Catching a Rainbow

On a still November night, redolent of Guy Fawkes nights of our youth, the weary competitors of this years Hackett Beaujolais Run arrived at Château des Jacques in Beaujolais; signifying the end of this years Beaujolais Race.

The starting point, two days earlier was the historic Goodwood Motor Circuit in West Sussex, a fitting venue to start the race.
08.30 on Tuesday the 14th November the twenty-five entrants were under starters orders…and they were off. The man tasked with getting the race under way was Formula One World Champion driver Damon Hill; president of the Down's Syndrome Association (DSA) one of the charities the race benefited. The other beneficiary was Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital.

The race, although in the spirit of the earlier Beaujolais runs, no longer entails returning to England with the first bottle of Beaujolais Primeur at the top of its agenda… there are far too many speed cameras in France for that.
It is now a charity event, which only involves on leg of the journey getting to the town of Beaujeu in Beaujolais, where the release of the first wine takes place.
The competitors, many of them celebrities were eager to be the first to cross the finishing line as coming anything other than first may well have dented the sensitivity of their glistening celebrity status.

The object of the race is to negotiate one’s way from Goodwood to Château des Jacques, a spectacular 67-acre estate in Moulin-à-Vent, by the shortest route.
The first day ended with a champagne reception at Veuve Clicquot in Reims - at the heart of the Champagne region of France.

Day two dawned; and the competitors roared off in their magnificent machines including: Lotus, Ferraris and Aston Martins.
The teams dressed in an array of bizarre characters including the cast of Allo Allo, Starsky & Hutch as well as Batman & Robin began the navigational challenge.
This part of the race is designed to test the team’s sense of direction and not the speed they drive. The course, which includes a series of cryptic checkpoints, which have to be negotiated, also requires the entrants to provide photographic evidence of the route they have taken.

The winners this year were a team from Overbury PLC whose crew were dressed as James Bond, (which one is not clear), in their Lotus Esprit. It was a close finish James Hackett, in his Aston Martin, only a few minutes behind.

A fitting end to a grand charity event, were the magnums of Moulin à Vent Château des Jacques 1990, a high performance wine for a Formula One Finish.


Hackett are the official Sponsors of:

1. Rugby World Cup.
2. Jonny Wilkinson.
3. The GT1 Aston Martin Racing team.
4. The London Rowing Club.
5. British Army polo.
6. Beaujolais Run.



References
http://www.hackett.com/
http://www.louisjadot.com/index_uk.html
http://www.everywine.co.uk/every-wine/25244-Louis-Jadot-Chateau-des-Jacques-Moulin-a-Vent-CLOS-du-GRAND-CARQUELIN.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes
http://www.wine-pages.com/features/jadot_b.htm
http://www.formula1.com/archive/halloffame/driver/71.html
http://www.veuve-clicquot.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reims
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_%28province%29
http://www.grouplotus.com/