Star-studded Grid for the Historic Endurance in Valencia

After a three-month summer break, the Iberian Historic Endurance returns to the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, from 12 to 14 September 2025, with a grid packed with some of the most iconic machines in European historic motorsport and over thirty cars entered.

This event, part of the Valencia Iberian Racing Festival, marks the return of the most prestigious classic racing competition in southern Europe to a safe, technical circuit, ideal for showcasing the full potential of these historic cars. It promises a thrilling spectacle with two fifty-minute races, where strategy, mechanical management and consistency will be just as important as outright speed.

With a grid full of diversity and quality, both in racing pedigree and cinematic history, the Ford GT40s stand out immediately. Paulo Lima returns to the cockpit of his car, which has brought him so much success in the Historic Endurance. This time, the Portuguese driver will face competition from an identical car entered by the Belgian HY Racing team. Used to competing in a Cobra Daytona, the experienced and proven duo of Olivier Muytjens and Brice Pineau will debut their stunning GT40 in Valencia.

In a list of entries to make any enthusiast envious, there are many more cars that have written pages of motorsport history. From Switzerland, father and son Guillaume Huber and Ralf Huber will drive, respectively, a Ford Mustang and a Shelby GT350, two spectacular machines prepared by Calvin Motors. Staying in the world of muscle cars, the thunderous roar of the Chevrolet Corvette L88 of Pedro Bethencourt and Jorge Nogueira Pinto is sure to delight fans.

Timothy Mahapatra, in his Jaguar E-Type semi-Lightweight, and Laurent Jaspers, in the E-Type 63 version, will bring British speed and elegance to the track. UK marques will have a particularly strong presence this weekend, especially in the H-1965 class, where these two “Big Cats” will be joined by five Lotus Elans in various specifications, promising fierce battles. Paul O'Reilly will race the Elan S1 for SPY Motorsport, Richard Bateman and Roger Barton will drive the Elan for Batman Motorsport, while Jeremy Clark will pilot an S4 for Torco Racing Oils. François Guerin will compete with his Lotus Elan +2, run by RP Motorsport, while Team Rascagnères by Racing Car Mews will field not only a Lotus Elan but also a Lotus 23B prototype for Xavier Rascagnères, Jérôme Peyrat and Didier Mantz. The British contingent is completed by Antonio Escalante’s Mini Cooper and the MGB of Gonçalo Silva and Jorge Pinto, supported by Best Lap Garage, both cars returning after several seasons away.

Also joining the grid from the English-speaking world this weekend is Manuel Domingues, who made his motorsport debut at the Jarama Classic, driving a Ford Escort prepared by ASM Team, a squad that once made its mark on the world endurance stage, including several appearances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Another representative of the Blue Oval is the ever-spectacular Capri 2600 RS of brothers José and Pablo Rueda. German marques are also well represented, with BMW in the touring car field and Porsche in GT. This weekend’s grid will include a BMW 2800 CS, shared by Rui Maia and Pedro Maia, and a BMW 1800 TiSAm, driven by father-and-son duo Alberto and Tomaz Velez-Grilo, who will also compete in Formula Ford in the two races of the Single Seater Series.

Porsche, from Weissach, is the most numerous marque. For the first time this season, there will be two 914/6s on the grid: alongside the regular entry of Manuel de la Torre, Carlos and Nuno Matos will debut a Porsche prepared by MR Auto. Porsche 911s dominate in both quantity and variety, with 3.0 RS models entered by Rafael Sanchez Alcala and Eduardo Sanchez Muñoz, as well as Carlos Brízido and Miguel Lobo; the R model of Antonio Sainz; the 911 2.5 ST of António Castro Ortega and Jesús Escribano; and the 911 2.8 RSR of Robin Ellis, entered by JWA Racing. All will compete in the H-1976 or H-1971 categories, promising intense duels through Valencia’s fast corners. Additionally, Garagem João Gomes will field the Porsche 911 SWB of Nuno Nunes and the Porsche 911 2.5 ST of Piero Dal Maso, José Carvalhosa and Guilherme Dal Maso — two traditionally strong cars in the GDS class.

Adding Italian flair to this cosmopolitan grid are the Alfa Romeo GTAm entries from Portuguese duo Jorge Santos and Alcides Petiz, a major name in Portuguese racing history, as well as local driver Roberto Diaz-Rincon.

Finally, two Japanese entries complete the field: a pair of Datsun 1200s in the GDS class, one for Portuguese drivers Davide Marques and Rui Castro, and the other for Iberian duo Guillermo Velasco and Francisco Freitas.

This event combines the charm of classic racing with the adrenaline of endurance competition, under the strict rules of Appendix K and the philosophy of the “three Cs” — No Crashing, No Cheating, No Complaining. In the first race of the weekend, victory in the Index of Performance will also be at stake.

This special classification rewards consistency, regularity, and relative merit of each team, based on the performance of their cars according to their technical characteristics, rather than the outright race result. The winner will receive an exclusive watch from the Swiss brand Cuervo y Sobrinos, which has Latin roots.

The winner of this classification, which reflects the true spirit of competition, often comes from the group of smaller-capacity cars, such as the ever-favourites Lotus Elan, the Datsun 1200, or even the Porsche 911 SWB.

As tradition dictates, Historic Endurance qualifying will take place on Saturday morning at 10:45, with the first race scheduled for 17:00. The second race will be held at 12:15 on Sunday and will be streamed live on the Race Ready YouTube channel.

A more global broadcast

For the first time, a Historic Endurance race will be broadcast simultaneously in Spanish, English, Italian, and German.

The growing European presence of the competition promoted by Race Ready will allow the event to be broadcast by Parc Fermé TV in Italian and by Motorsport Television Deutschland in German, as has already been the case since the start of the year in English, through the AlphaLive YouTube channel.

The Italian TV channel Motoretro TV, in partnership with Parc Fermé TV, will also broadcast Historic Endurance races on a delayed basis.