The 2024 season of the Iberian Historic Endurance concluded in the best possible way with the "classic of classics" among historic car races in the Iberian Peninsula – the 250 km of Estoril. Repeating his achievement from last year, with victory in the 12th edition of the race that took place during Saturday's Estoril Endurance Festival by Powershield, Pedro Bastos Rezende became the fourth double winner of the 250 km of Estoril, writing his name in the event's “Hall of Fame” for the second time. He joins the German duo Georg Nolte / Frank Stippler, the Portuguese pairing Carlos Barbot / Diogo Matos, and the German-Danish duo Patrick Simon / Lars Rolsner.
The driver of the Porsche 911 3.0 RS from Aurora Motorsport sent an early message to the competition when, against all odds, he claimed pole position in the morning qualifying session at Autódromo do Estoril. He edged out Paulo Lima in a Ford GT40 by a mere nine hundredths of a second, pushing the other Ford GT40 favourite, driven by Christian Oldendorff, and the Porsche 911 2.8 RSR of the international duo Paul Daniels (former WEC) and Markus Palttala (former FIA GT) to the second row of the grid.
The race, which lasted over two hours, ran uninterrupted and featured an intense pace in the opening laps, set by the front runners of the sizeable grid. Christian Oldendorff and Paulo Lima quickly moved into the lead, rekindling an old rivalry at the Estoril circuit, while Pedro Bastos Rezende adopted the role of observer, maintaining his own race pace.
Further back, positions began to stabilise as the race progressed. Ricardo Megre climbed two places to secure fourth position, driving the Porsche 911 3.0 RS he shared with Frederico Brion Sanchez. He finished ahead of Markus Palttala and the Bizzarrini 5300 GT from Equipe Europe, which the German duo Volker Hichert and Bjorn Ebsen had been steadily moving up through the field.
The early retirement of Paulo Lima, who had taken the lead on the second lap, left Christian Oldendorff in front. However, after the first pit stops and refuelling, Oldendorff lost the lead to Bastos Rezende on lap 13. Ten laps later, he regained the lead when the Portuguese driver was handed a "Drive-through" penalty for exceeding track limits.
In the second half of the race, with teams following different strategies, three more duos, all driving Porsche cars, made their way to the front of the field: Paul Daniels / Markus Palttala, Brion Sanchez / Ricardo Megre, and Jesús Fuster / Jorge López.
In the final "sprint," Bastos Rezende took the lead in the last ten laps and never relinquished it, crossing the finish line with just over two seconds ahead of Christian Oldendorff. He secured the victory in the race as well as in the H-1976 class, while the German driver claimed victory in the GTP&SC class. Still in the winner's lap, Paul Daniels and Markus Palttala finished in third place, second in the H-1976 class.
The French duo Damien Kohler and "Maverick" crossed the finish line in fourth place, winning the H-1965 category. However, the Shelby Cobra drivers had an eventful race, battling with the Cobra Daytona of the Belgian trio Brice Pineau, Oliver Muytjens, and Greg Audi. With just five minutes remaining, and the gap under one second, a dramatic turn of events unfolded: in a typical endurance racing scenario, they ran out of fuel. Over the course of the 120-minute race, the H-1965 category saw thirteen changes of leader. The "Top-5" was rounded off by Spaniards Jesús Fuster and Jorge López, who secured the final spot on the podium in the competitive H-1976 class.
In sixth place overall, the Merlyn MK4 of Carlos Barbot and Filipe Campos, a car that had won this event in 2019 and 2020, finished second in the GTP&SC class, with Paulo Rompante in his Alfa Romeo Ti Super completing the podium. Brion Sanchez and Ricardo Megre finished seventh, just outside the H-1976 podium, but ahead of the second-placed car in the H-1965 class, the imposing Bizzarrini 5300 GT. The H-1965 podium was completed by the Porsche 904/6, serviced by the Portuguese Raul Cunha Vintage Cars Garage, with the duo of Thorkild Stamp and Michael Holden.
The top ten finishers of the race were completed by the two best-placed teams in the H-1971 class: the winners Piero dal Maso and Guilherme dal Maso, in the Porsche 911 2.5 ST from Garagem João Gomes, who took the class lead on lap 34, and the early race leaders José Rueda and Rafael Rodríguez, in the RP Motorsport-run Ford Capri 2600 RS.
In the Gentleman Driver Spirit (GDS) class, the British duo Paul Rayment / James Wheeler, in the MG B Roadster, won uncontested after the favourite, the Ford Cortina Lotus of Luís Sousa Ribeiro and Ricardo Pereira, retired on the 13th lap. Thanks to their consistent performance, the BMW 1800 TISA of Alberto and Tomás Velez Grilo finished in second place, while newcomers Emmanuel De Noailles and Luigi Barzini, also driving an MG B, joyously celebrated their third-place finish on the podium.
As is tradition, the race also honoured the final winner of the year in the Performance Index classification, with the podium ceremony culminating in the presentation of an exclusive Swiss Cuervos Y Sobrinos watch to the winner. Vincent Tourneur took the Porsche 356 Speedster, from the iconic film Rebel Without a Cause featuring the famous American actor James Dean, to a well-deserved victory. This Weissach example finished ahead of the Danish duo Thorkild Stamp and Michael Holden, in a Porsche 904/6, and Davide Marques and João Ribeiro, in a Datsun 1200.
Diogo Ferrão, the organiser of the Iberian Historic Endurance, commented at the end: "There are really races where everything goes well. With 49 entries, we managed to have a race that, over 120 minutes, didn't even require a Safety-Car intervention. Sometimes, I am quite demanding with the drivers and the sporting organisation of the circuits, but this time everyone collaborated, and we managed to hold a race without any problems. Congratulations to everyone!"
After yet another hugely successful season, in which the most prestigious classic car competition in Southern Europe once again visited some of the best circuits and events across Europe, the Iberian Historic Endurance will return in 2025, with the calendar and other updates to be announced in the coming days.
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