After being featured at the Estoril Classics, the Iberian Historic Endurance convoy headed even further south in Portugal for a weekend at the highly acclaimed Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, where two exciting races took place to mark the return of Iberian competition at the Algarve Classic Festival.
On Saturday afternoon, Pedro Bastos Rezende, swapping his Porsche 911 RS for the eye-catching De Tomaso Pantera, claimed pole position for Saturday's race, outpacing Christian Oldendorff’s Ford GT40 by seven-tenths of a second. João Pina Cardoso and Carlos Brizido in their usual red-and-white Porsche 911 3.0 RS, along with Rhea Sautter and Andrew Newall in a Jaguar E-Type, formed the second row, while Laurent Jaspers, also in a Jaguar E-Type, and the duo Pedro Bethencourt/Jorge Nogueira Pinto in a Chevrolet Corvette, rounded out the top three rows of the 48-car grid.
The race took place late Saturday afternoon, with the favored De Tomaso falling behind, allowing Oldendorff’s Ford GT40 to take an early lead, followed by the Porsche 911 3.0 RS of Pina Cardoso/Brízido and the duo of Bruno Duarte/Filipe Jesus. With the Safety Car on track and the race extending into the Algarve evening, Pina Cardoso/Brízido were ultimately declared the winners. Domingos de Sousa Coutinho, who had been the first to cross the finish line, received a penalty for failing to make the mandatory driver change pitstop.
Pina Cardoso and Brízido celebrated first place in the H-1976 class. Second place marked the impressive comeback of Jorge López and Jesus Fuster, also in a Porsche 911 3.0 RS, finishing 18.143 seconds behind the leader. Pedro Bastos Rezende took third, trailing by over a minute.
In the GTP & SC class, Oldendorff claimed victory in his Ford GT40. Paulo Rompante, making his return to Historic Endurance in an Alfa Romeo Ti Super, secured second place.
In the H-1965 class, it was a one-two for Jaguar E-Types as Belgian driver Laurent Jaspers took the win, while the German-British duo of Sautter/Newall finished in second. Swiss driver Max Huber completed the podium in third with his Shelby Cobra, finishing 1:17.404 behind.
In the H-1971 class, Rafael Cerveira Pinto and Carlos Dias Pedro continued their success from Estoril, with the team’s impeccable strategy securing them another first place with their Alfa Romeo GTAm. Second place went to Piero and Guilherme dal Maso in a Porsche 911 2.5 ST, finishing 28.365 seconds back. Despite a post-race penalty, Domingos Sousa Coutinho rounded out the podium in his BMW 2800 CS.
Among the smaller, lower-displacement cars in the GDS class, which saw a record entry of 10 cars, Nuno Nunes took first place in his Porsche 911 SWB after the Lotus Cortina of the Macedo Silva family, the previous leader, retired. The debuting team of Rene and Thijmen de Vries took second in their Austin Cooper S, just three seconds off the lead. João Neves secured third in his Datsun 1200, though further back from the front two.
Early Sunday afternoon saw the second race, with Oldendorff's Ford GT40 taking command from the start, relinquishing the lead only during the mandatory pit stop, where the 1963 Jaguar E-Type of Jaspers, equipped with a 3800cc engine, briefly took the front. Oldendorff comfortably secured victory in the GTP & SC class, while Jaspers won in H-1965, followed by Max Huber in second and Sautter/Newall in third.
In the H-1976 class, the duo Bruno Duarte/Filipe Jesus achieved their first victory in this category, celebrating enthusiastically on the podium. They were followed by the Spanish team López/Fuster, with the British driver Paul Daniels finishing third in his 911 2.8 RS.
In the H-1971 class, the podium remained consistent with Saturday’s race, but this time Piero and Guilherme dal Maso claimed the top spot, followed by Sousa Coutinho and the Alfa Romeo duo Cerveira Pinto/Dias Pedro.
In the GDS class, Rui and Pedro Macedo Silva drove their Ford Cortina Lotus to a dominant win. Nuno Nunes finished more than ten seconds behind in his Porsche 911 SWB, while the De Vries family in their Austin Cooper S once again reached the podium.
In the Index of Performance, a classification based on results from the first race, victory went to Luck de Cock in his efficient Lotus Elan, earning him an exclusive watch from the Swiss brand Cuervos y Sobrinos. João Neves, driving a Datsun 1200, and the duo Rui Bevilacqua/Nuno Veiga in an Alfa Romeo, joined him on the podium.
The 2024 Historic Endurance season will conclude with the traditional 250 km of Estoril on November 30. These classic race machines from the Race Ready competition will bring extra flair to the second edition of the Estoril Endurance Festival at the Estoril Circuit.