Tour of Britain is back!

Roads and circuits up and down the country will next year echo to the return of the Tour of Britain. Although the official announcement comes too late to be reported in detail in this issue, certain facts can already be ascertained about the event.

Being a mixture of circuit racing, special stages and other motoring disciplines, this will be the fifth time the event has been run–but the first for thirteen years, having previously been held from 1973 to 1976.

On those occasions it was Group 1 cars, similar to today’s Group A, which were eligible to compete, and it is likely that such cars will form the basis of the new event. The regulations will be more relaxed, though, to allow prototypes or sports cars in, bearing in mind that ground clearance will be essential over the rally stages.

Previous winners have included James Hunt and Robert Furnell in the first event–the victors in the following years all being rally drivers.

The return of this event will be poplar as once again it brings together the rallying and racing strands of the sport. It should also be even more accessible for spectators from all parts of the country than the RAC Rally, which tends to be confined to Wales and the north.