Carrera 80's debut in Portugal with Portuguese victories
Rain toast the debut of Carreras Los 80
Monteiro brothers prove masters in the rain
Porsches dominate second race
Sunday, at 9am and under a drizzling rain the traffic light at the end of the Pit Lane turned green for the first time. Waiting for this change were the magnificent squad of Carreras Los 80, eager to find out what awaited them because all the training and settings had been made with dry roads the day before. Everything would be different, the grip, the lines of trajectory, the set up of the machines but what was not different was the motivation of the drivers and teams to complete the 40 minutes of race as far ahead as possible in the classification.
When the traffic light at the AIA main straight went off the magnificent machines of Carreras Los 80 were released and the first race on National soil was started.
In the T1400, Tiago Lindo won the category and taking advantage of the bad weather to face much better cars. He finished only 1 second behind a BMW 635CSI and ahead of a Group 2 Ford Escort RS1800. In GR2 Paulo Duarte was stronger in the rain and with his VW Golf MKI he left the rear wheel drive teams, Jorge Cruz in a BMW 323i, and Luis Moutinho in a Ford Escort RS1800 without arguments to discuss the triumph in the category.
In the very powerful TMAX category, the BMW 635 CSI of the father and son duo, João and Paulo Sousa, showed an excellent mastery to climb the highest place of the podium. These two were closely followed by another family duo, this time the brothers Rui and Carlos Garcia in their BMW 635 CSI, who managed to stay ahead of the Spanish duo with the flashy Mercedes 190 of Tomas Moreno and Oscar Bartol.
In the GT COPA, the fight was spoken in German as all three vehicles present on the podium came from the famous Stuttgart factory. In first place was the imposing Porsche 964RS, José Carvalhosa. In second Bastos Resende with the 911 3.0 RS and despite manning the oldest car of the category managed to climb to the middle step of the podium, Pedro Poças, in a beautiful Porsche 924, showed what he was coming for and with a strong pace reached the lowest step of the podium for the category that had a total of 8 entries,
Being these the first to see the chequered flag, the Volvo 850 of the Monteiro brothers, from the INV category for cars outside the homologation, didn't give any chance to the others and was the one who best adapted to the rainy weather. Luis Palhão in a BMW 328i E36 of the same category managed, in the first race of his life, the 12th place out of 18 cars that finished and even the 2nd place in the category.
This first sample only raised even more the curiosity of how would be the performance of these cars with dry roads. The curiosity was satisfied right after lunch time, with Saint Peter's truce and Portimão's track drying up quickly, the Spanish competition was presented with ideal conditions for the last race of the weekend.
Similarly to the first race, with a start launched as soon as the traffic lights went out, the fearless drivers sped off for another 40-minute race.
Tiago Lindo in his Fiat Punto had a spirited race with the BMW E30 325i of Edgar Moniz and António Carvalho. They had a very animated race and the BMW was only in the second half of the race that was able to get away from the great Punto.
In GR2 it was a different story. Jorge Cruz in a BMW 323i won comfortably with Ford Escort RS1800 of Manuel Ferrão, ex Rodam to get the second place of the podium staying ahead of another Ford Escort but RS2000 MKI. José Filipe Nogueira and Fernando Campos Ferreira took the car prepared by BestLap to the podium.
In what concerns TMAX, once more the father and son duo shone, winning with the BMW 635 CSI, this time chased by the Spanish duo that, in the previous race, had to settle for the 3rd place. A place snatched by forceps, as it was only 5 seconds in 40 minutes that separated Tomas Moreno and Oscar Bartol, from Rui and Carlos Garcia, also in BMW 635.
In GT COPA, victory was won by Bastos Rezende in the same Porsche 911 3.0 RS, which also took part in HE, only changing the tyres from Avon to Toyo. He was followed by Piero dal Maso in a Porsche 964 RS that confessed that even in dry conditions the German car is a "brute". To finish the podium appears the "Pole Position" Paulo Vieira in BMW M3 E36. This trio was the first to receive the chequered flag.
In the category dedicated to the guests, the INV, the Monteiros brothers repeated the feat of the previous race winning the category but this time being the 4th to cross the finish line. Luis Palhão had some technical problems in his BMW 328 i E36 and abandoned 9 laps from the end. Enough to be classified.
This time the Carrera Los 80 debut was complete and in what a way. With two completely opposite weather conditions they took man and machine to the real test. All the pilots and teams were surrendered to the splendor that is the Portimão track that enchanted everyone with the fantastic specimens that presented at the start of Classics increasingly appreciated by all.
The next time that these iconic cars will get on track it's in a month time. Inserted in the program of Jarama Classic that will take place on the 5th and 6th of June. Right in the middle of the Iberian Peninsula, in Madrid.
