1. UPDATED ROUTE OUTLINE

Unless otherwise stated all details are subject to change.  

Monday 7 September   

To co-incide with the arrival of the Plymouth to Santander ferry, the event has an early afternoon start in Santander, with a spectacular drive across the mountains of Northern Spain. The town of Vitoria Gasteiz is the location of our Welcome Reception, with parking in the main square.  

En route to Pamplona we are hoping to visit a brand new circuit, Circuit de Navarra, not yet open to the general public – we will keep you updated on this.  

The accommodation package provided by Kuoni includes dinner this evening.  

Tuesday 8 September  

We leave Pamplona and head towards our morning check point at Pic du Midi, where a cable car ride will take us to the summit of the mountain to enjoy a coffee stop and beautiful panoramic views of the Pyrénées.  

The afternoon will be mostly taken up by the chance to drive the Pau Arnos circuit (confirmed), a fast, very technical circuit with a wide variety of corners that make it both challenging and exciting . Tuesday finishes in Pau, with a drive over the Pau Street Circuit, home of the French round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Our first official Event Dinner will take place at the beautiful Beaumont Palace, situated in a 12 acre park on a terrace facing the Pyrénées.  

Wednesday 9 September  

We leave Pau on Wednesday morning to drive approx 60 miles to the Nogaro Circuit (confirmed), a demanding mix of exceptionally fast straights and challenging complexes. After lunch at the circuit, our afternoon check point will be a wine tasting visit in Buzet.  

In a change to the originally published schedule, due to a lack of acceptable accommodation in Monestier, our overnight halt will now be in the beautiful city of Bordeaux, with security patrolled parking in the picturesque Place de Quinconces town square. Dinner is not provided this evening, allowing participants to experience the local cuisine at one of the many restaurants close by.  

Thursday 10 September  

We head north-west out of Bordeaux into the Merlot wine region, taking a ferry from Le Verdon-sur-Mer to Royan before heading north towards the legendary Circuit des Ramparts at Angoulême, which, along with Pau and Monaco, is one of the last surviving street circuits. Our overnight location will be Poitiers.  

Due to the remote location of the hotel, dinner will again be provided as part of the accommodation package by Kuoni.  

Friday 11 September  

Our final day will see us depart from Poitiers, with a morning check point at the Châtellerault Motor Museum, housing over 150 classic and historic vehicles, before a midday visit to the town of Tours. Our afternoon visit to Le Mans will give all participants the unique opportunity to drive the legendary Bugatti Circuit (noise limit of 100dba).  

Our finish location and End of Event Gala Dinner will be in the beautiful city of Versailles on the outskirts of Paris.  

2. NEW!! - F3 DRIVING EXPERIENCE AT PAU ARNOS CIRCUIT  

The Pau Arnos Circuit, which we will visit on Tuesday afternoon, has an on-site driving school with a number of Formula 3 cars. We have arranged a fantastic opportunity for a limited number of participants to drive these single seater cars for 5/6 laps around the circuit at the end of the day. Formula 3 cars are single seaters similar in concept to that of a Formula 1 car. Using a 2 litre Ford Zetec engine, the power to weight ratio and aerodynamic setup results in exceptional performance.  

The cost will be approximately €100 Euros (to be paid directly to the circuit), and includes all necessary safety equipment and briefings. This represents a huge saving on the price of their normal F3 driving experiences.  

If you are interested in taking part in this, please let us know as soon as possible. We would have to schedule this into the day, as F3 and classic cars would of course not be permitted to use the circuit at the same time. This activity would be under the control of the circuit and covered by their insurance.

3. FERRIES  

Participants are reminded to ensure they make their own arrangements for return travel to the UK.  

4. DRIVING IN SPAIN & FRANCE  

The following are guidelines provided by Brit Assist (www.britassist.co.uk):

• Whilst driving on the motorway in France, in the event of a breakdown you MUST use the motorway phones situated every kilometre. Do not use your mobile phone.
• Please be aware of the speed limits in France. The police have increased their use of radars and cameras. You can expect to see them on approaches to pay tolls on the motorway, and on straight sections of the route nationals. It’s a 90 euro fine on the spot. The speed limit on the motorway is 120km/h. 
• You must carry a fluorescent jacket for each person in the car (not in the boot). A lot of people mistakenly assume they only need one for the driver. 
• It is illegal to travel without spare bulbs and fuses for your vehicle. 
• You MUST carry your insurance, vehicle registration documents, MOT etc. with you in case you are stopped by police. You may also need them at customs. 
• Unless you have new style EU number plates, then you must have a sticker on your car showing the country that the car is registered in (eg GB or IRL). 
• Warning triangles must be used in the event of breakdown. Place approx: 50 metres to the rear of your vehicle. 
• You must have headlamp beam adaptors fitted for continental driving. 
• The best value fuel is at supermarkets. In France you will find debit/credit cards are accepted, however, some fuel stations do not accept non-French cards at their automatic machines.  
• Drink driving limits are 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood , not 80 mg as it is in the UK. This means that less than one glass of wine or pint of beer will put you over the limit.