The first race of the 2023 Carrera Los 80 season, to be held on the weekend of 6-7 May at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, will feature two spectacular BMW 635 CSIs from the Mr Wheeler Motorsport team.
The duo Rui Garcia/Miguel Garcia and Pedro Oliveira/Diamantino Ferreira will drive the two BMWs prepared by the Mr Wheeler Motorsport team during the Algarve Welcome Spring, the first major Iberian sprint car racing event of the year.
The two BMW 635 CSI "born" in the Mr Wheeler Motorsport facilities, under the technical command of Paulo Silva, "were built by us and developed by us according to the Group A homologation sheet," explains the head of Mr Wheeler Motorsport.
Its robustness and reliability allowed the BMW 635 CSI to be a benchmark car in its day, and it is still one of the cars with the best track record today, having scored countless international victories and won "classics" such as the 24 Hours of Spa and the Macau Guia Race. In Portugal, the 635 CSi also wrote several chapters of motorsport history in the first half of the 1980s, having been driven by great names of national circuit racing scene such as Manuel Fernandes, Carlos Rodrigues, Artur Moreira, Robert Giannone or Sidónio Cabanelas.
The Carrera 80s races will continue this year to offer a platform where, above all, drivers will be able to enjoy driving the racing cars that marked a golden age of motor racing in a pleasant atmosphere, with no points and no champion at the end of the season.
For Paulo Silva, the Carrera Los 80 concept fits the spirit of what a large majority of the drivers who participate in classic racing are looking for. "Most of our drivers want to have fun and have a good weekend with family and friends. It's an escape from their busy professional lives and they are not racing to become champions."
The semi-endurance format will remain the bet, but this time each event will always consist of two 40-minute races, with a mandatory pit stop, allowing teams consisting of one or two drivers, and accepting mainly Turismo and some Gran Turismo cars from 1976 to 1993.
For the first competitive weekend of the year, which will be staged on one of the most spectacular European circuits, "our drivers' goals are to have fun, to have two races without technical problems and to leave the car with a smile on their faces. Of course, when they put on their helmets, we know that they will give their best and try to achieve the best possible result," added Paulo Silva.
The Carrera Los 80 calendar will "grow" this year, with two races in Portugal and two in Spain, at four of the most prestigious motorsport venues on the Iberian Peninsula: Portimão, Jarama, Jerez and Estoril.
