The Swiss watch manufacturer is celebrating its status as official timekeeper of the Tour Auto for the fifth consecutive year by launching a new limited series: the Royal Oak Offshore Tour Auto 2010 Chronograph, issued in a limited, numbered edition of 60. As in previous years, Audemars Piguet will also be present on the Tour Auto by supporting two teams: the Blanchard/Cloché-Dubois ladies’ team driving an AC Bristol, and the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque Le Gloahec/Zabel team at the wheel of a Jaguar MK1.
The Manufacture Audemars Piguet’s interest in motor racing is definitely nothing new! In addition to close involvement with its Formula 1 racing-driver ambassadors Rubens Barrichello, Jarno Trulli and Sébastien Buemi, Audemars Piguet is also the official timekeeper for historical car rallies such as the Tour Auto, the National Classic Tour (Belgium) and the Audemars Piguet Gtaad Classic (Switzerland). This year, 100 chronographs have been created within the Royal Oak Offshore: one 60-piece limited edition for the Tour Auto, and another 40 for the National Classic Tour. These new timepieces have been specially designed to appeal to motor sports enthusiasts.
The Royal Oak Offshore Tour Auto 2010 Chronograph is driven by selfwinding Calibre 2326/2840, featuring a 38-hour power reserve and a balance oscillating at 28,800 vibrations per hour. All parts of this “chronograph” movement are entirely decorated by hand. The main plate is rhodium-plated, bevelled and circular-grained, and the bridges are adorned with a Côtes de Genève motif. The watch displays the hours, minutes, seconds and date. It is also equipped with a chronograph function with central seconds hand along with 30-minute and 12-hour counters. The tachometric scale on the inner bezel ring, decorated with alternating black and white squares, evokes the chequered flag that is waved at motor-race finishes.
The 42 mm-diameter steel case is topped by a bead blasted bezel. The case assembly screws are also in polished steel, while the screw-lock crown and pushers are in black rubber. Water-resistant to 100 metres.The caseback is engraved with the “Tour Auto” logo and bears the legend “Royal Oak Offshore – Série Limitée”. Its anthracite dial with the exclusive “Méga Tapisserie” finish carries red and silver-coloured counters, along with luminescent hands and numerals. Finally, this new chronograph is fitted with a black handsewn perforated leather strap with stainless steel AP folding clasp and presented in a box also dedicated to motor sports, since it is shaped like a Ford GT 40 petrol cap.
Audemars Piguet has chosen to support two particular teams for this new edition of the Tour Auto.
The Blanchard/Cloché-Dubois ladies’ team will be competing in the regularity category at the wheel of an AC Bristol. While this is a first for Céline Cloché-Dubois, Karine Blanchard has been driving the length and breadth of Europe since her childhood, when her parents instilled in her their own passion for classic racing. Karine was indeed part of the “3 girls in a Bugatti” team that took part in the Le Mans Classic race in 2006 and 2008. This is not the first Tour Auto for the Mécénat Chirurgie Cardiaque Le Gloahec/Zabel team, which already took part in the 2009 edition in order to support the heart surgery foundation after which it is named, racing their Jaguar MK1 in the competition category.
After the technical and sporting verifications conducted on April 19th in the Jardin des Tuileries in Paris, our friends will set off for Magny-Cours, where the first track race will take place the following day. The cars will then head for Vichy, a traditional stop-over on the Tour, followed by the famous Charade racing circuit in Auvergne, before an original stage in Lyon. After a detour via the Bresse track, the AC Bristol and the MK2 will drive towards the Alps and one of the most elegant French ski resort, Megève. The Audemars Piguet teams will then begin their descent towards the Côte d’Azur, via Aix-en-Provence on the Friday, and the Paul Richard HTTT race track. They will savour the splendors of the Mediterranean coastline as they proceed to the legendary Corniche and to Beaulieusur-Mer, the final destination of this new Tour Auto.
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