Historic Endurance Treats Jerez to Two Memorable Races
Following a memorable appearance on the Algarve Classic Festival weekend, where it attracted the largest grid in its 14-year history, the Iberian Historic Endurance field travelled to Spain this weekend for a strong return to one of the most popular circuits among drivers in the series: the Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto.
The region’s typically excellent weather once again added to the spectacle, with the circuit providing ideal conditions for the field of Touring Cars, GTs and prototypes built up to 1976, and promising plenty of exciting on-track action.
In Saturday’s qualifying session, Pedro Bastos Rezende laid down a marker in his De Tomaso Pantera, the stunning Italian machine being the only car to lap in the 2:04s. Paulo Lima, determined to take victory this weekend, was second fastest. The second row of the grid featured Max Huber, who swapped the AC Cobra in which he won both races at Jarama for a Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe, and Oliver Muytjens, who arrived in an identical car full of confidence after securing a double H-1965 victory at Portimão. Laurent Jaspers, in his Jaguar E-Type, and Brice Pineau, at the wheel of his Porsche 911 3.0 RS, completed the third row.
Under sunny skies and with the track in inviting condition, Sunday's two races provided plenty of action. In the first, Pedro Bastos Rezende withstood pressure from his rivals to take the lead, while Paulo Lima dropped a position but refused to give up. Max Huber was also involved in a three-way battle for the lead, but spun, losing valuable ground. However, just as the De Tomaso and the Cobra were becoming embroiled in an entertaining battle, the safety car was deployed.
At the restart, the De Tomaso came to a halt just two corners later, leaving Max Huber in the lead with Paulo Lima applying the pressure. In an extremely entertaining race, Lima eventually managed to pass Huber, who continued to deliver some spectacular driving, pushing his car to the limit. After both drivers made their mandatory pit stops, Paulo Lima emerged with an advantage of more than five seconds and appeared to have victory in the bag. However, in a dramatic twist, the Ford GT40 driver was handed a drive-through penalty for a pit stop that was too short. After serving his penalty, Paulo Lima still managed to pass Oliver Muytjens and cut his deficit to Max Huber by ten seconds, but it was not enough to threaten the Calvin Motors driver's third win of the year, both overall and in the H-1965 class. Paulo Lima took victory in GTP&SC, while Oliver Muytjens, also at the wheel of a Shelby, finished third overall and second in H-1965. Laurent Jaspers, fourth across the line, completed the class podium at the wheel of the JAC Motors Team Jaguar.
The second race saw a spectacular battle between Max Huber and Paulo Lima, with the latter taking the lead after just five minutes. The race appeared to be swinging in the Portuguese driver's favour; however, the safety car was deployed with 15 minutes remaining, bringing the two cars back together. With just over seven minutes left, Max Huber passed his rival and gave it everything he had under pressure from Paulo Lima, who was determined not to leave Andalusia without a race win. With less than three minutes to go, Huber ran wide on the entry to the start/finish straight, allowing Lima to reclaim the lead. From then until the chequered flag, the two cars battled for victory metre by metre in one of the most thrilling finishes in Historic Endurance history, with the RP Motorsport driver coming out on top despite immense pressure from his Swiss rival.
Max Huber made it another H-1965 victory, beating the opposition and once again leaving Oliver Muytjens to finish second. Laurent Jaspers, meanwhile, climbed onto the third step of the podium once again, completing the same top-three line-up as in the previous race.
The H-1976 class produced two different winners over the course of the weekend. In the first race, Brice Pineau came out on top, expertly driving the HY Racing Porsche 911 3.0 RS single-handedly. Joining him on the podium were Lithuanian driver Aurelijus Rusteika, making his Historic Endurance debut, and Robin Ellis, who in the opening stages of the race had shown signs of being able to build on the strong results he had achieved just a week earlier at the Algarve Classic Festival.
In the second race, fortune smiled on Portuguese driver Pedro Bastos Rezende who, having been unable to bring his De Tomaso Pantera to the track, was forced to start from the back of the grid in the Aurora Motorsport-prepared Porsche 911 3.0 RS. Far from letting the circumstances get the better of him, however, he produced a remarkable comeback, climbing through the field lap after lap to claim class victory and an impressive fourth place overall. Robin Ellis finished second, while Aurelijus Rusteika once again had the honour of taking the final spot on the podium.
Further down the field, the H-1971 class was one of those to see the greatest variety of results. In the first race, Manuel Domingues drove the ASM Team Ford Escort to a dominant victory, finishing ahead of Ralf Huber's mighty Chevrolet Corvette C3 and the Porsche shared by José Basagoiti and Manuel Capelo. In the second race, it was Ralf Huber who took centre stage, claiming victory in his Chevrolet. Familiar with the circuit and delivering consistently faultless drives, António Castro Ortega and Jesús Escribano finished second in their Porsche 911 2.5 ST, while father-and-son pairing Luís and Valdemar Nóvoa secured their first podium finish in the series, taking third place in their much-loved Alfa Romeo Berlina.
In the Gentlemen Drivers Spirit (GDS) class, British pairing Richard Turner and Rupert Deeth proved unbeatable, even when up against cars with greater power and speed. At the wheel of their Mini 1275 GT, the duo won both races, underlining their competitiveness and consistency. Michael Boyle finished second on both occasions in his MG B, while Luís Sousa Ribeiro also secured two third-place finishes in his Ford Cortina Lotus.
The Index of Performance once again crowned its winner, with an exclusive and highly coveted Cuervo y Sobrinos timepiece up for grabs. Based on an ingenious mathematical formula in which engine capacity and the age of the cars play a key role, the award went to Vincent Tourneur's Porsche 356 Speedster, providing the perfect finishing touch to the Frenchman's return to the series. Second place went to the Dorset Racing Mini Cooper S, skilfully driven by Ellie Birchenbough and Jason Jesty, while returning competitor Luís Sousa Ribeiro secured third in the classification.
Following this action-packed weekend in Andalusia, the 2026 Historic Endurance season is drawing to a close, with one of the most iconic races on the calendar set to take place on 4 and 5 December: the Estoril 250 km.
RACE 2 - RESULT |
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