Autodelta presented the “Autodelta European Tour 2006” during Forza Auto Italia, held at the Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday, including a first showing of the official 2006 livery. With the start of the Autodelta European Tour 2006 now just 30 days away, four of the cars which will be taking part this year were presented with the individually-number decals that the cars will be carrying during the event, which is set to start in London on 15th September and culminate in Monte Carlo six days later where a brand-new Autodelta bespoke model will be officially launched.

The four cars which proudly lined-up at the Santa Pod Raceway on Saturday in the new colours were an Alfa Brera 3.2 Q4, Ferrari 348 TB, Autodelta GT 3.2 Super Evo and Alfa Romeo 146 2.0 TS Supercharged. Each car carried the new door numbering decals positioned next to the “Autodelta European Tour 2006” official logo. The four cars were in fact carrying the numbers 18, 05, 02 and 03 respectively. Each car on the Tour will be numbered up to 25, with 01 being specially reserved for the brand-new Autodelta model which will be officially unveiled in Monte Carlo.

Forza Auto Italia was a new event organised by the world’s leading Italian car magazine, Auto Italia, and the Santa Pod Raceway, the undisputed home of the drag racing sport in Europe and the best-known strip outside the USA. The day started off with an overcast sky swirling over the rural Bedfordshire setting and a steady wind blowing, which did though help to keep the dark clouds swiftly moving overhead and the rain away.

The highlight of the event was the chance for the Italian car owners' to take their cars onto the drag strip, a former WWII airfield runway, which is more used to seeing the FIA-sanctioned specialist dragsters in wild action, although many of owners got straight into the spirit of the setting by burning serious amounts of “rubber” to heat up their tyres as they approached the green lights on the start line. Autodelta ran the GT Super Evo down the strip several times, the additional torque of this 340 bhp supercharged “gran tourer” allowing it to complete the distance in a highly competitive time, hitting the very low 14 second bracket. Demonstrations runs were undertaken by a jet-powered dragster and an amazing - and it has to be said, somewhat scary - 2,000 bhp Fiat Topolino which threatened to take off in between jinking left and right!
 

”It has been good to present four cars with the Tour decals on here,” says Jano Djelalian. “The start of this year’s Tour is getting ever closer so this really was our last chance to build up in public to the event. We have seen a great deal of enthusiasm and support from Alfisti to the Tour so we are very keen to keep everyone ‘in the loop’. As well as the owner’s who will be joining us on this driving trip next month, we are looking forward to seeing old and new faces along the way, especially at the Zandvoort circuit and at B&K Auto in Basle, and we would like to extend an invitation to everyone to feel welcome to join us in Monte Carlo for the official unveiling. This is a big step forward for Autodelta, but one we feel is very necessary in light of the big step forward that the Alfa Romeo brand has made in the last year with the range of four truly exciting new models which have been launched.”

The Autodelta European Tour 2006 route will take the Tour participants from a London and Harwich start to Holland for a weekend’s rendezvous at the 'Spettacolo Sportivo' event where the Tour cars will be in action on the Zandvoort race track, the former home of the Dutch Grand Prix, before they head southwards to Monaco via overnight stops and events in Germany and Switzerland. The Tour will culminate in Monte Carlo where the participants will stay at the world-renowned Metropole Hotel on Casino Square – a venue which is famous for its association with the Monaco Grand Prix. This will be the location for the official launch to the media of the brand-new bespoke Autodelta model on 20th September, which will take place in the presence of the Tour participants.

”We’re delighted with the interest and the response we have had to the Tour here,” commented Autodelta Events’ Manager Andrew Smith. “An awful lot of work has gone into preparing for this second edition of the Autodelta European Tour, which we have thrown open to allow a number of people to join. A limited number of places still remain so please contact us for further information, or about meeting up with us en route or in Monte Carlo.”