The Tour Auto 2013 will be staged April 22nd to 27th along the secondary roads and racing circuits of France. The 22nd annual rally will see more than 200 teams cover 2,025 km over five stages.
The retrospective of the Tour de France Automobile is a sharp combination of tourism and motor racing. Since 1992, the rally follows the French secondary roads along a handpicked itinerary which changes every year.
Renewed each year, the route for the 2013 Tour Auto Optic 2ooo will follow a brand new course, a blend of charming country roads for the liaison stages, winding and steep ones for the special stages and internationally renowned circuits.
To participate in the rally, there is a first requirement to meet: to present an eligible car (or sister car) that participated in the Tour de France Automobile between 1951 and 1973. Then, two categories, Competition or Regularity, are proposed for the entry. The car equipment and the documents required, for both the latter and her crew, are different according to the selected section. In addition to BMW and Ferrari, the official Tour Auto Optic 2ooo partners, Porsche and Aston Martin will hold a place of honour during the 2013 edition.
A tribute will be paid to Ferdinand Alexander Porsche, who passed away in 2012. Son of Ferry Porsche and grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, he took the direction of the Porsche design studio in 1962, creating the 911 a year later. In addition to road cars, F.A. Porsche also drew racing cars, including the Porsche 904 Carrera GTS, 906, 907 and 910 lineage that participated in the original Tour de France automobile. To mark this celebration, a dozen of these plastic Porsche prototypes will take the start at the Tour Auto Rally.
The 2013 Tour Auto will also celebrate the Centenary of the Aston Martin brand created in 1913 by British Lionel Martin. His company was purchased in 1947 by David Brown, who put his initials to all the versions since. Four models participated in the Tour de France automobile between 1951 and 1960: DB2, DB2/4, DB Mark III and DB4 GT. Thirteen of them are already entered, with more expected.
BMW will be well represented with an effort to gather the 507, 700 and 3.0 CSL models. Ferrari, a marque that saw many successes in the Tour de France, is expected to be represented by more than thirty entrants.
(See 2012 Tour Auto Rally – Report and Photo Gallery)
For the 2013 Tour Auto Rally, these collector cars will cross France, from North to Southwest, leaving Paris on April 23rd and reaching La Rochelle on April 27th. The Tour Auto stop-over town will be successively Orléans, Vichy, Albi and Limoges. Participants will visit racing circuits at Le Mans, Magny-Cours, Albi and Val de Vienne.
Tour Auto Rally 2013 – Stages
Stage 1 (23 April) 388 km : Paris – Le Mans (circuit) – Orléans
Stage 2 (24 April) 462 km : Orléans – Magny-Cours (circuit) – Vichy
Stage 3 (25 April) 447 km : Vichy – Albi (circuit) – Albi
Stage 4 (26 April) 440 km : Albi – Limoges
Stage 5 (27 April) 288 km : Limoges – Val de Vienne (circuit) – La Rochelle
For additional information, visit www.tourauto.com.
[Source: Peter Auto; photo: Julien Mahiels]
