Pau, 24th of April, 2015
The 24th edition of the Tour Auto Optic 2000 is hit to the home
stretch as today saw already the second to last leg starting at
Toulouse and finishing in Pau. Apart from the competition and the
get together with likeminded petrol heads the charm of the Tour
Auto is the ever changing scenery on the way from Paris to the
endpoint. Today was a very special leg as the tour left the even
ground going up all the way through the Pyrenees. Normally a
detour for the assistance cars in the road book does indicate
small country roads unsuitable for the sprinters and trailers,
exactly the roads one could enjoy to the fullest in a classic sports
car. As today the service crews rarely saw their teams on the
road driving the same direction this certainly meant that there
were a lot of small roads to enjoy and being in the Pyrenees this
included no less than three mountain passes including one of the
Hors-Catégory (first grade).
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As mentioned yesterday the race order was changed for the two
last days so the regularity was sent off at 7:30 am in direction to
the first special stage of the day, a small hill climb at the Col des
Ares. Like in the previous special stages this was a close battle
between the leading Jaguar E-Type of Lajournade/Bouchet, the
small Alfa Romeo GTA of Furiani/Werner and the runner up in the
overall classification Curon/Villacourt on AC Cobra. Started with a
half minute lead the Jaguar team could add another 10 seconds
on this section against the following teams. Setting the best time
they were followed by the Alfa and the Cobra.
After the first special stage the convoy was leading towards
today´s lunch stop at the ancient Abbey of Escaladieu dating
back to the 12th century. In perfect sunshine the drivers could
enjoy their buffet in the shadow of the trees in the garden of the
venerable premises whereas the cars on the parking were
surrounded by the spectators. But there was not much time for a
rest as the timetable was very strict so the strengthened teams
had to get back on the road soon. Although this was the only day
with a time consuming race meeting on a circuit and the leg with
370 km rather short the permanent ups and down dropped the
average speed so there was no time to be wasted.
After the snowy mountain tops could be seen all day it was the
time to approach them on the Col du Soulor in the afternoon. Few
spectators found their way to the top whereas a road like this
would be crowded on events like the Mille Miglia as it is during
the Tour de France (for bicycles) that crosses this pass every
now and then. So the classic cars had the road almost on their
own as both the assistance was missing and only few campers
were on their way that day.
After descending on the other side the journey led towards the
final special stage of the day at Haut des Bosdarros.
Unfortunately a technical problem with the radio of the track
marshals did not guaranty the safety of the fast section so the
competition stage had to be cancelled and just as the regularity
upfront the speed was moderate. This also meant that the result
after the first stage in the morning is also the final result of the
day with Lajourade still leading Curon and Lynn, now with about
40 seconds ahead. As the Jaguar proofed competitive both on the
track and the closed-off special stages Lajournade should get this
advantage over the last day with the race a Pau-Arnos in the
morning and a final special stage in the afternoon before the Tour
Auto will end in Biarritz. With 225 kilometers this will be the
shortest of the days as all the cars should be in the parc fermée
well before sunset, unlike today when the last cars arrived very
late due to the delay in the evening.
Report & images … Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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