Only 23 days to go to the Dix Mille Tours du Castellet, the final round of the series by Peter Auto. Do not miss a moment of this event dedicated to historic and classic cars so rendezvous on 19-20 October at the Paul Ricard circuit, a track that all lovers of motor sport know very well. On the programme: exceptional cars, great battles on the track, the presence of numerous clubs and exhibitors and above all, passion!
Among the 350 entries for the different races spectators will be lucky enough to see not one but three Ferrari 512 BBLMs! Developed by Ferrari in 1974, this car’s target was the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Pininfarina designed its bodywork and its 5- litre V12 engine (4.4 litres in the production version) propelled it to 325 km/h. Unfortunately, it never won in the Sarthe because of its very fragile 5-speed gearbox and it was also out-performed by the Porsche 935s. And yet while only 25 were made the Ferrari 512 BBLM fuels the desire of historic car enthusiasts. Will one of them finally clinch a title at the Dix Mille Tours?
Change of era with the Group C Racing grid considered as the Golden Age of Endurance by the majority of specialists of this form of motor sport. Spotlight on Peugeot and its very quick
905 EV1Bs, two of which are entered for the race. This car was developed during the 1991 season. Except for the monocoque the version Evolution 1 Bis no longer had anything in common with the previous model. The bodywork was equipped with a massive rear wing and the engine was tweaked giving 20 bhp more compared to the 650 bhp of the earlier version. The Peugeot 905 EV1B’s victory at the Nürburgring in 1991 (WSSC) really launched its career.
This car never raced on the Paul Ricard circuit even if most of the testing was done there. The event will provide the two French cars with the opportunity to clinch a title in the final round of the 2019 series by Peter Auto.
In The Greatest’s Trophy, Italy cedes pride of place to a magnificent ex-Le Mans (1958 and
1961) English car, the AC Bristol: a reminder that since 2015 this grid is no longer exclusively reserved for Italian cars and now attracts some beautiful examples of other renowned makes like the Aston Martin DB4 GT and DB4 GT Zagato, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, etc.
The AC Cobra fascinates even though it owes its shape and chassis to a lesser-known car, the AC-Bristol Ace. It was introduced in 1953 as the AC Ace and changed its name in 1956 when Bristol Engineering supplied it with a 1971 cc straight-6 motor. Renamed the AC-Bristol Ace, it made its racing debut in the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans where it put on a superb performance finishing second in its category and tenth overall. The lovely English sports car competing in the Dix Mille Tours raced in the famous Sarthe event in 1958 and 1961.