The 6to6 Europe Tour has been held every year since 2011 without exception. Well, there was one exception and it was in 2020 due to the Covid pandemic. That year the ET was going to start with the visit of the sixters to Le Mans, but it couldn’t be because ET couldn’t be held.

Since then, ET21 and ET22 have been held, but the idea of visiting Le Mans one day was still in the organisers’ heads. What better year to do it than the centenary year and what better way to do it than by driving on the Le Mans 24h circuit with the cars participating in the tour.

Around this idea arose ET23, an ET that raised doubts at its launch but that has surprised many and has turned out to be one of the most special of those held to date.
We took part with a Ferrari F8 Tributo in Tour de France Blue, fitted with the ultra-light Omologata Speciale forged wheels in the custom-made LINEA SPECIALE colour Oro Cattivo Rosso Opaco with CNC Aluminium Racing Caps in anodised blue finish and satin carbon fiber centre caps.

ET23 started last Friday 2nd June in Barcelona. The participating cars met at the Marina Vela harbour, located next to the W Barcelona hotel (the hotel where the participants stayed the first night of the tour). During the day the sixters arrived, leaving their supercars on display while the Apex team wrapped the cars with the official sticker kit for the event. Upon arrival, the participants were invited to go to the village where they could meet the other sixters and where food and drinks would be served until late in the afternoon. Once there, they would register for the event and receive the complete welcome pack that includes various themed clothing items, accreditation, a printed roadbook and other gifts.

The official departure of ET23 was scheduled for 10.30am. The Sixters punctually started the engines of their supercars at the scheduled time, sharing this very special moment with all the fans who came to see the cars leave.

The first route took the sixters from Barcelona to Camprodon via a couple of mountain passes that served as a warm-up for the week of riding that awaited them. The first few kilometres riding in a group are always special and the groupings a spectacle. Arriving at the “Hotel Puig Francó” (where the first meal of the trip would be served) a strong storm surprised the sixters. After lunch, with better weather, the sixters headed towards France via the “Col d’Ares”, until they reached the motorway that took the participants to the “Hotel Coquillade” located in Provence.

The second day of driving and the third day of the tour took the sixters to Monaco via a surprising and spectacular route that never left the secondary road sections. The mountain passes and their beautiful landscapes took the sixters to the “Col de Turini” where they stopped at the legendary “Hotel Trois Vallees” for a drink before reaching Monaco. At the “Hotel Montecarlo Bay”, the hotel where they stayed in the principality, they had the afternoon free to relax after the first two intense days of driving. The icing on the cake was dinner at “Twiga”, a dinner that turned into a great party.

Surprisingly, this new day was already the 4th of the trip, a day that started early because everyone was waiting for one of the most intense days of driving that would take them to the Alps, climbing such legendary mountains as La Bonette, Vars, Lautaret or Galibier. The ascent of the Bonette after going up the Vars river from Nice was a great moment on the route that marked the beginning of the alpine stages that awaited the sixters in the coming days. A stop in the village of Jausiers to taste local products allowed them to regain their strength before heading to the Lautaret pass where a new stop was scheduled for lunch, just before tackling the Galibier.
After ascending the “Galibier” it was time to head to Lake Annecy to stay for a night at the “Hotel Palace Menthon”, a hotel reserved exclusively for the participants. The cars on display at the Menthon palace, with views of the lake in the background, the sixters enjoying moments of rest by the lake and bathing in it… made that afternoon another unforgettable moment of this trip. A pleasant dinner in the panoramic room of the palace marked the end of this epic day.

On the 5th day of touring and 4th day of driving, the sixters moved from France to Switzerland, where they would stay for 2 nights in the ski resort of Verbier. The day began by climbing the Aravís and La Colombiere passes that took the participants to Chamonix, the town located at the foot of Mont Blanc. In Chamonix the sixters parked their cars for a while to take the Montevers train that took them to a refuge with incredible views where lunch was served. At the end, everyone’s physical fitness was put to the test, because to reach the ice cave drilled into the Mer de Glace glacier, they had to take a cable car and descend the more than 500 steps that they then had to climb. The effort was worth it, as they could also witness climate change, seeing how the glacier has retreated at a dizzying rate in just a few years.
It was time to take the train back to Chamonix and head to Verbier via the Col de la Forclaz. From Martigny, they had to climb up to Verbier on a road that the sixters would travel several times over the next few days. Upon reaching Verbier, the participants checked into the spectacular W hotel, where they would sleep for the next two nights, thus allowing them a short break in exchange for a daily hotel, something that is highly requested by the participants and which the organisation tries to offer on routes that last several days.

But the day’s driving was not over when they reached Verbier. That evening, the sixters were faced with the night route, or “bathrobe route” as the participants called it. The objective was to climb the Grand Saint Bernard pass, on the border between Italy and Switzerland. For this route, the participants were called to reception at 8:00 p.m., all dressed in the hotel bathrobe that they could personalise with the 6to6 badge that was given to them. From Verbier, the course was set for the Grand Saint Bernard, crossing into Italy through the almost 6km long tunnel and gathering all the sixters before climbing the pass on its Italian side.

The Italian side of this pass at night is pure driving pleasure, with perfect asphalt, no traffic and incredible views, without a doubt the best setting for the night route of this ET23.

Upon reaching the top of the mountain, dinner was planned at the Hotel Albergo Italia. Dinner, a group photo in bathrobes and back to Verbier, carefully descending the mountain on the Swiss side, with a road in worse condition than the Italian one.

One of the most eagerly awaited days of driving of this ET23 arrived and it was also the last alpine stage of the trip. The route would take in 4 of the most spectacular mountain passes in Switzerland and would offer images and moments to always remember. The sixters were clear that in Switzerland they don’t mess around and the fact that everyone was driving in a relaxed manner allowed the group to stay very close and enjoy the spectacular caravan of 60 supercars travelling through the most incredible landscapes of Switzerland. The first mountain pass of the day was the Nefenen Pass, perhaps the least known mountain pass, but no less spectacular for that. On the descent of this mountain, a “refreshment” stop was planned, which allowed the sixters to hydrate and eat something after almost 3 hours of riding and also to group together to ascend the most scenic road of the day, the Tremola on the San Gottardo Pass.

After this stop at the foot of the Nefenen and San Gottardo passes, the cars got going and together they reached the cobbled road of the Tremola. They slowly climbed and the 180º curves with a dizzying ascent offered an unforgettable view of the entire caravan of cars, as this road without guardrails and with panoramic balconies at each curve offers a complete panoramic view of a large part of the route. After a stop to take photos, the cars crowned the San Gottardo Pass in 2019 and then descended it to head towards the Furka Pass.

On the descent of San Gottardo and the ascent of Furka the group split up a little but they were able to make a new stop to regroup at the top of Furka to once again face together another of the most anticipated moments of the day and of the tour, going around the legendary curve of the Hotel Belvedere. The media team was positioned at this point ensuring photos and videos for all participants to remember.

Once the Furka Pass had been descended, all that was left was to ascend the Grimsel Pass, at the top of which a stop was organised for lunch. Many extended the stop at the Grimsel Hotel located next to a spectacular lake still largely frozen, having a coffee on its panoramic terrace. From Grimsel Pass the sixters headed back to Verbier, where a relaxing afternoon/evening awaited them in the hotel Spa followed by a pleasant dinner.

Seventh day of the tour and start of the second stage of this ET. Wednesday, the 6th day of the tour, marked the end of the Alpine driving stages and on this seventh day the stage that would lead the sixters to achieve the objective of this trip, to ride on the 24-hour circuit of Le Mans, began. To do so, they had a connecting day between Verbier and Versailles, a fairly free day in which each person chose when they would set off and where they would stop for lunch. The first part of the tour turned out to be equally attractive, with pleasant secondary roads. This section was followed by a few hundred kilometres on a motorway.
Late in the afternoon, the Sixters arrived at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Versailles, where they stayed that night and where the gala dinner by IWC was to be held in a very special room.

The IWC gala dinner began with an aperitif on the terrace overlooking the Waldorf Astoria gardens, where the IWC team was able to display a wide range of watches from its collection and where a watchmaker demonstrated how a movement from the Schaffhausen watchmaking manufacture is assembled by hand. After the aperitif, the sixters entered the room where dinner would be served and the now traditional prizes of each ET would be presented. This room was not just any room, but the room where the Versailles peace treaty was signed. As the participants sat down in each seat, they found the prize for the Finisher of the event and as the dinner progressed, the winners were revealed as: best rookie of the tour, sixter of the year, sixter character and best personalization. The rookie of the year awards were given to a father and son team and the sixter of the year award to a couple who participated aboard the brand new AMG GT Black series, which were very emotional because of what the award meant to them, not only because they had overcome such an intense week together. The award for sixter character and best customization marked the end of this emotional dinner that preceded the most important moment of the trip, the visit to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Last day of the tour and the organization decided to bring forward the departure to Le Mans by 1 hour to ensure that all participants arrived in time to prepare for the star activity of this trip. Upon arrival at Le Mans, the cars were directed to a reserved parking lot where they would have time to prepare and wait for the arrival of the 3 Safety Cars that would guide the group divided into 3 groups through the 24 Hours of Le Mans route. With a slight delay, the 3 Porsche 992 turbo S arrived and guided the sixters to the access area to the circuit. The 3 groups went out onto the track and the 6to6 media team was in charge of recording and photographing all the cars on board the media car, the impressive AMG GT 4door e performance with its 843 hp of power.

The hotel chosen for the last night was the spectacular Hotel Lutetia, where the sixters could rest and prepare for the final night of partying that awaited them.
The sixters moved to Boeuf sur le Toit, where they had the Music Hall of this well-known restaurant/show reserved exclusively. The dinner was enlivened with live music and culminated with a great champagne toast and a subsequent party that lasted until dawn. Without a doubt the best ending to a very special tour.