TOUR AUTO 2016. l'Anniversaire 25.

[nikbj68]

   
   
   Tour Auto 2016. Day 5, Grand Finalé.
   
   After replacing the coil at the Paul Ricard circuit, Shaun`s Cobra was back to it`s brutal self again, and on arrival in Cannes, was fitted with a huge pair of cans of it`s own, ready for the night stages!
   
   
   
   (Photo, Billy Patterson)
   
   The 'Snake Pit'...
   
   
   
   (Photo, Billy Patterson)
   
   Battlescars!
   
   
   (Photo, Billy Patterson)
   
   ...And this was a fresh paintjob!!!
   
   
   (Photos, Billy Patterson)
   
   
   The evening break did give Kevin a chance to cool his toasted feet on the beach, seen here (Far right, next to Shaun) with Mark Freeman (Cobra), Ben & Brian Gulliver (73 RS Porsche chase car) and Andrew Beverley & Mike Humphries (Cobra).
   
   
   
   It`s not all 'party party' though, as the teams prepare for the final 2-part night stage, only to learn that the first stage had to be cancelled due to safety fears with the large number of spectators!
   Another chance to recover some of the lost time denied!
   The second stage did go ahead, but the lights on the Cobra really weren`t good enough to allow Shaun to really push on, and this is how the 25th Tour Auto`s final stage ended:
   
   1 (205) Andrew SMITH / James COTTINGHAM GBR/GBR Ford GT 40 10m30s
   2 (201) Jean Pierre LAJOURNADE / Christophe BOUCHET FRA/FRA Jaguar E-Type + 15s
   4 (217) Ralf HUBER GUTIERREZ / Valérie DOT CHE/FRA Shelby Cobra 289 + 32s
   12 (202) Ludovic CARON / Charles de VILLAUCOURT FRA/FRA Shelby Cobra + 1m23s
   13 (207) Mark FREEMANN / Nigel ARMSTRONG GBR/GBR Shelby Cobra + 1m24s
   26 (203) Shaun LYNN / Kevin KIVLOCHAN GBR/GBR Shelby Cobra 289 + 2m27s
   And no time set for the last 2 Cobras:
   57 (204) Andrew BEVERLEY / Mike HUMPHREYS GBR/GBR Shelby Cobra + 1h11m Penalty
   58 (208) Frédéric JOUSSET / Paul MILIOTIS FRA/FRA Shelby Cobra 289 + 1h11m Penalty
   
   
   OFFICIAL OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
   
   1 (201) Jean Pierre LAJOURNADE / Christophe BOUCHET FRA/FRA Jaguar E-Type 2h09m31s
   2 (202) Ludovic CARON / Charles de VILLAUCOURT FRA/FRA Shelby Cobra + 4m05s
   3 (212) Damien KOHLER / Sylvie LABOISNE FRA/FRA Lotus Elan + 7m27s
   4 (231) Bertrand PENLAE / Anne PENLAE FRA/FRA Porsche 911 + 11m19s
   5 (223) #9829; Daniela ELLERBROCK / Jackie ROHWER DEU/CRO Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint + 12m02s
   11 (217) Ralf HUBER GUTIERREZ / Valérie DOT CHE/FRA Shelby Cobra 289 + 14m41s
   33 (203) Shaun LYNN / Kevin KIVLOCHAN GBR/GBR Shelby Cobra 289 + 51m46s
   36 (207) Mark FREEMANN / Nigel ARMSTRONG GBR/GBR Shelby Cobra + 1h11m37s
   42 (208) Frédéric JOUSSET / Paul MILIOTIS FRA/FRA Shelby Cobra 289 + 2h05m59s
   48 (205) Andrew SMITH / James COTTINGHAM GBR/GBR Ford GT 40 + 2h58m50s 4
   50 (204) Andrew BEVERLEY / Mike HUMPHREYS GBR/GBR Shelby Cobra + 3h58m02s
   
   Congratulations again to J-P Lajournade & Christophe Bouchet.
   
   
   
   These results don`t do any justice to the Strong performance that Shaun & Kevin put in (with circuit wins & the overall lead at one point), under some pretty extreme conditions, and with the support of Moto Historics doing their damnedest to keep a brace of Cobras at the sharp end of the competition!
   
   Oh well.... there`s always next year!

[nikbj68]

   
   
   Aces on the Tour Auto.
   
   The Tour Auto is split into 2 main categories, Competition (as heavily featured above) and Regularity, in which the competitors cover pretty much the same stages as the 'Racers', but try to match a time specified by the organisers which is at a much more modest pace.
   
   A couple can be seen here in the Grand Palais, behind the Zenith Watches` Display stand:
   
   
   
   Here are some of the 'Regularity' Aces that our roving reporter, Billy Patterson spotted for us in Cannes, with their overall finishing position, and deviation from 'Time':
   
   26 (40) Michel PERETIE / Guillaume PERETIE FRA/FRA AC ACE Bristol + 3m45s
   
   
   
   
   33 (20) Karine BLANCHARD / Gaelle PETITFILS FRA/FRA AC ACE Bristol + 4m21s
   
   
   65 (31) Dominique POELS / Patrick VEYRAT FRA/FRA AC ACE Zéphyr + 13m06s
   
   
   
   104 (101) Phil MULACEK / Alain VINSON FRA/FRA AC ACE Ruddspeed + 4h25m40s
   

[MkIV Lux]

Congratulations to "our" Cobra boys for their performance in this year's well battled Tour Auto. Even though they were unlucky and did not make it to the final podium, they delivered a superb performance and they certainly enjoyed the fun of a week of competition. Well done, boys.

[administrator]

Well done to all and thanks to Nick for great reporting.

[nikbj68]

Thanks it's been fun, but I think I would do a much better job as an 'on the spot' reporter for next year!!! []