|  | | | OUR NEXT EVENT is the MICRO MARATHON 2009 for cars up to 700cc on September 5-12: Click here for more info and here to email us...  | |  | LBL 2010 IS HERE! For 2010 we are opening the event to cars that couldn't join us in 2008 either because their engines were a little too big or they were a little too new: 600-1200cc cars and three-wheelers. AND we are running an all-new event for microcars up to 700cc in September 2009, which is also open to pre-war cars up to 1000cc! | | The route for Liège-Brescia-Liège 2010 runs from Liège to Liège via Karlsruhe, Munich, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Ljubljana, Bolzano, Brescia, Bolzano, Munich and Karlsruhe. The entry fee of £2995 includes 11 nights in top hotels and ALL meals for two people from dinner on Thursday, July 15 to breakfast on Monday, July 26, plus rally plates, route book, maps, special tests, mechanical back-up and luggage transport. Entry fee at this rock-bottom rate must be paid 50% by 31 July 2009, 50% by 30 November 2009. Get your Entry Form and Regulations, and get your name on the list - email us now! |
In July 1958, 54 pioneers in 27 tiny cars set out from Liège in Belgium in a brave attempt to prove that the new breed of tiny-engined cars, made popular by the Suez crisis two years earlier, were not just toys but could do everything their bigger sisters could do – and much more economically. The Liège-Rome-Liège rallies were well known as the toughest events of the 1950s so when the organisers, the Royal Motor Union of Liège, announced a similar event for cars up to 500cc, everyone knew it would be hard. Even so, the schedule was staggering. Cars would leave Belgium on Thursday evening, travel all night through Germany, cross the Alps via Austria then head east through the Dolomites into Yugoslavia, tackling many notorious loose-surfaced mountain passes on the way. Still without stopping except for fuel and snatched refreshment, they would turn around at Ljubljana and return through the Dolomites to tackle Europe’s most challenging mountain pass, the Stelvio, descending south to Brescia. There, the cars went into parc fermé, meaning they could not be worked on, for five hours while the crews had a little kip (assuming, of course, that they arrived on time – none did) before heading back north up the Gavia pass and down the Stelvio, then up over the Alps, Austria and Germany, back to Liège, arriving Sunday evening. That’s over 2000 miles of flat-out driving, averaging well over 30mph through three nights in tiny cars with engines as small as 250cc. Just 13 of the 27 starters made it... | 
For 2008, we had the presumption to create a celebration rally over the exact same route (right), for the same cars plus slightly later cars in the same spirit up to 700cc. 54 started from Liege on July 11, 2008, navigating from Michelin maps provided and quickly learning our innovative route checking system that ensures you follow the correct route, or pick up penalties for taking the wrong roads... This was no easy cruise - torrential rain through Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy and Slovenia added to the strain on the first four days, but crews and cars rose to the challenge and the sun finally joined us in Ljubljana and stayed with us to the end of the rally. Cars that could have been eligible for the original event competed in 250/350/425/500cc classes in the Authentic category; slightly later and larger engined cars competed in 425/500/600/700cc classes in the Spirit category. "Fantastic", "unforgettable", "wonderful", "the best rally ever" and "a life changing event" are just some of the incredible tributes that have been paid by competitors on the 2008 event... See the LBL08 page for full results and more photos. On July 16-25, the 2010 Liège-Brescia-Liège will take 10 days to follow the same route as in 1958, 52 years after the original rally. This touring event will cover approximately 200 miles (330km) each day, with competitive tests on private tracks in Belgium and Germany combining with sheer endurance to establish worthy winners. Crews will plot the route on maps from the original list of place names, adding navigation to the challenge, and further interest will be added by visits which we hope will include BMW’s superb museum at Munich, the charming Boxenstop Museum at Tubingen, the amazing collection of microcars at Engstingen, the personal collection of Italian engineer Gino Tonutti near Udine, the Museum of the Mille Miglia in Brescia and the stunning Schloss Lichtenstein in Germany. Two categories will be admitted – ‘Authentic’ for cars of 600-1200cc in engine size and age -related classes, pre-1948 and pre-1958; and 'Spirit' for cars of 600-1200cc in engine size and age - related classes, pre-1968 and post-1968, so all compete against similar vehicles.
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