The Iberian Historic Endurance returns to the streets of the glamorous French city of Pau for the 20th Grand Prix de Pau Historique. This weekend, the "3 Heures de Pau" of 1958 will be relived in four 45-minute races of the most prestigious classic car competition in Southern Europe.
For this special moment, the Historic Endurance squad will be divided into two "plateaux". The first plateau will include all pre-66 cars and will be divided into the following categories: cars built up to 1961, Gentleman Driver Spirit (Touring cars up to 1965 up to 2000cc + MGB + Porsche 911 SWB), the H-1965 class and H-GTP&SC Pre-1966. The second "plateau" will host all Pre-1976 cars: Gentleman Driver Spirit (Touring cars up to 1976 and up to 2000cc), H-1971 and H-1976.
Each "plateau" will have two separate 45-minute races, which means that for the first time the Race Ready competition will have four races on the winding Circuit de Pau-Ville circuit in the same weekend.
The winner of the "3 Heures de Pau" trophy will be the driver who completes the most laps in the four Historic Endurance races. This feature allows any driver to enter both "plateaux", thus adding laps in order to win the acclaimed trophy.
Diogo Ferrão (Race Ready CEO) said: "This promises to be one of the most exciting weekends of the season, with four Historic Endurance races in one of the most mythical classic events in Europe. The choice of Historic Endurance to celebrate the '3 Heures de Pau' is something that fills us with pride and being able to present such full starting grids makes us extremely satisfied."
A total of fifty-six cars from sixteen different car manufacturers will be driven with skill and commitment by over seventy drivers from seven countries and three continents. This "rolling museum" has an impressive and varied list of cars that have marked its era, from the Porsche 356 Speedster, to the iconic AC Cobra and Jaguar E-Type, cars that need no introduction, through the famous Porsche 911 RSR, Lotus Elan, Ford Escort or Alfa Romeo Giulia, to unusual models, such as the Reliant Sabre 6, the Crossle 7S, the Sunbeam Tiger or the Marcos 1800 GT.
With the motto "Relaxed Historic Racing" and the goal of providing competitive and lively classic races for Gentleman Drivers, no Historic Endurance event is complete without the Index of Performance. The winner of this classification will come from the results of the first races of the two "plateaux", and the prize for the winner, a watch from the prestigious Swiss watchmaker Cuervo Y Sobrinos, will be offered at the podium ceremony on Sunday's races. The Lotus Elite driven by Robin Ellis won this classification in 2022, an indicator that the winner will likely come from the smaller engine cars.
TIMETABLE (Local Time) May 20th (Saturday) 13:54 Historic Endurance Pré-1966 - Race 1 17:34 Historic Endurance Pré-1977 - Race 1 May 21st (Sunday) 09:04 Historic Endurance Pré-1966 - Race 2 12:06 Historic Endurance Pré-1977 - Race 2
