The Britain-based Endurance Rally Association has set a calendar for the next four years that includes six new events and will offer events on six continents. The group plans 16 endurance rallies through 2021, it announced.
“The ERA continues to go from strength to strength, and the next four years will see us doing what we do best – organizing global events that offer great driving, fantastic company, and brilliant adventure,” rally director Fred Gallagher said in the organization’s news release.
The 2018-2021 calendar begins with The Road to Saigon, which the ERA terms a “follow up” to the Road to Mandalay event staged in February, 2017.
The 10th Flying Scotsman is scheduled for April, 2018, with the third Trans-America Challenge takes owners of vintage vehicles across the United States in May.
Two events are scheduled for September 2018 — the fourth Alpine Trial and the new Himalayan Challenge, an event ERA says is for “experienced rally crews.”
The Flying Scotsman event opens the ERA’s 2019 calendar that includes the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge, “the world’s toughest event for vintage and classic cars,” scheduled for June, 1919. The new Adriatic Adventure is scheduled for September, 1919 “exploring the mountains of the inland Balkans and the brilliance of the Adriatic coastline.”
Another new event, the 24-day Rally New Zealand, is planned for February 2020. Then comes another Flying Scotsman before the Sahara Challenge, a 12-day event from Malaga to Marrakech in late spring.
A new South American event from Lima to Cape Horn will be called ‘The Rally to the End of the World’ and ends the 2020 schedule.
The 2021 calendar starts with the inaugural 21-day Pearl of India in February. Another Flying Scotsman follows, and then the second Baltic Classic is scheduled for that June.
Another new event launches in October 2021 — the ABC Rally in Australia. The route travels from Adelaide to Canberra and Surfers Paradise, then on to Brisbane and Cairns.
“With so many of the winners of the Peking to Paris coming from Australia, it seemed only fitting to take the extensive experience of the ERA into their own backyard,” said Gallagher.
The ERA still has two more events on its 2017 calendar — the Blue Train Challenge, starting September 18 in France, and the Classic Safari in Africa, starting October 9.
For details, visit the association’s website.
Rally Nippon visits historic Japanese cultural sites
Rally Nippon, a vintage-vehicle tour of Japan, celebrates its 10th anniversary in October with a four-day drive that organizers promise will meander from Kyoto to Tokyo while taking in historic and cultural sites.
Eighty vehicles already have filled the registration list for an event sponsored by Peninsula hotels, which also sponsors The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering during Monterey Car Week. The Peninsula Tokyo hotel is the final stop on the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) tour.
“In addition to enjoying stunning landscapes and the camaraderie stemming from a shared passion for the ultimate in automotive design and engineering, participants will enjoy distinctive regional cuisines and sip local sakes, fine wines and spirits,” the organizers promise. “Stays in fine hotels and traditional inns add extra allure to this magical Japanese journey.”
By the way, the Peninsula hotels are more than an event sponsor. The Peninsula Hong Kong not only has a fleet of 14 extended-wheelbase Rolls-Royce Phantoms, but among them is a 1934 Phantom II Sedanca de Ville town car. It also supports The Quail Rally, a three-day charity drive that concludes at the Motorsports Gathering in Carmel Valley.
AACA Museum group to visit Italy
From November 3-12, AACA Museum Tours plans a car-oriented trip to Italy that includes visits to private collections, including Nicola Bulgari’s and Corrado Lopresto’s, as well as the Ducati Museum, the Panini/Maserati Museum, a visit to the Lamborghini factory and museum, the Ferrari Museum, the National Car Museum in Turin, where the group also will tour a FIAT factory. In addition to travel by coach, there will be a drive in antique cars along the Via Cassia from Sarteano to Pienza. For information, visit the tour website.
Vintage riders head to Hungary in 2018
The international federation for vintage vehicles, FIVA, plans a “world motorcycle run” in 2018 in Hungary, home of the Pannonia, Csepel, Meray and other historic brands. The dates are June 21-24 for an event that begins and ends near Budapest.
The tour will include museums and private collections, with daily rides of 75-100 miles. A highlight will be a cruise along the 5-kilometer Gyoin Beton road, where several motorcycle speed records were set in 1934.
For information and registration details, visit the FIVA website.
Closer to home
Spots on the Goodguys Rod & Custom Association’s annual Hall of Fame road tour are sold out, though there is a waiting list. The tour runs September 22-28 and travels from North Carolina to the Lone Star Nationals in Fort Worth, Texas, with stops at the Country Music Hall of Fame, New Orleans, San Antonio and at various automotive shops and car museums along the way.
The inaugural Drive Toward a Cure’s “Great Southern Adventure” runs September 27-30, starting in Asheville, North Carolina, challenging the Tail of the Dragon and ending at the Atlanta Concours at Chateau Elan. The event raises money to fight Parkinson’s Disease. For details, visit the event website.
I thinks so … “Stays in fine hotels and traditional inns add extra allure to this magical Japanese journey.”