Aix-les-Bains, 18 April, 2012
The second leg of this year's Tour Auto led from Beaune to
Aix-les-Bains.
The weather was quit cloudy in the morning with some drizzle on
the first kilometers before the sun finally came out. The first stop
in the morning was the race track in Bresse that was already part
of the Tour Auto in recent years. This is a small winding track
with no infield so the cars are driving on a huge grass field
criss-cross.
After their races the classes headed to the lunch stop at the
Chateau d´Epeyssolles with a beautiful small lake in front of the
main building. After a few more miles along rape fields the
landscape became rawer when the tour reached the mountains. In
the afternoon the first special stage of the day was a hill climb but
some competitors where not very happy with the start as they
were lined up uphill giving the racing clutches and the handbrakes
a big challenge before the actual start. When descending the hill
on the other side one could still smell the clutches of some
overstressed cars.
The finish in Aix-les-Bains was already in sight when the Tour
turned once more to the mountains for another special stage late
in the evening. The Col du Revard has an altitude of more
than 1450 meter so it was no surprise to see snow up there
as the last days were not very warm. Although the last cars
arrived very late on top with the sun already down this was the
highlight of the day giving the same impression as driving the
Monte Terminillo during the Mille Miglia that usually also has
snow even in May.
After another small loop the cars arrived at the parc fermé at the
harbour of Aix-le-Bains. With the last cars finishing at 9:45 pm
this will be again a short night as the next stage will start
tomorrow at 6:30 am again the head from Aix-les-Bains to
Clement-Ferrand with a total distance of 426 km. Part of the
stage will be the circuit Charade, a very interesting hill circuit with
a vintage flair that matches the cars. Also on the program will be
another hill climb where the leading AC Cobra of Shaun
Lynn/Kevin Kivlochan have to defend its lead in the field.
Report & images ... Peter Singhof ...
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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