The Swiss crew of Raphael Favaro and Yves Badan in their Lotus Elan 26R emerged victorious in the April 23–27 running of the 2018 Tour Auto Optic, in France. The duo were in second place on Friday and took advantage of the gearbox problems that hit the leading Ford GT40 driven by British crew, Andrew Smith and James Cottingham, in the second to last stage of the rally. Smith and Nottingham, the victors of the 2017 event, had to retire after scoring 10 out of the 14 wins possible. Only their fellow-countrymen, Chris Ward-Andy Elcomb (E-Type Jaguar), were able to challenge their domination by clinching victory in two stages. Their hopes of a finish on the 2018 Tour Auto Optic 2ooo podium were also dashed by a retirement on the Paul Ricard circuit. Thus, first place in the overall classification went to the Swiss duo Raphael Favaro-Yves Badan in their Lotus Elan over the French pairing of Frédéric Jousset and Paul Miliotis (Shelby Cobra 289), and Damien Kohler-Sylvie Laboisne (Lotus Elan 26R).
The French crew of Patrick Hautot-Sylvain Cantrel won Group G1 and G2 in their Ford GT40. Americans Cooper Mac Neil-Gunnar Jeannette sealed victory in the H1/H2/I Group in their Porsche 911 RSR 3.0L, while Jean-François and Chloé Pénillard (Porsche Pré A) came first in the Index of Performance.
In the Regularity category victory went to French crew Jean Rigondet-Olivier Souillard (CG 1200 S) who dominated from the first to the last day of the rally. Nicolas Pagano-Michel Périn (Alfa Romeo 1750 GTV) scraped home in second place after coming under pressure from the Argentinean pairing of Tomas Hinrichsen and Solange Mayo (Maserati 200 SI) victorious in 2017, who won the Index of Performance.
