The Iberian Historic Endurance returned to the demanding Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto, in Jerez de la Frontera, for the first race of the 2024 season on Spanish soil, offering two races of great interest and spectacle in the inaugural edition of the Jerez Classic.
Facing the challenge of the historic Andalusian circuit, with a past that includes seven Formula 1 Grand Prix races, World Sportscar Championship races, and currently hosting the Spanish Motorcycle Grand Prix, more than 40 teams from 7 countries responded, marking another record for the Historic Endurance.
Despite the intense heat, with temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius, the event attracted over 5,000 spectators over the course of three days, including 250 drivers who participated in various other races on the program..
QUALIFYING
The battle for pole position was intense, with Spanish drivers leveraging their knowledge of the circuit to secure top positions. Eduardo Dávila claimed pole position in the H-1976 category, Jordi Puig and David Nogareda secured pole position in the GTP category, behind the wheel of a Ford GT40, and the duo José Antonio and Pablo Rueda, making their debut with a revised Ford Capri 2600RS, set the fastest time in the H-1971 category. The Spanish dominance was only not felt in the H-1965 category, where pole position was achieved by the young Swiss driver Max Huber, driving an impressive AC Cobra, and in the Gentleman Driver Spirit (GDS) category, where the Frenchman Michel Mora, in his faithful Porsche 911 SWB, set the fastest time.
RACE 1
Late on Saturday, the first race of the event took place. Paulo Lima surprised at the start by gaining two positions and putting his Ford GT40, adorned with GULF colors this year, in the lead. Behind him, an animated battle unfolded between pole-sitter Jordi Puig, Pedro Bastos Rezende, and Bruno Santos, the latter two in their Porsche 911 3.0 RS. Puig and Bastos Rezende made contact, causing the GT40 to lose ground, while the audience now enjoyed an excellent fight, after an off-track excursion to avoid the unfortunate collision between the two German cars prepared by Garagem Aurora.
The race saw several developments, with various battles throughout the extensive field entertaining all classic racing enthusiasts and more.
In the GDS category, Nuno Nunes and José Carvalhosa triumphed in their impeccable Porsche 911 SWB, proving that endurance races are won in the end, despite the category being initially led by Michel Mora in an identical car, and later by João Neves and Carlos Tavares in the Datsun 1200.
The Garagem João Gomes car was followed by Vincent Tourneur, also behind the wheel of a Porsche 911, and by the historic Alfa Giulia Super Ti driven by Rui Bevilacqua, Antonio Magalhães, and Nuno Veiga, which finished third.
In the H-1965 category, young Max Huber put on an excellent display with his AC Cobra. After an off-track excursion to avoid a spinning car, he began a frantic comeback, cutting down the 17-second gap to Laurent Jaspers, who debuted in Historic Endurance with his Jaguar E-Type, and ultimately finishing 20 seconds ahead. The efficient Lotus Elan driven by Carlos Alberto Oliveira completed the podium.
In the H-1971 category, the "star" turned out to be Francisco Pinto Abreu. Despite not being familiar with the American car, the Chevrolet Corvette driver staged a race from back to front, climbing from 22nd on the grid to 11th place, and saw the checkered flag first among the H-1971s. This was despite the excellent performance by the Alfa GTAm duo of Rafael Cerveira Pinto/Carlos Dias Pedro and the strong pace set by the Porsche 911 S/T of Piero dal Maso and José Carvalhosa.
As predicted from the start of the race, the battle to win the H-1976 category lasted until the checkered flag, with over seven lead changes after the driver changes. In the end, it was Bruno Santos who saw the checkered flag first, with Bastos Rezende finishing just a second behind.
However, since the first two finishers, who entered and exited the pits at the same time, did not comply with the mandatory pit stop time, they received a 40-second penalty, applied at the end of the race. Nonetheless, the two cars still took the top two spots on the podium, joined by Claudio Vieira, also behind the wheel of a 3-liter Porsche in a class that had ten of these entries.
Paulo Lima, after some adventures and the penalties of the two Porsches, ended up as the first classified and celebrated victory also in the GTP class, being followed in the category by Rui and João Macedo e Silva in a Ford GT40 Roadster, and by Jordi Puig's GT40.
RACE 2
With Sunday's race held at the peak of the heat, the drivers faced another great challenge, with the mechanics of their machines put to the test.
Paulo Lima, as the winner of the first race, started from pole position and set a strong pace, gaining a slight advantage, although always with Bruno Santos close behind.
The chasing group also included Pedro Bastos Rezende, Miguel Lobo in the Shelby Daytona, Claudio Vieira, and the GT40 of the Macedo e Silva family. It was this last model from the Detroit brand - interestingly, there are only two units of this Roadster in the world - that made a strong recovery, overtaking all the cars in the chasing group, setting the fastest lap of the race as it closed in on the top two. However, a mechanical issue forced its retirement.
At the front of the race, Paulo Lima began to slow his pace, and Bruno Santos overtook him before the driver change. Paulo Lima tried to make up for lost time during the mandatory pit stop period, but the maneuver didn't go as smoothly, and this time it was the GT40 driver who failed to comply with the stipulated time for this stop.
After the end of the driver change window, the race saw a Safety Car period to retrieve a car from the gravel, which brought the pack back together, creating even more excitement in the second group of cars chasing the leaders.
In the end, Bruno Santos was the first to see the checkered flag, also triumphing in the H-1976 class, while Pedro Bastos Rezende secured second place, with a two-second advantage over Claudio Vieira, who closed the podium. Miguel Lobo's "guest" Shelby Daytona was the fourth classified, just a hair's breadth away from a podium position.
In the H-1965 category, it was the Belgian Laurent Jasper who won in the elegant Jaguar, taking advantage of Max Huber not complying with the handicap and therefore being penalized, dropping to second place. The third place in the category was also a newcomer, with Max's younger brother, Guillaume Huber, the youngest driver on the entire grid, behind the wheel of an impressive Ford Mustang.
In the GDS category, Luís Sousa Ribeiro, in his impeccable Cortina Lotus, came from the back of the grid to win the second race, with Nuno Nunes in second place. Vincent Tourneur achieved another podium in the 911 SWB that he consistently races.
In the H-1971 category, there was also a new winner, with the Dal Maso/Carvalhosa duo climbing from third to first place during the race, keeping the Alfa Romeo of the Cerveira Pinto/Dias Pedro duo in second position. The Porsche 914/6, driven by the Madrid duo of Manuel de la Torre and Guillermo Velasco, rounded off the weekend with a commendable third place.
INDEX OF PERFORMANCE
In the second round of the season, the most important classification of Historic Endurance, the Index of Performance, which evaluates the result based on an "index" that takes into account the age, displacement, and power of the car, was won by Bevilacqua, Magalhães, and Veiga. The Alfa Romeo trio took home a watch from the renowned Swiss brand Cuervo Y Sobrinos, and at the podium ceremony, they were accompanied by P-A Forsvall, who competed in his Lotus Elan, and by Alberto Velez-Grilo, with BMW 1800 TI, finishing second and third respectively.
After the visit to Andalusia, Europe's most important Iberian motorsport classic competition will only have one more event until summer, returning on the weekend of June 15th and 16th for the highly anticipated Jarama Classic.
Held at the historic Madrid circuit, the largest classic car event in Spain is always a success in terms of both attendance and participants, and entries for the Historic Endurance race are already sold out, although there is a waiting list in case of last-minute dropouts.
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