Something special

Classic Endurance Racing – there’s something special about it. Sometimes, somehow, we feel like we’ve missed something, you know, a couple of generations of harsh voiced, insanely muscled and fast, ferocious and sensual endurance racing cars – physical racing cars. 917s, GT40s, T70s, MS670s, 512s & Co – and I’m not even thinking of the extreme Can-Am series’ M8s and 917s. Those days are gone. Fortunately, some of those legendary machines are still with us and some of their owners feel brave enough to return them back to where they belong – on the race track. That’s why the Classic Endurance Racing is so special – it allows you to feel these legendary machines breathing, roaring and competing on some of the best European race tracks – in 2011, Navarra, Spa, Imola, Silverstone, Estoril and Paul Ricard. The Classic Endurance Racing is an experience not to be missed. If you are used to modern digital racing cars you’ll notice the difference – eyes closed.

At Estoril (4,182 km), on September 24, 2011, there were 29 entries – two Fords, a Ferrari, five Porsches, a good selection of Lolas and Chevrons, a Sauber, a McLaren, a Ligier and a Toj. The afternoon was sunny and on the race track Carlos Barbot chased victory in his red 1972 Lola T 280 (33 laps – 1:00:20.420 h – 137,2 km/h) until suffering gearbox problems, being passed during the last lap by the golden 1977 Toj SC 302 DFV from Kevin Wilkins/Mike Catlow (33 laps – 1:00:19.485 h – 137,3 km/h). Overall, far from being a parade of expensive machinery, the race produced interesting fights, with occasional battle scars. Overall, a great experience, a time machine leading us back to the tough sixties and seventies endurance racing scene. Those days are gone – but thanks to the Classic Endurance Racing part of their magic lingers on.