Limoges, 26th of April, 2013
Today the second to last day of this year´s Tour Auto Optic 2000
led from Albi to Limoges, the capitol of the departement
Haute-Vienne.
As intended in yesterday´s reports the race sequence changed
with the regularity group 1 starting early and the competition
group 5 being last on the road, so after a short night the first
regularities took the road at 7:00 am, the usual starting time of
the TA. Unfortunately after the sunny eve the weather changed
over night with overcast sky and just few sunny spots during the
day. As the fourth day did not include a track race this was the
only day with three special stages spread out over the day.
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The first of these special stages called “Les côtes du Tarn” was
just a few miles out of Albi on small country roads between
Lisle-sur-Tarn and Salvagnac so the drivers and co-pilots had to
be focused on their time right from the beginning, nothing for the
morning crouch especially after the last short nights. The
regularity entries had to choose their time before the beginning of
the Tour either in low, middle or high average and every second
differing from this allocated time gives the penalty for the stage
and the overall classification. Easier is the approach of the
competition, as the name indicates the drivers are on attack for
the best time both on the special stages and the track.
Unfortunately some of them were also very motivated in the
normal traffic in the past so the speed in between the stages is
controlled by the marshals with laser guns, speeding will give
additional penalties adding to the actual race penalties or
overtime at the service. When looking on the penalty table this is
one of the most common records, which is even worse when
leading the race. This also includes the pace of the
accompanying crews as some of the transporters seem to fly low
on the twisty roads rushing from service to service.
Before lunch time another special stage was held in Bonaguil,
again dominated by Caron (winner of the TA 2011) on AC Cobra,
yesterday´s leader Monteverde in another Cobra and the Jaguar
E-Type of Lajournade. They changed positions on all of the three
stages of the day but the later will go into the final day as the
leader as he is the only one of the trio without penalties so far.
Lunch was served in the Chateau de la Brourlie in the Périgord.
Whereas the first classes could enjoy lunch on the back terrace
the later had to move to the inside as the rain set in during the
break. First starting as a drizzle the rain became a permanent
companion for the rest of the day, leaving the surrounding scenery
disappear in grey. This took some of the fun passing some
wonderful castles of all sizes, typical small churches in the
villages normally adding to the charm of the Tour Auto beside the
competition aspect.
Unlike the Tour de France for bicycles the Tour Auto will not see
a tour d´honneur on the final day with a fixation of the status quo
as the leading teams in all categories are well within seconds so
they will attack again for the prestigious overall win, the class
wins and the index of performance.
The last day of the Tour Auto will lead over a “short” 315 km to the
final destination La Rochelle after another special stage and the
final race meeting in Val de Vienne. Tomorrow evening the
champagne bottles will be opened and the winners will be
celebrated after 2187 kilometer of driving though France.
Report & images Peter Singhof ...
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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