{"id":460852,"date":"2006-08-01T03:05:46","date_gmt":"2006-08-01T10:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=70907"},"modified":"2023-12-26T09:29:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-26T09:29:57","slug":"tour-auto-2006","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/","title":{"rendered":"Tour Auto (2006) – Recap & Photo Gallery"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe best motoring all-rounder in the world,\u201d So opened John Sprinzel\u2019s Autosport reports of the 1963 and \u201864 Tour de France. The night stages are gone now but the spirit of the Tour lives on. It has lost none of its ability to grab one\u2019s senses today. Long road sections, special stages and circuits every day for five days needs stamina \u2013 and a reliable car.<\/p>\n

There is something faintly surreal about cruising safely at near motorway speeds down open, straight, single-track roads. It wasn\u2019t just for short bursts either; across the central plain of France this frequently went on for several kilometers with the road ahead totally deserted. It was the second day in to the 2006 Tour Auto. There were three still to go and those who thought it all might be a pleasant drive down through France, a sort of belle \u00e9poque of gracious living and driving, were in for a rude shock. Don\u2019t get me wrong, the event is huge fun, but the cost is that you really have to work at it. Twelve-hour days are not unusual, but the satisfaction is immense.<\/p>\n

The plot, as always, was for around 200 cars to gather on a Monday in April around the fountains of the Trocadero, just across the Seine from the Eifel Tower in Paris. The entry contained fewer of the star entries that had been so significant on past Tours, while the event was turned on its head with the regularity runners leading and the fast competition cars at the back.<\/p>\n

As always the entry was eclectic. The first ten cars through contained a Renault 4CV, a rare \u201950s Salmson, two OSCAs, an Alfa Giulia, two different Siatas, a Ferrari 212 Export and a Maserati A6GCS.<\/p>\n

From a A6GCS and an OSCA with no weather equipment, through Jaguar XKs, Porsches and Cobras to Alfa Giulias, Mustangs and Ferrari GTBs, this was some of the many different ways in which the Tour was enjoyed. Flies in the teeth, or comfy and snug. The latter was an advantage at times as in the Auvergne, especially at the fabulous Charade circuit, where it seemed like we were back in the UK with temperatures in single figures.<\/p>\n

Over 300 kilometers, a special stage and \u201craces\u201d at a different circuit en route, take place each day. The tracks were Dijon, Magny Cours, Charade and Ledenon with an extra special stage on Day 4. Wrong-slotting or hanging about to view the countryside can lead to a serious need to regain time lost. The style of the circuits varies from the fast sweeps of Burgundy at Dijon, to the featureless Magny Cours, via the breathtaking altitude changes and blind apexes of Charade to the tight turns and 38 gear changes per lap of Ledenon in Provence.<\/p>\n

This year the finish was in Cannes, while Day 1 started from Paris with an Autoroute run out to the Bourgogne, but the route from then on was almost entirely on D, V or C roads. As France unfolded on the first day, veteran French rally ace and eventual winner, Jean Ragnotti in his Alpine just held off the Entremonts in their Michelotto Ferrari 308 GTB in the Competition class.<\/p>\n

With classes for Index of Performance and the very important Regularity, there was an award for all to aim for and there was little let up. It was obvious there was much to play for when immaculate road-going Ferrari 250 GT SWBs were seen kerb hopping at Magny Cours to make up time \u2013 no gentle run this.<\/p>\n

By Peter Collins<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Track<\/a>
Track action at Dijon. Photo: Peter Collins<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe best motoring all-rounder in the world,\u201d So opened John Sprinzel\u2019s Autosport reports of the 1963 and \u201864 Tour de France. The night stages are gone now but the spirit of the Tour lives on. It has lost none of its ability to grab one\u2019s senses today. Long road sections, special stages and circuits every day for five days needs stamina \u2013 and a reliable car. There is something faintly surreal about cruising safely at near motorway speeds down open, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":690079,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[260,13063],"tags":[432,15234,17718],"class_list":["post-460852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-car-events","category-vintage-car-racing","tag-events","tag-events-vintage-racing","tag-vintage-race-tour-auto"],"yoast_head":"\nTour Auto (2006) - Recap & Photo Gallery<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Tour Auto 2006\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tour Auto (2006) - Recap & Photo Gallery\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Tour Auto 2006\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.natale1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2006-08-01T10:05:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-26T09:29:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/n5-200608-p2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"670\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Natale\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Natale\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Steve Natale\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49\"},\"headline\":\"Tour Auto (2006) – Recap & Photo Gallery\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-08-01T10:05:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-26T09:29:57+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":608,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2006\\\/08\\\/n5-200608-p2.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Event (Car Events & Shows)\",\"Event (Vintage Races)\",\"Vintage Race (Tour Auto)\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Car Events & Shows\",\"Vintage Races & Rallies\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/\",\"name\":\"Tour Auto (2006) - Recap & Photo Gallery\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2006\\\/08\\\/n5-200608-p2.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2006-08-01T10:05:46+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-26T09:29:57+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49\"},\"description\":\"Tour Auto 2006\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2006\\\/08\\\/n5-200608-p2.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2006\\\/08\\\/n5-200608-p2.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":670,\"caption\":\"Eventual winner, Rally legend Jean Ragnotti, in hs Alpine. Photo: Peter Collins\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/tour-auto-2006\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tour Auto (2006) – Recap & Photo Gallery\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Supercars.net\",\"description\":\"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49\",\"name\":\"Steve Natale\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png\",\"caption\":\"Steve Natale\"},\"description\":\"Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/stevenatale.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/steve.natale1\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/stevenatale\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@SteveNatale\\\/videos\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/steve100530\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tour Auto (2006) - Recap & Photo Gallery","description":"Tour Auto 2006","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tour Auto (2006) - Recap & Photo Gallery","og_description":"Tour Auto 2006","og_url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/","og_site_name":"Supercars.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.natale1","article_published_time":"2006-08-01T10:05:46+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-26T09:29:57+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":670,"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/n5-200608-p2.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Natale","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@supercars_net","twitter_site":"@supercars_net","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Natale","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/"},"author":{"name":"Steve Natale","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49"},"headline":"Tour Auto (2006) – Recap & Photo Gallery","datePublished":"2006-08-01T10:05:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-26T09:29:57+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/"},"wordCount":608,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/n5-200608-p2.jpg","keywords":["Event (Car Events & Shows)","Event (Vintage Races)","Vintage Race (Tour Auto)"],"articleSection":["Car Events & Shows","Vintage Races & Rallies"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/","name":"Tour Auto (2006) - Recap & Photo Gallery","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/n5-200608-p2.jpg","datePublished":"2006-08-01T10:05:46+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-26T09:29:57+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49"},"description":"Tour Auto 2006","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/n5-200608-p2.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/08\/n5-200608-p2.jpg","width":1080,"height":670,"caption":"Eventual winner, Rally legend Jean Ragnotti, in hs Alpine. Photo: Peter Collins"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/tour-auto-2006\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tour Auto (2006) – Recap & Photo Gallery"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/","name":"Supercars.net","description":"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/237befa83e8e5937247db55880b8cc49","name":"Steve Natale","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Steve-Natale-100x100.png","caption":"Steve Natale"},"description":"Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.","sameAs":["https:\/\/stevenatale.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/steve.natale1","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/stevenatale\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@SteveNatale\/videos"],"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/author\/steve100530\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=460852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/460852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/690079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=460852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=460852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=460852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}