Double victory for Jordi Puig/Fernando Navarrete
Carlos Barbot and Luís Sousa Ribeiro maintain their hegemony
Paulo Lima and Carlos Santos/Carlos Alfredo Santos won for the first time
The Iberian Historic Endurance completed its passage through the Festival de la Velocidad with an exciting second 50-minute race at the Circuito de Navarra. Jordi Puig and Fernando Navarrete, in their sweeping Ford GT40, were the first to see the chequered flag, winning for the second time in the GTP & SC category. This, in a race that had several other reasons of interest.
Behind the Ford GT40 leader, second position had an unexpected rotation until the mandatory pit stop. Florent Cazalot (Lotus Seven) started second, but it was Carlos Barbot (Lotus Elan 26R) who took that position in the early stages, only to be overtaken by Eduardo Davila (Porsche 911 3.0 RS). Even before the pit stop window opened, both were overtaken by Florent Cazalot that got his second position back. On the track, the Frenchman ran a race at full speed and "chased his losses", as he was late at the start, went through the pits and still had to make a Stop & Go. He retired after. Spaniard Eduardo Davila had the same misfortune, as he looked set to repeat yesterday's victory in the H-1976 until lap 13, when a technical failure forced him to retire.
Just as the Ford GT40 took its second win of the weekend, Carlos Barbot, the second to see the chequered flag, took his second win in the H-1965 class. The H-1971 class had a different winner. Paulo Lima again made a very strong start, but this time the Ford Mustang driver did not allow his rivals to get close to him, setting the same pace as Carlos Barbot. Without overdoing it, Paulo Lima controlled the race, finishing ahead of Joaquim Soares, the winner of Saturday's race. Interestingly, the difference in the best lap between the two fastest cars in the H-1971 category was less than 0.056 seconds, clearly showing the balance between the competitors. Third place went to Frenchman Franck Biraben (Porsche 911 R), who thus returned to the podium, reproducing his achievement from the first race in Pau last May.
Savinien Legeleux (Lotus Seven) once again found himself in the middle of the fight of the fastest H-1971s, which gave him a lively race and second place on the podium ceremony in the GTP & SC category. Paulo Rompante (Alfa Romeo Ti Super), winner of the category at the Estoril Classics a fortnight ago, was third.
What arouses emotions in all fans and enthusiasts of this sport is the uncertainty of the outcome and that is what the H-1976 category offered us. Victory went to the Portuguese father-son duo Carlos Alfredo Santos/Carlos Santos (son). With the car still under development, the Santos family progressed throughout the weekend and were able to preserve the mechanics of their Ford Escort towards an unexpected triumph. Spanish pair Juan Alonso/José Antonio Zorrilla (Porsche 911 3.0 RS), who led halfway through the race, came close to a long-awaited victory, but in the end had to settle for second place due to a mechanical problem. Eduardo Davila had a consolation prize for his always strong pace at the beginning of the race, finishing in third place.
In the Gentleman Driver Spirit (GDS) category, Luís Sousa Ribeiro maintained his hegemony, but the Ford Cortina Lotus driver, who was eighth overall, never lifted his foot off the gas and was always behind the "guest" Toni García (Porsche 924) and closely followed by Paulo Rompante's Alfa Romeo Ti Super. As it was the case yesterday afternoon, the fight for second place in the category was much more hectic, with Englishman Robin Ellis - who this weekend swapped his rare Lotus Elan Shapecraft seen at Estoril for the Elite he raced on the streets of Pau - getting the better of the four Porsche 911 SWBs led by the two Garagem João Gomes cars. Nuno Nunes was third, ahead of Piero dal Maso/José Carvalhosa, Carlos Beltran and Michel Mora.
For Diogo Ferrão, CEO of Race Ready, "this weekend, which marked our return to Navarra, was very positive. Historic endurance weekends are, above all, weekends in which the pleasure of driving these classic cars and the conviviality, on and off the track, take precedence over the results. As demonstrated here in Navarra, the fact that several classes race together and such different cars have the same drive, there are always several lively battles in the middle of the pack - these are the moments that make the Iberian so special!"
The final round of the 2022 Iberian Historic Endurance season is the traditional 250km of Estoril, which will be held on November 19th.
