TOUR BRITANNIA MARCHES ON ...
15 July 2010
It may not be held entirely in the Welsh Marches, but this year's Tour Britannia, due to be held between Tuesday, September 7th and Thursday, September 9th does cross them twice and visits many new venues as a result.
In keeping with the economic times, the Tour Britannia's own coalition of Fred Gallagher and Alec Poole, have kept the format adopted last year with documentation and scrutineering on the Tuesday morning and the action starting immediately after lunch. To make this work easily, it helps to have the start reasonable handy for the first race circuit so the choice of the Doubletree by Hilton at Chester is particularly good as two race circuits are visited on that first afternoon. Admittedly the first of those, Aintree, will be used as a special stage with half of the old racetrack where Sir Stirling Moss won the 1955 British GP from Fangio both in Mercedes W196. The first real racing action will come later that afternoon when the cars visit Oulton Park before returning to Chester for the evening.
On Wednesday, Tour Britannia marches into Wales for a special stage at Trawsfynydd in a location last used in 1995 to film scenes for 'Last Knight' starring Sean Connery and Richard Gere. Hopefully they have not left any of those spiked maces lying around to puncture tyres. Another special stage follows at Vaynol Hall in beautiful parkland overlooking the Menai Strait. Just days earlier, this will have been the setting for the Faenol Festival starring, among others, Westlife, Bryn Terfel and Al Murray - who, as a good landlord, will hopefully have left a pint on the bar for us.
Lunch, the by now traditional Tour Britannia filet-beef barbecue, and the daily helping of racing will be across the Menai Strait at the Anglesey International circuit. On the way back to a second night in Chester, there are two more stages. The first of these is the brilliant run round the Great Orme in Llandudno and then at Mostyn Hall on the Dee Estuary looking out to the Wirral.
The third and final day of the Tour Britannia will head south from Chester and the action will start with a special stage held in the extensive grounds of Eaton Hall, the residence of the Duke of Westminster. Then to Cholmondeley Castle where the crews will tackle a special stage in its grounds before light refreshment at the deservedly popular Cholmondeley Arms. By contrast to the two previous stages, the one at Swynnerton is set in a venue run by the British Army where they familiarise soldiers going abroad with driving on the right. The white lines and other indications have been known to catch out the unwary in the past !
The final special stage is then at Arbury Hall outside Nuneaton and fans of George Eliot might like to note that she was born, as Mary Anne Evans, on one of the estate farms in 1819. Perhaps the instructions for the special stage should suggest that the competitors 'march in the middle' of the road .
The chosen race circuit for the day is Mallory Park where if the weather is too hot there is always the chance of a dip in the central lake though this is not recommended if you are in your racing car at the time. From Mallory Park, it is but a short distance to the Leicester Marriott for the finish and, after a short break, the prize giving and gala dinner.
Last week, Alec Poole and Andrew Kellitt were out checking the route and the venues to complete all the necessary details for the road book and other paperwork. The numbers of crews entered, both in the competition and the regularity categories, stand higher than they did at the start of the 2009 Tour Britannia but for those who have not yet decided to enter this unique race 'n rally event, there are still places left.
All enquiries to:-
info@tourbritannia.com
Tour Britannia,
Suite 300,
30 Horse Fair,
Banbury,
Oxon,
OX16 0BW,
U.K.
Phone + 44 (0) 1295 26 88 88
Fax + 44 (0) 1295 26 88 28
In keeping with the economic times, the Tour Britannia's own coalition of Fred Gallagher and Alec Poole, have kept the format adopted last year with documentation and scrutineering on the Tuesday morning and the action starting immediately after lunch. To make this work easily, it helps to have the start reasonable handy for the first race circuit so the choice of the Doubletree by Hilton at Chester is particularly good as two race circuits are visited on that first afternoon. Admittedly the first of those, Aintree, will be used as a special stage with half of the old racetrack where Sir Stirling Moss won the 1955 British GP from Fangio both in Mercedes W196. The first real racing action will come later that afternoon when the cars visit Oulton Park before returning to Chester for the evening.
On Wednesday, Tour Britannia marches into Wales for a special stage at Trawsfynydd in a location last used in 1995 to film scenes for 'Last Knight' starring Sean Connery and Richard Gere. Hopefully they have not left any of those spiked maces lying around to puncture tyres. Another special stage follows at Vaynol Hall in beautiful parkland overlooking the Menai Strait. Just days earlier, this will have been the setting for the Faenol Festival starring, among others, Westlife, Bryn Terfel and Al Murray - who, as a good landlord, will hopefully have left a pint on the bar for us.
Lunch, the by now traditional Tour Britannia filet-beef barbecue, and the daily helping of racing will be across the Menai Strait at the Anglesey International circuit. On the way back to a second night in Chester, there are two more stages. The first of these is the brilliant run round the Great Orme in Llandudno and then at Mostyn Hall on the Dee Estuary looking out to the Wirral.
The third and final day of the Tour Britannia will head south from Chester and the action will start with a special stage held in the extensive grounds of Eaton Hall, the residence of the Duke of Westminster. Then to Cholmondeley Castle where the crews will tackle a special stage in its grounds before light refreshment at the deservedly popular Cholmondeley Arms. By contrast to the two previous stages, the one at Swynnerton is set in a venue run by the British Army where they familiarise soldiers going abroad with driving on the right. The white lines and other indications have been known to catch out the unwary in the past !
The final special stage is then at Arbury Hall outside Nuneaton and fans of George Eliot might like to note that she was born, as Mary Anne Evans, on one of the estate farms in 1819. Perhaps the instructions for the special stage should suggest that the competitors 'march in the middle' of the road .
The chosen race circuit for the day is Mallory Park where if the weather is too hot there is always the chance of a dip in the central lake though this is not recommended if you are in your racing car at the time. From Mallory Park, it is but a short distance to the Leicester Marriott for the finish and, after a short break, the prize giving and gala dinner.
Last week, Alec Poole and Andrew Kellitt were out checking the route and the venues to complete all the necessary details for the road book and other paperwork. The numbers of crews entered, both in the competition and the regularity categories, stand higher than they did at the start of the 2009 Tour Britannia but for those who have not yet decided to enter this unique race 'n rally event, there are still places left.
All enquiries to:-
info@tourbritannia.com
Tour Britannia,
Suite 300,
30 Horse Fair,
Banbury,
Oxon,
OX16 0BW,
U.K.
Phone + 44 (0) 1295 26 88 88
Fax + 44 (0) 1295 26 88 28
