The start of the Iberian Historic Endurance season at the Algarve Welcome Spring in Portimão was marked by two very close races.
RACE 1: The "D" Day - De Tomaso wins race and Datsun takes the Index
On early Saturday afternoon, more than thirty classic cars took to the tarmac of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve to participate in the first race of the 2023 Iberian Historic Endurance season. Pedro Bastos Rezende emerged victorious in his flashy De Tomaso Pantera.
During the morning qualifying session, an eye-catching grid order was established. Pedro Bastos Rezende's impressive De Tomaso Pantera and Paulo Lima's newcomer Ford GT40 shared the front row of the grid, with the Shelby Cobra Daytona of French-Belgian duo Brice Pineau/Olivier Muytjens and the Porsche 911 3.0 RS of Bruno Santos/Cláudio Vieira lined up just behind them.
The blue and red striped Porsche 911 2.8 RS, crewed by Vasco Nina/Mário Meireles, was also among the contenders, along with the powerful "guest" Shelby Cobra Daytona of Miguel Lobo.
The story of the race began with Pedro Bastos Rezende losing a place at the start to Paulo Lima's Ford GT40, but the De Tomaso driver quickly regained the lead, to manage his advantage, without forcing the mechanics of the car prepared by Garagem Aurora. The experienced GT and classic racer took a clear victory, repeating last year's triumph in this same track, winning the H-1976 on the way.
More lively was the fight for the second position, with Paulo Lima keeping the second place until he was overtaken by the duo Brice Pineau/Olivier Muytjens at the fourth lap. The Shelby Cobra Daytona kept the place until the pit stop, where the Porsche of Bruno Santos/Claudio Vieira overtook it, heading for a deserved second place.
The third car to see the chequered flag was the slender Alfa Romeo Giulia GTAm that Christian Oldendorff masterfully drove to win among the H-1971s. The class podium was completed by three Alfa Romeo GTAm, with Germany's Bjorn Ebsen and Volker Hichert beating Rafael Cerveira Pinto/Carlos Dias Pedro, who debuted a new car from the RP Motorsport workshops, for second place.
Fourth to see the chequered flag, Paulo Lima celebrated his triumph in the GTP & SC class, beating Paulo Rompante (Alfa Romeo Ti Super) and the duo João Mira Gomes/Nuno Afoito (Lotus Seven).
Having fun with the debut of their Shelby in Historic Endurance, Brice Pineau/Olivier Muytjens won the H-1965, ahead of the Lotus Elan of the debutant Carlos Oliveira and the returne Francisco Albuquerque.
In the Gentleman Driver Spirit (GDS) class, Nuno Nunes stood out in timed practice and kept up the pace in the 50-minute race. The Porsche 911 SWB crossed the finish line ahead of Michel Mora's identical car. Driving his unwavering Datsun 1200, a car much loved in Portuguese motorsport, João Neves climbed to the third place on the podium, in a memorable day for the pilot of the Japanese car.
As is tradition, this first race of the season also awarded the first winner of the year of the Index of Performance, whose ceremony of delivery of the trophy, an exclusive watch of the Swiss brand Cuervos Y Sobrinos to the winner, took place the following day. The winner of this classification, which is not the first to cross the finish line who wins, but the one who, on track, performs the best according to age, cylinder capacity and type of body of the car in which he competes, was won for the first time by José Neves and his Datsun. The Lotus Elans of Carlos Alberto Oliveira and Per-Ake Forsval completed the places of honour in this classification.
RACE 2: Confirmation day
After dominating the first race of the weekend, Pedro Bastos Rezende was the clear favorite for the second race. He confirmed his status with another victory, but the race was not without its challenges. At the start, the De Tomaso Pantera had a slow start and lost five positions. Seizing the opportunity presented by the Italian car's momentary weakness, the Porsche 911 3.0 RS of Claudio Vieira/Bruno Santos moved into first place, followed by the Porsche 911 2.8 RS of Vasco Nina/Mário Meireles and the Ford GT40 of Paulo Lima. However, Lima began to lose ground to the others two laps later and was eventually forced to retire from the race.
With lively fights going on in front of him, Bastos Rezende needed only three laps to reach second place and two more to overtake the green Porsche 911 3.0 RS prepared by Aurora Garage of the then leaders. However, due to a longer pit-stop, De Tomaso driver found himself back in second place, and having to catch up with the front-runner.
In a race where the first three to finish the race were H-1976 cars, and all of them prepared by Garagem Aurora, the De Tomaso imposed itself again with an excellent final sprint, beating the Porsche 911 3.0 RS of Claudio Vieira/Bruno Santos, and the 911 2.8 RS of the AMA Racing Team, shared by Vasco Nina and Mário Meireles.
During a weekend when Christian Oldendorff had his best Historic Endurance performance, the German driver finished behind the top three drivers, winning in his Alfa Romeo GTAm. This was a podium again dominated by the Arese made cars, with the Germans Bjorn Ebsen and Volker Hichert finishing ahead of the Portuguese duo Jorge Santos/Alcides Petiz.
After being involved in the top places fights, with the Shelby Cobra Daytona deserving the highlight that it deserves, the French-Belgian duo of Brice Pineau/Olivier Muytjens won in the H-1965, beating the Lotus Elan of Francisco Albuquerque and "P-A" Forsvall.
The GDS race was again won by a Porsche 911 SWB. This time, José Carvalhosa and Piero dal Maso were the strongest, despite strong opposition from the Frenchman Michel Mora and Nuno Nunes in an equal car. Finally, in the GTP&SC class, Paulo Rompante celebrated the victory.
The next Historic Endurance race will take place on the streets of Pau from May 19th to 21st. This year, the return to the Atlantic Pyrenees will be even more charming, as well as having another sporting format. There will be four races, promising to be a fitting tribute to the historic "3 Heures de Pau".