A 1965 Porsche 911 driven by Charles Colton and Guy Woodcock has won the Classic Marathon rally that finished in northern Italy on 21 June.
A total of 50 crews competed in the Pirelli-backed Classic Rally Association event, which started in Ypres, Belgium a week earlier.
The course took teams on through Luxembourg, France and Switzerland en route to the finish in Cortina d'Ampezzo near the border with Austria.
For much of the rally, the winning Porsche was locked in a battle with a trio of 1965 Sunbeam Tigers, as the cars tackled the 2280km route rising, at times, to more than 2600 meters above sea level.
Second, third and fourth places were awarded to the Tigers of Jayne Wignall and Kevin Savage, John Korrison and Peter Rushforth, plus John Abel and John Dennett respectively, with just a few seconds separating the teams.
Charles Colton said: “They [the Sunbeams] had the power advantage on the hills, but we won in the end, although it wasn’t by any means easy. The Tigers kept the pressure on all the way through to the finish line – it was very tough.”
The CRA’s joint MD Patrick Burke said: “It was great to see crews from all over the world taking part in the event and it was fantastic to have such a broad range of cars competing, including a 1969 Alfa Romeo Giulia Super, a 1971 Fiat 127, a 1969 Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato and various Ferraris.”
