| Under the aegis of
Stephane Ratel, the promoter of the FIA GT Championship, the Supercar
Rally made its debut on the 20th September 2001.
More than forty of the most beautiful and exclusive
cars in the world toured France from Paris to Monaco.
The idea of the tour was to provide a new promotional
platform for car designers and constructors. Outside of the normal and
increasingly mundane motor shows, this was a chance for cars to be seen
in their natural surroundings. |
| www.supercar-rally.com
|
Those lucky French! Lotus driver Frank Pandolfi had recently had the good
fortune to attend the Supercar Rally in Paris with fellow Lotus enthusiast Michel
Yacoïan and Johann Corbel (Subaru/Ferrari owner) from where they bring
us this report and these great pictures.
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Koenigsegg CC |
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Lamborghini Mercielago |
Edonis |
Being huge fans of sports/GT cars when we heard of the Supercar rally a few
of weeks ago, we knew we'd have to be there! The list of cars to be displayed
was unreal: concept cars, supercars, GT1 cars on static display and some of them on the road too. Cars sadly missing included the CLK GTR, McLaren F1 and the
Bugatti Veyron.
The absentees were not greatly missed though, given the incredible machinery
on display in Paris's Place Vendome. More than fifty cars were present including
some not yet on sale. Some of the rarest cars present included the Edonis,
Koenigsegg, Peugeot Feline concept, Bentley Le Mans no 7, Aston 2020 concept and
the new Lamborghini Murciélago.
'Regular' supercars included Diablos, the Dauer EB110S with carbon body (200
kg lighter than genuine EB110), Pagani Zonda, Aston Martin Vantage and Le Mans,
Venturi 400GT, Ferrari F50, 550 Spider, 288 GTO, Ital Design Nasca C2-Structura
monospace, Porsche GT1 and GT2, Stola, Contender, Bentley Continental and more.
Owners came from Italy, Switzerland, UK, Luxembourg, Monaco, France and even
the Bonnaire (small Island near Cuba).
As Lotus enthusiasts (and daily Elise drivers), the most interesting car for
us was the Lotus Elise GT1. Only one road car was build by Lotus and it wasn't
this one. The Lotus Elise GT1 shown in Paris was a race car in Frank Muller
livery - yellow over black. We were told that the car is not one of those which
raced in the FIA series. The car is said to be chassis number eleven complete
with carbon body, carbon brakes, 6 speed seqential Hewland and a Lotus V8 twin
turbo with nearly 600hp.
Imagine driving a race GT1 on open road! Unlike some of the other cars which
were trailered around, this car was driven - even around Paris with the door
open to get fresh air. Not surprisingly it's not the ideal city car with the
engine not liking lows revs and the race clutch not ideal for stop-start
traffic!
This
Race Elise GT1 body differs from the original one off road car with different
nose, rear deflector, fuel cap, no open windows, carbon brakes, mirrors (those
on this car had been replaced by electric ones), wing pillars, lights (the race
car had two pairs of optional headlamps) and the side exhaust.
All in all a stunning display of cars, all the better for being out in the
open rather than on glitzy motor show stands!
The full set of glorious pictures can be found on Johann's website at http://mapage.noos.fr/jcorbel/supercars/index.htm
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