British team triumphs at Tour Auto Optic 2000

| 1 May 2013

Cobras starred on the 2013 Tour Auto Optic 2000 with Carlos Monteverde and Gary Pearson winning the competition class after an event-long battle with French rival Ludovic Caron’s Shelby.

Victory in Group 1 went to the British team of Andrew Beverley and Mike Humphreys in a Ferrari 308GTB.

Meeting at the Grand Palais in France on 23 April, crews set off from Paris the following day on a 2000km route that took in Le Mans, Orleans, Magny-Cours, Vichy, Albi and Limoges.

The port of La Rochelle, in the Bay of Biscay, marked journey’s end on 27 April.

Maranello-built machines made up 32 entries and included such classics as several 275GTBs, a 250GT Tour de France, a 365GTB/4 Competizione and a Group 4 308 driven by former-F1 driver Olivier Panis, which finished 86th.

But the highlight for many was the amazing sight of ’99 Indy 500 winner Kenny Bräck gunning the fantastic Daytona Cobra Coupe CSX 2300 on the Gallic roads.

Other rare cars came in the form of Jacques Laffite’s Porsche 910 (93rd) and French TV and radio presenter Vincent Cerutti’s Ligier JS2 (87th).

Find out more from the event’s website.