Competitors in the 2012 edition of Tour Britannia (6-8 June) will tackle 20 special stages and two races during two and a half days of intense competition following final sign off of the route for the eighth running of the classic race and rally tour.
As always the stages are interesting and novel, with four of the venues completely new to motorsport. There are unique variations at some venue, including the Harewood Hillclimb course being tackled in the opposite direction to normal. Meanwhile, the team at the event HQ hotel of Rudding Park in Harrogate is surfacing a new road in the grounds to be used on the first stage of the event.
Tour Britannia will visit 10 venues, with another new to Tour Britannia special stage venue confirmed as Blyton Park Driving Centre near Gainsborough in Lincolnshire. “The stages for 2012 are new and interesting and should provide a great challenge and a lot of fun for our competitors,” said event director Alec Poole.
Full-on asphalt stages like Blyton Park, and another recent addition at Tockwith, contrast nicely with the beautiful parkland roads at Raby Castle and Aske Hall and the iconic stages at Harrogate and Newark Showgrounds. There really is something for everyone in the 2012 route.
Meanwhile, the organisers are dealing with a flurry of entries as the closing date approaches, including 2011 winner John Clark and rallying crew Tony Robinson and Jon Cropper in one of nine Porsches already on the entry list for the competition event.
In the concurrent regularity rally, a fabulous array of classic cars will compete, ranging from a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud to a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso and, marking the 50th anniversary of the model, an MGB. Also represented in the regularity entry are classic marques liker Porsche, Aston Martin, Jaguar, Austin Healey, Lancia and Bentley.
More details about Tour Britannia and Targa Britannia can be found at the event website: www.tourbritannia.com and entry forms can be downloaded from the site.
