Heat, uncertainty, and two good races: that’s how Carrera 80 kicked off in Jarama!

In yet another edition of the Jarama Classic, the 2025 season of the Carrera 80 kicked off with a weekend full of excitement, intense heat, and closely fought races that put both drivers and their machines to the test.

The visit to the historic Madrid circuit of Jarama, with packed grandstands and a truly vibrant atmosphere, experienced a slight hiccup at the start when the much-anticipated Venturi 400 Trophy of Jaime Puig, a crowd favourite, failed to start the first race, leaving expectations surrounding its true performance hanging in the air.

The early highlight — which would be confirmed over the course of the weekend — belonged to the Porsche 911 RSR driven by Cláudio Vieira and Lucas Vieira, who secured pole position with an eight-tenths advantage over the Porsche 968 CS of Jorge López and Lucas González.

In the first race of the weekend, the 911 RSR, supported by Aurora Motorsport, made a strong start from the grid and led convincingly. After the driver change, and despite an additional stop required by the regulations due to the use of slick tyres, the German car driven by the Portuguese duo maintained its lead.

Tyre strategy proved to be decisive: newcomer Jesús Diez Villarroel, at the wheel of a Porsche 944 fitted with Toyo semi-slick tyres, started from fifth place and steadily climbed up the order, surprising many by taking second place after the driver swaps, thanks to a shorter pit stop. However, as expected, the slick-shod cars began to consistently regain ground, with Villarroel eventually dropping to fourth overall and third in the GTCopa class.

Among the standout performers in the recovery was the Porsche 968 CS of Lucas González and Jorge Lopez. Running on Hankook tyres, it delivered an extraordinary final stint, overtaking not only the Toyo-shod competitors — who had outpaced it in the early stages — but also rivals on slick tyres, crossing the finish line in first place and taking the win in the GTCopa class. Cláudio Vieira and Lucas Vieira secured second place, while Ricardo Pereira, always highly effective at the wheel of his Ford Escort RS2000 fitted with Hankook slicks, finished third overall as the top Touring car on track and the clear winner of the GR1/N class.

The excitement of the Touring and GT races — featuring machines that wrote chapters in motorsport history from 1976 to the early 1990s — returned on Sunday with another 40-minute race. Battles throughout the field kept the crowd captivated from start to finish, with a particularly intense duel between experienced Spanish driver Jesús Diez Villarroel and young Portuguese talent Lucas Vieira. Further back, the ever-combative VW Golf GTIs were locked in a fierce, wheel-to-wheel fight for the top of their class standings.

The Portuguese Porsche 911 RSR, always spectacular on track, was once again the first to serve the lengthy handicap imposed due to its slick tyres. After the driver change, Jesús Diez Villarroel took the lead. It was at this point that the Porsche 924 of Pedro Poças and Eduardo Santos emerged as one of the surprises of the race, moving into third place — where it would eventually finish. Meanwhile, Saturday’s winner, the Porsche 968 CS, suffered a long pit stop and two technical issues that forced brief stoppages on track, ultimately leading to its retirement from the race.

With the Vieira family securing a commanding first win of the season in the Carrera 80, and Jesús Diez Villarroel crossing the finish line in second, another standout performance came from the BMW E30 M3 of Francisco Carvalho and Carlos Tavares. After the driver change, they recovered several positions to reach the podium, finishing the race with an excellent third place and a second consecutive victory in the TMAX class.

With Ricardo Pereira absent from the second race, João Mira Gomes and Nuno Afoito, at the wheel of the Ford Escort RS2000, triumphed in the GR1/N class and also achieved an impressive 4th place overall — an outstanding result for a Group 1 specification car.

In the remaining classes, Dan Jiménez, driving a Honda Civic, secured a double victory in the T2000 class, outperforming the duo of Juan Alonso and José Antonio Zorrilla in an identical car, while João Neves claimed two wins in the T1400 class at the wheel of his Toyota Starlet.

In the GR2 class, Javier Basagoiti, driving a VW Golf, won the first race, but in the second, the Portuguese duo Rui Moura and António Duarte — who had retired from Saturday’s race — came out on top.

Carrera 80 once again proved why it is one of the most thrilling events of Race Ready’s racing weekends, combining history, speed, and strategy in an unforgettable weekend for classic racing car enthusiasts.

The Iberian series returns on the weekend of 13–14 September in Valencia.