre (CEVA) began its activities 26. The first tests are expected during 2018.