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photograph - from the nimble Triumph TR2’s
to the powerful Ford GT 40’s, the Tomaso
Pantera or the Ligier, without forgetting the
Ford Mustangs, the Aston Martin DB4’s, the
DS Citroëns, the Jaguar XK’s and Type E’s, the
Austin Healeys or the Alfa Romeos, and the
many different Porsche or Ferrari models.
From Paris to Nice passing through Beaune,
Aix-les-Bains, Clermont-Ferrand and Nîmes,
the Tour Auto cuts through central France like
a sword. If on the open road the drivers must
be willing to accept a compromise between
their competitive desire to win the race, and
the rules of road safety, the tests conducted on
roads that are closed to ordinary traffic, and
on special circuits give them plenty of opportunity
to show their ever bigger, and more
enthusiastic audience, what they and their cars
are capable of.
The differences in engine performance of the
cars, largely determined by their year of
construction, and category, justifies the existence
of a triple league table, each of which has
distinct levels. The “competition” category is
based on speed – the results of 4 races held on
a circuit are added to those obtained in spe-
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