Each year as the evenings draw in and the nights turn cold, groups of unlikely companions — hedge fund managers, sandwich shop owners, actors, journalists — start poring over maps of France and holding secret meetings in wine bars. It’s as though an invisible force is drawing them to the vineyards. They are preparing for the annual Beaujolais Run, a 1,000-mile dash to rural France and back to pick up the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau.

The run was the brainchild of Allan Hall, a Sunday Times writer who in 1972 issued a challenge to readers and fellow hacks to deliver the first bottle of Beaujolais to his desk. The winner would win a case of wine and the admiration of Fleet Street.

It’s grown into a popular fixture in the amateur motor sport calendar as well as a handy way to stock up on Christmas booze. The Americans have Thanksgiving. We have the Beaujolias Run. The start is usually on a grey, rain-soaked racetrack in southern England where a former racing champion — this year Damon Hill at Goodwood — turns up to act as starter. It’s hot coffee, drivers’ briefing, bacon butties and atlases open on bonnets before the flag comes down for the first leg to the Channel tunnel.

In the early years the race was all about speed, like a Gallic version of the Dukes of Hazzard. French police, tipped off by their British counterparts, lay in wait even though their Citroën DSs were no match for race-tuned engines that sped down the autoroutes. Souped up Ford Cortinas and Vauxhall Vivas vied with beautiful Lamborghinis and scrapheap monsters to reach the tiny town of Beaujeu near Mâcon where the first bottles of Beaujolias were uncorked at midnight (it’s an offence in France punishable by a £675 fine to distribute the wine before the third Thursday in November). One year the run was won by an RAF team in a Harrier jump jet — there was nothing in the rules to ban aircraft, a loophole that’s been closed.

In recent years the run has become an unofficial part of the Season, sponsored by Hackett, the clothing manufacturer, and Veuve Clicquot champagne, with entries from top car makers including Ferrari, Aston Martin, Jaguar and Citroën.

That doesn’t mean you need to be loaded to participate. Among the entries this year was a clapped-out Rover 800 (it made it with only a blown fuse and jammed window) and a couple of Minis that looked as though they’d escaped from The Italian Job.

You need to raise £500 to enter and the expectation is that you will at least double that in sponsorship. The money goes to the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity and the Down’s Syndrome Association (of which Hill is patron). And unlike the big serious rallies, such as the Paris-Dakar, you can do Beaujolais in three days and be back at your desk for the Christmas party season.

But it’s more than just a booze cruise for charidee. It’s a little piece of England. The entries are mostly classic sports cars with names like Pussy Galore and the Beaujoladies. Not forgetting the unforgettable Penelope Pitstops in their vintage Porsche 911. For the competitive part of the event drivers must follow cryptic clues taking them along sat-nav defeating backroads to find obscure landmarks and locations.

Of course the rules demand fancy dress. Hence you witness fully grown men hopping out of convertibles in Scooby-Doo or Spider-Man costumes to get directions from locals who wearily shake their heads knowing les Anglais have arrived. The end point is a celebration in Beaujeu with street musicians, a firework display and free wine flowing like water. Okay, so Beaujolais Nouveau might not be the favourite of wine critics these days, but, hell, it’s a great party.

The other attraction, of course, is the chance to the escape the commute-work-commute treadmill during November. As well as freeing the mind this sort of travel frees the right foot. Traffic densities in France are roughly comparable to England 15 years ago. You crawl along the A27 heading for the Channel tunnel, 35 minutes later you’re on the A26 speeding towards Reims. The only time you need to stop is for coffee and fuel.

This year the run was won by two drivers dressed as James Bond driving a Lotus Esprit. I was in a team with Jason Dawe. We came second from last (Dawe was navigating, naturally) and narrowly avoided being awarded the wooden spoon. But it didn’t matter. Driving a Jaguar XKR and S-type R and being welcomed like conquering heroes by the townsfolk of Beaujeu was reward enough. In a race for fun, everyone’s a winner.

Tooling up

Where? This year the Beaujolais Run started at the Goodwood motor racing circuit in West Sussex and ended in Beaujeu, near Mâcon, in the Beaujolais wine region in southeastern France



When? Mid-November, to arrive in Beaujeu in time for the launch of the Beaujolais Nouveau wine on the final stroke of midnight before the beginning of the third Thursday in November, when the new wine can legally be sold

How far? The run is about 550 miles each way, although the distance travelled depends largely on the navigator





How much? Teams of two (driver and navigator) pay £500 to enter and are expected to raise at least double that for charity





How can I take part? Go to www.justgiving.com/beaujolaisrun to apply for next year’s run, or see www.beaujolaisrun.com for more details



THE BEAUJOLAIS RUN VIDEO
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Copyright Times Newspapers Ltd.
Soundtrack: Six O'Clock In The Morning by Rich Watson.

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