20th Edition !

From 11 to 16 April 2011, the Tour Auto will for the twentieth time, start its tour along the French secondary roads France. For competitors aiming to win, most races require precise savoir-faire. The Tour Auto is multifaceted. Slow circuits, fast circuits, endurance on road stages, sprints on sinuous special stages, to participate in the Tour, it is best to be open minded…How can we celebrate this twentieth edition? By working on the strong points and organising the same race, but in a better way. With new unsuspected landscapes, revealed bend after bend along both road and special stages on roads far from ordinary traffic, tailor made, fromParis to South West of France, for the passage of the Tour.As Ferrari Berlinettas last year or OSCAs two years ago, this year a famous troublemaker, maverick stylist and multi-brand mercenary will top the bill: Zagato.

Zagato from A... to Z!

16 cars with the "Z" emblem will particpate in this 20th edition, 14 of them in the regularity section, spanning a production period from the year 1954 to 1965.

A like Alfa Romeo, with Giuliettas, SZ or TZ models, with 10 cars in this edition.

A like Aston Martin, being represented by 2 DB4 GT Z

L like Lancia, with 2 Flaminia and one Flavia.

M like Maserati with a very rare A6 G54 Zagato 1955 .

Z like Zagato and his renowned emblem.

Zagato is certainly one of the most outstanding bodywork specialists whose name is linked to mythical models of great automobile brands thus entering the Visitors' book of Motor Sports. From the very beginning, Ugo Zagato uses the aeronautical techniques which he masters with great skill. The result is light cars of avant-garde design and aerodynamic profile; among others, Alfa Romeo, Aston Martin, Lancia and Maserati special Z versions. The big boom of the "Carrozzeria Zagato" comes in the ‘50s and ‘60s, with the development of GTs. At this time; appear dreamcars dressed with Zagato's characteristic fluid and aerodynamic lines and the original double "doppia bolla" bubble roof. The TdF hasn't resisted the influence of these elegant cars and no less than 11 models have already participated. So much the better and a perfect excuse to pay them a tribute in 2011.

The race 

Over 230 cars, 5 days, 4 circuit races and close to 10 special road stages will be on the menu this year. The Tour Auto Optic 2ooo caracvan will head southwest to Biarritz, a city that has been host to the Tour in 2005.

 VHC:

Lasr yera's winner, Jean-Pierre Lajournade, will defend his title, on his Lotus Elan. He will meet strong competition in the form of 2 previous winners, Shaun Lynn and Ludovic Caron, both of them enrolling their impressive AC Cobras. Damien Kohler is a potential outsider, as he is present this year at the wheel of the Lotus Elan which used to belong to Hans Hugenholtz seven times winner of the Tour Auto Optic 2ooo. Hugo Payen, driving his red Jaguar E type, will be eager to show his talent, after an unlucky participation in  2010.

Groups G & H

Of course, we will see an impressive display of Alpine Renault including those driven by Jean Ragnotti and  Alain Serpaggi. They will face strong competition from the Porsche 906, and specially the one driven by John of B, the winner of the group H classification in 2010.

For the performace index classification, major contenders are last year's winner Yves Junne and his 1953 Porsche 356 , and the Cathiards, also on a Porsche 356. Both of them have an index of 0,5.

Regularity : In this section, the odds are very much in favor of John Ruston, who finished second last year, but the competition remains very open.