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‘ Break With Tradition ’
Mini Brittania 2013 Details Revealed
The 2013 Mini Britannia , the one-day classic competition tour modelled on Tour Britannia , will break new ground when it runs on Saturday 7 September from a base in London . Mini Britannia will give regular competitors some late-summer fun and new competitors the chance to sample this type of event . To encourage newcomers , a completely new route will be used , with the start at a landmark venue in London and the finish at the Royal Hospital , Chelsea to tie in with the spectacular new ‘ Grand Rendevous ’ event . The outline schedule opens on Friday evening , 6 September , for documentation . Mini Britannia will start on Saturday morning for a full day of action . Key attractions will include special stages at Dunsfold Park , the home of BBC Top Gear , and the Mercedes-Benz World track at Brooklands . Late on Saturday afternoon crews will return to London for the finish , prize-giving and supper at The Royal Hospital , Chelsea . The final control will be at the Hospital so that Mini Britannia cars can go on display ; not only on Saturday evening but throughout Sunday for the major show of classic road and race cars . “ This is a real break with tradition ,” said event director Alec Poole . “ We want to take the event to a new group of competitors and making the route very accessible to London should make it even more attractive . We hope to get people hooked on this fabulous style of event with a one-day taster on Mini Britannia and then encourage them to sample the full Tour Britannia experience next spring . Obviously we also hope to see many of our regular contenders in September .” Like its big brother , Mini Britannia will comprise Competition and Regularity categories and will run on asphalt roads . Following the format of Tour Britannia , crews in the Competition event will tackle a series of asphalt special stages , while the Regularity competitors will follow the same route with straight forward average speed tests on the same stages . The category is simple to follow without tricky navigation or timekeeping . Regularity entrants are fully fledged competitors , but competition licences are not necessary . “ We are really upbeat about the prospect of taking Mini Britannia into London . Access stipulations at some of the venues may limit numbers , but we hope to be able to accommodate everyone who wants to take part ,” said Poole . www . tourbritannia . com
Friends Reunited !
Tiff Needell Joins Record Breaking Field
Former F1 driver and now renowned TV personality , Tiff Needell , is gearing up to make history later this month at the 2013 Silverstone Classic ( 26-28 July ). The 61-year-old will be turning back the clock and joining a capacity 54- car grid in what ’ s a record breaking field of Formula Ford single-seaters . Never before in the junior formula ’ s 46-year history have more than 50 cars lined up on the same grid . “ It ’ s going to be crazy ,” said the man who once co-presented BBC Top Gear and today fronts the Fifth Gear motoring programme . “ Naturally I ’ m hoping to be out in front at the start and , more importantly , out in front at the finish but with so many cars it ’ s going to be busier than the M25 at rush hour . Whatever the result , though , it will be a fantastic experience for all involved whether they ’ re racing or spectating .” The two record-breaking races will be all the more special for Needell as he will be back behind the wheel of the very Formula Ford car that launched his racing career . It ’ s a profession that took him all the way to the heights of F1 and the podium at Le Mans en route to becoming a familiar face on our TV screens . “ I ’ m racing the same Lotus 69F that I won in a competition in Autosport magazine in 1971 – without that I ’ d probably never even been a racing driver ,” he admitted . “ As a special Christmas present to myself , I bought the car back six months ago ; I ’ m thrilled to be reunited with the car and racing it again at Silverstone . www . silverstoneclassic . com
10 www . cprmag . co . uk