Historic Endurance: Eighty-Three Cars, Four Races and Old-School Racing at Its Best
The Iberian Historic Endurance, which brought together the largest grid in its fourteen-year history at the Algarve Classic Festival, with 83 cars entered, certainly lived up to expectations. Four thrilling races kept the 8,000 spectators who flocked to the Algarve International Circuit thoroughly entertained.
The huge interest generated by the leading Iberian series for historic Touring Cars and GTs up to 1976 meant that a solution had to be found to accommodate all the teams entered. The grid was therefore split into two groups: Historic Endurance 1 (HE1), for the Gentleman Driver Spirit (GDS) and H-1965 categories, and Historic Endurance 2 (HE2), reserved for the 1965 GTP & SC, H-1971 and H-1976 categories.
The winner of the Index of Performance, a long-standing tradition in the Historic Endurance, was determined by the results of the first HE1 race. The prize was an exclusive timepiece from prestigious Swiss watchmaker Cuervo y Sobrinos, a partner of the series.
Historic Endurance 1
With more than fifty cars on the grid, both races proved to be among the most entertaining to watch, offering plenty of talking points. The closely matched performance of the cars meant that the first race ended with a one-two for the Shelby Cobra Daytonas, with Olivier Muytjens and Brice Pineau crossing the finish line ahead of Jac Meeuwissen and Ties Meeuwissen. Connor Kay and Dominic Mooney completed the podium in a Lotus Elan 26R. The H-1965 class produced exactly the same result.
However, contrary to what the final standings might suggest, the Jaguar E-Types dominated the opening laps, first with Laurent Jaspers’ car and then with the entry of Rhea Sautter and Andrew Newall. The Cobra Daytonas came to the fore in the second half of the race, with the HY Racing car overtaking the Rhea Sautter Motorsport entry on lap fourteen before going on to take victory.
The second race once again featured the same protagonists at the front. However, two Safety Car interventions in the final twenty minutes brought the leaders back together and added an extra layer of uncertainty to the contest. Three cars took turns at the front: the Jaguar of Rhea Sautter and Andrew Newall, and the Shelby Cobra Daytonas of Jac Meeuwissen/Ties Meeuwissen and Olivier Muytjens/Brice Pineau. In the end, Muytjens and Pineau proved the stronger pairing, beating the Meeuwissens' car. Connor Kay and Dominic Mooney completed the podium in their Lotus Elan 26R, making it identical to that of the first race.
In the GDS class, the British contingent, with a record thirteen Mini Cooper S cars on the grid, dominated a sizeable field. Jeffrey Smith, driving an Austin Mini Cooper S, won the first race ahead of fellow countrymen Phil Bullen-Brown and Daniel Wheeler. In the second race, Phil Bullen-Brown celebrated victory, finishing ahead of Ryck Turner and Mark Burnett.
In the Index of Performance, victory went to Britain's Robin Ellis and Andy Wolfe in a Lotus Elite, earning them an exclusive timepiece from prestigious Swiss watchmaker Cuervo y Sobrinos to take home. Father-and-son pairing Rui Macedo Silva and João Macedo Silva finished second in a Lotus Cortina, while Ellie Birchenhough and Jason Jesty took third in an Austin Mini Cooper S.
Historic Endurance 2
The grid reserved for cars in the GTP & SC, H-1971 and H-1976 categories was the first to take centre stage on Saturday. As expected, the Ford GT40s, which occupied the front row, took the lead. Setting a strong pace, Paulo Lima dominated the first half of the race, but the Safety Car wiped out the RP Motorsport driver's advantage. Following the pit stops, the identical Ford GT40 shared by British pairing Alex Collins and Martin Stretton, which had started from pole position, managed to regain the lead and went on to win ahead of Paulo Lima. Britain's Tom Canning, in a Ginetta G10, completed the overall and GTP & SC class podium in a race where he was unable to match the pace of the Blue Oval cars.
Patrick Wilwert and Philippe Vermast were fourth across the finish line in a race where their superbly prepared Alfa Romeo GT Am proved a class above the H-1971 opposition when it mattered most. Less than a second separated the Ecurie Luxembourg car from the class runner-up at the finish, the GT Am prepared by Curated Garage and driven by Volker Hichert. Not far behind, the trio of Piero dal Maso, Guilherme dal Maso and José Carvalhosa finished third in a Porsche 911 2.5 ST.
In the thick of the H-1971 battle, finishing between the two Alfa Romeos, Robin Ellis's Porsche 911 2.8 RSR took victory in the H-1976 category. The car was prepared by JWA Racing, a team with previous FIA WEC experience. There were two new faces on the class podium: Eduardo Reis finished second in a Porsche 911 2.7 RS, while Carlos Santos took third in a Ford Escort Mk1.
The second race got off to a similar start, with the two GT40s pulling clear at the front and the Ginetta following close behind. However, on lap two, a problem with the gear lever forced Tom Canning to retire. This time, Paulo Lima led for almost the entire race, which saw the Safety Car bring the field back together in the closing stages. He nevertheless held on to first place, only losing the position after taking the chequered flag, when a penalty for failing to meet the mandatory pit-stop time was applied. Missing the required time by just one second dropped him from first to third.
British duo Alex Collins and Martin Stretton therefore claimed another victory, having set the fastest lap of the race on the final lap of fifty minutes of intense competition.
Second place went to the nimble little Merlyn Mk4 of Carlos Barbot and Filipe Campos. The Foguete Racing pairing produced an impressive recovery drive, gaining positions lap after lap after starting from the back of the grid, having failed to complete a single lap in Saturday's race.
Manuel Domingues claimed victory in the H-1971 class with his Ford Escort RS1600, securing a deserved win that had eluded him in the first race. The ASM Team driver kept his composure at the restart despite pressure from Patrick Wilwert and Philippe Vermast, who finished second. Michel Welter and Felix Feltes took third in class in their BMW 2002, following an entertaining early-race battle with Paulo Rompante's Alfa Romeo Ti Super.
Robin Ellis finished sixth overall and completed a clean sweep of victories in the H-1976 category, once again standing out among his class rivals. In a weekend of firsts, Rui Garcia and António Carmona finished second in their Ford Escort RS2000 Mk2, securing their first-ever podium in the Iberian series. They were not the only newcomers to the class podium: an incident-free race allowed Pedro Carvalho and Edgar Botelho Moniz to take third place in their BMW 2002.
The 2026 Historic Endurance season continues next weekend with one of the year's most eagerly anticipated returns to one of the Iberian Peninsula's historic circuits: the Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto in Spain. The Jerez Iberian Racing Festival will precede the season finale, scheduled for 4 and 5 December at the Estoril Circuit, featuring the traditional 250 km do Estoril.
HE1 - RESULT - RACE 2 |
HE2 - RESULT - RACE 1 |
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