The Italian Job – In her Toyota GT86 – By Sky Customer: Lauren
You will hopefully remember Sky customer, Lauren and her Owners Review of the awesome Toyota GT86.
Lauren's Story So Far:
Review - When Purchased, some initial thoughts& Its First Track Day - 5000 miles in, at Donnington. And lastly the Toyota Sprint Series
She has nowcompleted her very own Italian Job and very kindly documented it for us. Part one of her detailed and spirited driving experience is here, with plenty of beautiful pictures to enjoy too: Okay, now, we all have those trips we dream of making and driving on the kind of roads that rise and fall as they carve their way through mountains with views to die for and plenty of opportunity to get your foot down and drive. Now I admit, this dream was helped somewhat by having a good friend who has relocated to Lake Garda in Italy. So, the plan was set, we would drive to Switzerland, take in the famous mountain passes then hit the Stelvio pass the following day before cruising to Lake Garda and a rendezvous on the beach.
All good trips need to start somewhere and given my mum lives on the Kent borders less than an hour away from the Chunnel, it started there. We opted to take Indy with us as we knew she'd appreciate seeing her favourite uncle in Italy:
So the following day we set off with a rather daunting distance crossing France to Basel in Switzerland. We opted to stop in Reims to see the historic old circuit:
And so on to the train for the trip under the Channel:
A fairly uneventful cruise down the French Peage saw us to Reims. It's actually quite a cool place and is dead odd in that the three roads around the area provide a circuit with three corners naturally. Imagine a triangle and you're there. Like many other historic circuits that are comprised of regular roads, this one is no different. Racing here started in 1926 and even saw a Grand Prix. Motorsport stopped here in 1972 and the stands along the pit straight seen in the pictures were left to ruin. What is odd about this place is that there is a society there to restore it, though they haven't restored the stands, rather they have repainted all the decals and sponsors. This gives a strange effect with new paint contrasted to the decay of the actual buildings.
What is it with us Brits eh? I can virtually guarrantee that if you decide to stop there with it being all of ten minutes from the National route which everyone has to drive it you are heading south on the east side of France, you will always find fellow brits there. We bumped into a couple of guys in Corvettes and a guy in a Porsche who had decided to drive to Stuttgart for a factory tour. Apparently he hadn't arranged the tour but was hopeful nonetheless. 
It's a place full of history and this certainly has it's appeal. You can drive the old circuit as it is made up of regular roads of course. We opted for the high speed drive by. 
The old control tower, note no windows and if you did climb up there (not advised) you will only see the remnants of where vagrants have camped overnight. 
Back of the old grandstands with faded paint. 
Back on the road again and one of our frequent stops at the picnic areas which was a perfect place to let Indy stretch her legs. 
Then onto yet more peages. We reckon we spent around €40 each way. It was at this point that I had an unintended encounter with the Gendarmerie who subsequently had caught me travelling at 160km/h in a speed limit of 130km/h. But they have to give some allowance for error so I was done for 152km/h which really is a paltry 22km/h above the speed limit. The result was a long and hot ride in an ancient Renault Clio to the most remote cashpoint known to humankind. Perhaps predictably there was an option for withdrawal of €90 for the subsequent fine of the same amount! Once this was dealt with we were able to be on our way again.
The Gendarmerie are perfectly polite, but be warned they'll have you and bearing in mind I received the minimum fine, it can get quite a lot more expensive should you exceed the speed limit by more than 30km/h. From there Switzerland beckoned. I must admit to a feeling of excitement as I noted the gradual change in landscape as the hills and mountains loomed. But more of that later. It took us around 13 hours from leaving London to arrive in Basel, so it's a long drive, though we did have a half hour siesta in one of the stops as I could feel myself struggling to keep going as we neared Switzerland. Finally the Swiss border.
And then the obligatory vignette required for travelling the Swiss motorways. CHF40 for the pleasure! And so to the hotel - A very tired Indy, it had been a long day!
The next day having recovered somewhat we grabbed a nice breakfast at the hotel, then hit the road to meet Chris our Swiss guide and fellow GT86 owner for what was to be the drive of a lifetime....!
Thank you Lauren for the sharing the experience with us- Keep an eye out for Part 2 - coming very soon.
Are you a GT86 owner or thinking of purchasing?
The GT86 Drivers Clubs are full of informative and helpful information - www.GT86ownersclub.co.uk& www.gt86.org.uk
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