Espíritu Montjuïc
Historic Endurance
Jordi Puig and Alberto Pecanins in Ford GT40 make Pole Position for both races at Espíritu de Montjuïc
- Spring sunshine brightens up Iberian competition peloton in Barcelona
- 33 cars qualify for the first time in 2022
- Jordi Puig sets the pace at the Circuit de Barcelona
With a fantastic blue sky and a great crowd in the paddock, the traffic light on the Pit Lane of the Circuit de Barcelona turned green for the first time in 2022 and the Iberian Historic Endurance drivers rolled out to tame the Catalan circuit. The goal was simple, to get the perfect lap in order to start as far ahead as possible.
Aiming to repeat the feat of 2021 in Jarama, Jordi Puig and Alberto Pecanins, in Ford GT40, left for qualifying with only one focus, the Pole Position. The Catalan duo conceived and realised it by placing the powerful Ford GT40 at the head of the pack, composed of 33 entrants for the weekend's races, Puig/Pecanins was then the fastest among the GTP & Sportscars. Puig, with a stunning time of 2min08.467 left Bastos Rezende, in a Porsche 911 3.0 RS, in second place with the fastest time among the H-1976 category cars. The Portuguese driver left Bruno Santos, in the same car, in third place, second of the H-1976. Brunos Santos making a very positive debut in the Iberian Historic Endurance. Eduardo Davila, also in a Porsche 911 3.0RS, was third in the category.
The father and son duo, Stephane Rey and Mathias Rey in a Crossle 7S got the second place among the GTP & Sportscars with Florent Cazalot in third place. The French driver Cazalot was the fastest of the two Lotus Seven cars.
In the H-1965, last minute surprises, Ron Maydon and Robin Ward achieved an excellent time in the agile Ginetta G4R. The British drivers beat the experienced Carlos Barbot, in a Lotus Elan, and the Iberian duo Guillermo Velasco/Francisco Freitas in the Porsche 356 SC, second and third in the category.
In the highly competitive H-1971 category, Joaquim Soares took the lead, followed by his team mate Luís Sousa Ribeiro. The Portuguese drivers, in a Lotus Elan and BMW 2800 CS respectively, were followed by another trio assisted by RP Motorsport, Paulo Lima/ Bruno Lima/José Paradela in a powerful Ford Mustang.
In the Gentleman Driver Spirit, the British Paul Rayment/James Wheeler in an MG B Roadster conquered the leadership of the category for the two races ahead of the Porsche SWB of Nuno Nunes/José Carvalhosa and Carlos Beltran.
The Iberian competition will have the first 50-minute race today with a mandatory pit stop that promises to shuffle the race standings. You can follow everything on live timing from 17.05 Spanish time, 16.05 Portuguese time on the APP Race Ready available in the APP Store for iPhone and Play Store for Android.