The 26th Tour Auto Optic 2000 Plans Its Menu

The 26th Tour Auto Optic 2ooo will take place from 24th to 30th April 2017 and Peter Auto has come up with a new route for the 245 entrants. After the traditional show under the glass dome of the Grand Palais in Paris, the cars will set off for Brittany for the first time in the history of the event with the first stop-over in Saint Malo.

Peter Auto’s aim is to provide a completely new route each year, so for 2017 it has planned a journey through a different region of France. In keeping with tradition, the 2017 Tour Auto Optic 2ooo will begin with the cars on show to the public in the Grand Palais in Paris on Monday 24th April. The next day (Tuesday 25th April), the crews will leave the capital in the early hours of the morning to discover the roads and landscapes of Brittany. On Wednesday, they will head south to the Nantes region. The next day the participants will quit the Atlantic coast temporarily and go inland to Limoges and then Toulouse. On Saturday afternoon, they will head for the Basque coast and beautiful Biarritz, where the Tour Auto Optic 2ooo will finish for the eighth time.

Ferraris are a mainstay of the modern Tour Auto, with dozens of classic Ferraris taking part. Last year, 23 Ferraris were entered, mostly TDFs, SWBs, 275s, Lussos and Dinos, with several 308 Group IV cars. And last year, Martin Sucari drove with his son Francisco in the 250 GT SWB, s/n 3143 GT, and they wrote about their exploits in Cavallino. They will do it again for Cavallino this year.

Besides the Special Stages, which are run on closed roads, the cars will also have challenges on circuits at Bugatti at Le Mans, then Val de Vienne, Albi and Pau. The total distance is 2500 km (1553 miles). including the 109 km special stages on closed roads.

THE TOUR AUTO IN FIGURES

1951 – 1973 - Period of eligibility for cars a model of which has taken part in the Tour de France Automobile

2500 - Average distance in kilometers to be covered in the 26th Tour Auto Optic 2ooo

245 - Cars in the race + 100 service vehicles as well as 80 from the organization

800+ - People follow the rally including 140 involved in the organization

100,000+ - Spectators along the route

650 - Hotel rooms

1700 - Meals par day

80 - Officials

60 - Staff from the organization

21 - Nationalities from the five continents: France 60%, Great Britain 10%, Switzerland 8%, Germany 4%, Argentina 4%, Belgium 4%, USA 4%, rest of Europe 3%, rest of the world 3%.

250+ Journalists and accredited photographers (Grand Palais and Tour Auto) representing some ten nationalities.

Information from Peter Auto.

Images from 2016 from Mathieu-Bonnevie, courtesy Peter Auto.

Follow of 2017 Tour Auto at https://peterauto.peter.fr.