Thursday, 19 April, 2012
The third leg of this years Tour Auto leading from yesterdays
finish in Aix-les-Bains to Clermont-Ferrand.
At 6:30 am the first competition class was waved off to lead
the field on its way through France. This was a long day with one
special stage before the lunch and the visit to Charade in the
afternoon. With just one special stage the first part of the leg was
a long run with approx. 274 km in changing weather conditions.
Whereas the participants (especially in the open cars) had luck
during the last days that the route did not touch the areas of rain
today there were some rain spots along the road, for example
during the first stop of the regularity classes before the special
stage.
The route led again in higher regions with some snow on the side
of the road and cold temperatures on the low one-digits.
Lunch stop was at the Chateau des Martinanches, a small castle
with not much space around for the cars so they had to be parked
on the surrounding grassland. After the lunch stop the tour led to
the circuit of Charade near the finish in Clermont-Ferrand. This
circuit is an old one when no fences were present on the tracks of
the era and it kept its old charm. Being in the mountains the
layout is very much given be the topography with many ups and
downs. After the races the overall lead was still in the hands
of Shaun Lynn in its AC Cobra, being a reliable front runner in
its race class 4.
At the evening the cars arrived in Clermont-Ferrand to be parked
in the park fermé on the ground of Michelin at the nearby stadium.
The regularity class will have a short night as the order will
change traditionally in the second half of the Tour with the
regularity class running in front of the competition classes on the
last two days just as the race numbers indicate. The Start
tomorrow will be at 7 am for the second to last stage with 439
kilometre leading from the finish of today to Nimes. No less than
3 road special stages have to be done and a short excursion to
the Circuit Pole Mecanique d´Ales giving all the drivers another
long day in France.
Report & images ... Peter Singhof
www.ClassicCarPhotography.de
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