Spirit of Montjuïc
Carrera Los 80's
Iberian competition starts 2022 in Catalunya
- 50 minutes race in Catalunya
- Sun and lots of public help the party that is Carrera Los 80's
- Pedro Bastos Rezende wins in Barcelona
Today, the Carrera Los 80's season officially started in Barcelona. The Spanish competition, dedicated to Touring and Grand Touring cars up to the year 1994, headed to the circuit near the city of Barcelona to open the season. With a unique 50-minute race, the 14 competitors had a beautiful challenge on their hands.
After a day yesterday where they had the chance to complete a timed practice session, the teams present at the Barcelona circuit today had the demanding task of completing the first race of the year.
Pedro Bastos Rezende started from Pole Position with Ricardo Pereira at his side. The driver of the Porsche 911 3.0 RS ( Bastos Rezende) was in Barcelona with a double mission, as he was also racing in the Iberian Historic Endurance. The driver of the Ford Escort RS2000 didn't want to let the victory slip away.
The pack started and the Carrera Los 80's drivers accelerated hard towards the first corner, where it was the Porsche driver who got around the first corner in the lead, taking advantage of the power of his German car. However, a mistake by Bastos Rezende invited Ricardo Pereira to take the lead of the race. The Ford Escort driver didn't need a second invitation and promptly took the lead as his own.
Patiently waiting for another mistake was the Dutch driver, Van Haver Bira in the BMW 325i. The young rookie was matching the pace of the two frontrunners and with a lot of patience and skill, the Dutch driver, with 10 minutes to go before the mandatory driver change, was also ahead of the Porsche 911 3.0RS.
With several groups forming across the pack, the public's attention was divided between the three at the head of the race and the fight for sixth place. Marc Garcia, in a Honda Civic of the T2000 category, was defending the sixth place of António Maia, in a Ford Escort RS2000 of the GR1/N category and Toni Garcia also in a Honda Civic.
Two (2) minutes before the opening of the window, Spanish driver Jordi C. Roca had a mechanical problem that forced him to stop on track forcing the Marshals to open the Safety-Car. It was the end of the race for the Alfa Romeo GTAm driver.
With the Safety-car coming into play, the whole field came together and the race would start again. The accounts were shuffling, as the stoppage window opened and most of the field entered to make their mandatory stop. Only Van Haver Bira, Manuel Ferrão (Ford Escort MKII RS1800), Juan Alonso (Honda Civic) and Andrea Fernandez (Datsun 1200) remained on track. The Dutchman took the lead of the race for the first time. However, a strategic error caused him to come out in 7th place after his stop.
With the green flag flying at all positions and the race pace being resumed, the classification remained unchanged between the top two: Ricardo Pereira led, followed by Pedro Bastos Rezende, who was now faster than the driver from Oporto. On the other hand, after the driver's change stop, Carlos Beltran was faster in his Porsche 964 RS NGT and after an interesting battle for the 3rd position, the Catalan driver overtook Dan Jimenez, a driver from Madrid who was also driving a Honda Civic.
Pedro Bastos Rezende continued to set the best laps of the race and took the lead of the race and never let it go, receiving the chequered flag in the first position and taking the GTCOPA victory. Carlos Beltran seconded the Portuguese in the category dedicated to Grand Touring cars and Antonio Cubero completed the category podium. The latter, drove a beautiful Porsche 968 CS.
In the GR1/N category, Ricardo Pereira won on Catalan soil. The Ford Escort RS2000 driver was the second to receive the chequered flag and the big winner of his category. Albert Franco, making his debut in the carreras 80's, climbed to the middle place of the podium, very pleased with the result. The Porsche 924 driver beat Spanish driver Andrea Fernadez, who with a very regular pace took his Datsun 1200 to third place in the category dedicated to Group 1 or Group N specification cars. This after the duo Antonio Maia / Nuno Breda had been in second place until they gave up during the driver change.
Among the GR2 cars, Manuel Ferrão, driving a Ford Escort MKII RS1800, left Barcelona with the triumph in the category, beating rookie Jordi C. Roca, driving an Alfa Romeo GTAm.
Van Haver Bira won the T-MAX category despite a drive-through penalty due to a miscalculation during his mandatory stop. The young driver, from the Netherlands, completed his debut in Carrera Los 80's, where he was the second fastest in the track. However, with the penalty and a less successful pit-strategy he only finished in 7th place
Among the T2000s, Toni Garcia won the category ahead of Dan Jimenez, who had lost the lead when he completed the "Drive Through" penalty for not meeting the minimum time in the pit stop. Marc Garcia completed the podium after a solid and entertaining race. All the drivers in this category drove Honda Civic cars.
For Diogo Ferrão, head of the competition: "It was a dream debut in the Barcelona circuit, where we were very well received by the public present and by the excellent spring weather that was felt throughout this weekend. We debuted more 6 drivers in this competition that continues to grow and provided a very interesting race. Now the next round will be in Madrid, which has been the circuit where this competition has its origin. See you in Jarama!"
Carrera Los 80's returns on 14/15 May to Jarama, where the competition will feature the most interesting format of 2 races of 40 minutes each.
