For being precise, the only St Bernard dogs we saw were toy puppies, but mountain’s curves and hot wheels were certainly there with us. The Alpine Grand Prix started early in the morning, with the gathering in the beautiful Courmayeur, and just as some timid snowflakes were beginning to descend, the group of 19 cars started off for some of the most fun 130 km of the year. First stop on the Little St Bernard pass, where the sky has cleared up, leaving room for ideal weather conditions for a tour of car-minded people who did not have fear of thrashing the throttle.
Among a huge array of Porsches, including a 996 GT3, a 997 GT3 RS and a 991 GT3 RS, we also have Maranello’s own prancing horse with a gorgeous 458 Speciale, tailgated by a black Nissan GT-R, not to mention the lightweight but always performing MX-5 and MX-5 RF, Toyota GT86 and Abarth 124 Spider. To represent rally legends a Lancia Delta Integrale in Yellow Ferrari and an immaculate Toyota Celica GT-Four and then “our” Lotus Exige Sport 350 given by our main partner Gino Luxury & Motorsport, with which we led the pack. Everyone deserves special thanks, like the mad guy who decided to face the Col de l’Iseran at the wheel of his wild Corvette C3 – then the final part that saw us climbing the Mont Cenis for lunch and final checkpoint. It has been a sun-kissed day and the desire to drive has not been calmed down yet. And with the engines still hot, we are already thinking about next year’s driving adventures. Meanwhile, enjoy this little preview of our tour on top of Europe.