Tour de Corse Historique

I was fortunate enough to be invited by my business partners to watch them and their friends race in the Tour de Corse Historique. Since the year 2000, this annual race occurs throughout the beautiful windy roads and mountainous landscape of the island of Corsica, and is now in its 16th year.  Although I appreciate vintage cars, I am not a racer so I was here as a guest to watch my partners and friends participate in the races.

 

The name “Tour de Corse” refers to the fact that in the course is run around the entire island. The racers begin in the South and then head West and loop around North-East and back down to the South of the island again for the finish. The rally is held on asphalt roads, and it is known as the “Ten Thousand Turns Rally” because of the twisty mountain roads the drivers race on.

The racers meet and check in Porto Vecchio and then race their cars for the next 5 days around the island. Day 1 is from one end of Porto Vecchio to the other followed by Day 2 from Porto-Vecchio – Porticcio. Day 3 is Porticcio – Porto, Day 4 is Porto to Ile Rousse, and finally Day 5 is Ile Rousse back to Porto- Vecchio. In total, the racers end up driving over 3/4 of the island, on tight windy roads through these beautiful Corsican mountains. At the end of each day, everyone gathers the cars in the designated resting spots for the night and then its social hour. Racers and guests come to admire each others vintage cars and talk with one another about, cars and racing.

As there was a bit of unexpected rain, there was a quick stop to change the tires on the vehicle, otherwise the cars would be slipping and sliding all over these narrow roads with lots of turns. And as we all know, safety is always the first concern and most important!

Then it was time to hit the road jack and get back on the road to check in at the next stop at the end of the Day 3 leg.

For those who are into vintage cars, racing, and automobiles in general, this really is the place to be to see all of these cool cars. Even the little boy in the picture directly below was staring in amazement at all of the cars! There really is something for everyone to see and enjoy.

There are 227 racers that participate in the rally with their vintage cars. This list comes down and down until you have one final winner. All participant racers do get a nice parting gift in appreciate of their time and participation in the race.

There were many amazing cars to look at but personally, I am a huge fan of Porsche. Due to its high performance and steady track record in racing, Porsche represents about 30% of the cars in the race, which is the highest number under a single brand. What is your favorite car in the pictures here?

 

And so after 5 days watching these awesome vintage cars race all over the island, the race had finally come to an end. Below are photos of my partners coming into the finish line at the end of the race. It was then time for the trophy ceremony as well as final interviews with the press, and last opportunities for photos with the vintage cars. I hope you enjoyed my photos playing tourist in vintage car racing. It was a very cool experience and I hope you enjoyed it as well.