Historic Endurance: An Unexpected Outcome at the Estoril Classics

The Iberian Historic Endurance once again delivered one of the most unpredictable races on the Estoril Classics programme, the largest classic car festival in Southern Europe.

A remarkable grid of 45 exceptional vehicles, the maximum number permitted on this circuit, all bearing the Liqui Moly badge, took to the track at the Estoril Circuit to contest a 50-minute race, including a mandatory pit stop.

“Poleman” Paulo Lima got the jump on Christian Oldendorff at the start, but the gap the Portuguese driver built over the German was quickly erased by a brief Safety Car intervention on the second lap. Upon the restart, Paulo Lima extended his lead, but after 20 minutes, during the backmarker phase, Christian Oldendorff surged into the lead, holding onto it until the mandatory pit stops.

In a dramatic second half of the race, the luckless Paulo Lima ultimately claimed victory, benefiting from a penalty handed to his German rival. Christian Oldendorff, who set the fastest lap of the race, dropped to third behind Olivier Muitjens in his Shelby Cobra Daytona.

With the mantra “Relaxed Historic Racing” and no championship title up for grabs in this series, the class results are more significant than the overall standings. While Paulo Lima triumphed in the H-GTP&SC class, several other drivers and teams enjoyed the champagne of victory at one of the most iconic stages in motorsport history.

In the H-1965 class, Olivier Muitjens in the Shelby Cobra Daytona was the first to take the chequered flag, despite the AC Cobra of the duo Damien Kohler and “Maverick” closely shadowing him throughout the race. Third place went to the Porsche 904/6 of Thorkild Stamp and Michael Holden, who confirmed their clean and efficient pace from qualifying.

In the H-1971 class, the Chevrolet Corvette of Pedro Bethencourt and Nogueira Pinto led the opening laps but was forced to retire due to a broken power steering pulley, which also caused the American car to lose its auxiliary belts, alternator, and water pump. The class victory then fell to the duo of Rafael Cerveira Pinto and Carlos Dias Pedro, who demonstrated strong pace in their Alfa Romeo GTAm. The class podium was completed by two Porsches from Spain: the 911 S/T of Antonio and Ildefonso García, and the 911 2.5 ST of Antonio Castro and Angel Lanchares.

Cláudio Vieira took control of the lead in the H-1976 class during the first half of the race, but a twist in the results handed victory to Frederico Brion Sanches and debutant Ricardo Megre. The duo of Carlos Brízido and João Pina Cardoso secured second place, while Cláudio Vieira finished third, rounding out a “top-3” entirely composed of Porsche 911 3.0 RS cars.

In the Gentlemen Driver Spirit (GDS) category, which includes all vehicles equipped with engines up to 1300cc and all Touring cars up to 2000cc, the beloved Datsun 1200 of João Neves and Francisco Gonçalves led the pack for much of the race. However, in the end, they finished second behind the winning Porsche 911 SWB driven by Nuno Nunes and Piero Dal Maso. Alberto and Tomaz Velez-Grilo took third place at the wheel of a BMW 1800 TiSA.

In the H-GTP&SC class, Paulo Lima and Christian Oldendorff claimed the top two spots, while the final podium position went to the returning Carlos Barbot, who joined the event in his Merlyn MK4.

The Index of Performance, awarded with a magnificent timepiece from the prestigious Swiss watchmaker Cuervo y Sobrinos, was won by Rui Belivacqua and António Magalhães driving an Alfa Romeo Giulia Ti Super. This was a well-deserved prize for a team that had to replace the car's gearbox overnight. In this classification, which directly considers the engine capacity of the cars, their age, and other competitive factors, second place was claimed by the duo of João Neves and Francisco Gonçalves in their Datsun 1200, while Alberto and Tomaz Velez-Grilo completed the podium in their BMW 1800 TiSA.

Following this excellent event, the Historic Endurance heads south of Portugal to contest two races as part of the Algarve Classic, the biggest classic car event at the acclaimed Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.