Race for the Tourist Trophy for Europe's Top Sportscar Teams

28 April 2007

On Sunday 6th May the coveted Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy will be awarded to the winning drivers in the British round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship at Silverstone.

The 102-year-old Tourist Trophy is one of the most significant prizes in British motorsport and has been won by such racing greats as Sir Stirling Moss, Graham Hill, Denny Hulme and Derek Bell.

The first Tourist Trophy meeting was held on the Isle of Man on September 14th 1905 with cars setting off from Alexander Drive, Douglas on a 52 mile course. John Napier, in an Arrol-Johnston won in the 6 hour race comprising 4 laps, 208 miles, with an average speed of 33.9 mph.

Whilst there were breaks in the Tourist Trophy being contested in the early 20th century and during both world wars, it remained one of the most coveted competitions on the motor sports calendar. Over the years it moved around the country and has been run at circuits on the Isle of Man, in England and Northern Ireland.

Royal Automobile Club Chairman Tim Keown was the driving force behind the re-introduction of the Tourist Trophy, during its centenary year in 2005, for the FIA GT race at Silverstone. Dutchman Peter Kox and Portugal’s Pedro Lamy triumphed in the three hour race, taking the chequered flag in a British built Aston Martin. A year later the names of Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels were added to the roll of honour when they won at the opening round of the 2006 FIA GT Championship at The Home of British Motor Racing in a Maserati MC12. This was also the first time a Maserati had ever won the Tourist Trophy.

On Friday 4th May the Tourist Trophy will be escorted from the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall to Silverstone by owners of 21st Century supercars taking part in the second running of the London to Silverstone Supercar Tour.

Over thirty cars are due to take part in the 2007 run, with manufacturers such as Jaguar, Porsche, Aston Martin, Maserati, Bugatti, Koenigsegg, Ferrari and Spyker represented, with Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee Chairman Dr Stephen Hammerton delivering the Tourist Trophy to Silverstone in a Jaguar XKR. The Metropolitan Police will be providing a motorcycle escort to the outskirts of the Capital before the participants continue the 80-mile journey to Northamptonshire via a non-motorway route.

On arrival at Silverstone all of the participants in the Supercar Run will be invited to complete three laps of the famous Silverstone Grand Prix circuit.

The Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy will be awarded to the winning pair of drivers in Round 2 of the 2007 FIA GT Championship at Silverstone on May 6th.

Motion Works

See 2007 series calendar for FIA GT Championship

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