All is well in Portugal
2022 Algarve Classic Festival report
Author
- Mattijs Diepraam
Date
- November 7, 2022
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Who?Marco Werner What?Lotus-Cosworth 91 Where?Portimão When?2021 Algarve Classic Festival (October 28, 2022) |
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Why?
The Historic Grand Prix Car Association, the GT & Sports Car Cup and the Formula Juniors – with a fair bit of 1000cc F3 screamers thrown into the mix – joined Masters Historic Racing’s four grids to end all their 2022 seasons under the Portuguese sun for another edition of the Algarve Classic Festival. This time, there was much less of a mess compared to last year when things went awry during the course of the weekend, and with 2021’s rain swapped for dry and mostly sunny conditions in 2022, all was well at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
Again, F1 entry numbers failed to boggle the mind at Portimão, as we have become increasingly accustomed to this year, but quality as well as excitement were well up there. On Saturday, Werner led almost the entire race until he began to suffer from vibrations and understeer, after which Cantillon outran him in the final few laps. However, while doing so, the Irishman had exceeded track limits one time too many and was slammed with a five-second time penalty. With Werner finishing 2.6 seconds behind, victory went to the German. On Sunday, Cantillon led from the get-go as Werner hounded him round the Portuguese track. Only once the Irishman made a mistake, allowing Werner to take over the lead. But that didn’t last long – on the next lap Cantillon was back into the lead and he soon disappeared into the distance once Werner’s Lotus started to suffer from the same defects as it did the previous day.
In the ex-Michael Bleekemolen RAM March 761, Frenchman Patrick d'Aubreby grabbed two more class wins to seal the pre-78 F1 title. (photo 8W)
At Spa, Steve Hartley had already become champion in the pre-78 class, but the pre-78 title was still up for grabs. Patrick d'Aubreby (March 761) and Jonathan Holtzman (Tyrrell P34) started the weekend equal on points, so it became a straight fight between the Frenchman and the American. D'Aubreby in the ex-Bleekemolen March beat Holtzman (making his debut at the track) twice to become the new champion.
Michael Gans, meanwhile, triumphed twice in the HGPCA races for pre-66 Grand Prix cars. His Cooper T79 easily stayed ahead of the competition in the end, although he was forced to deal with Rüdi Friedrichs’ Cooper T53 on the second day. In the front-engined class, John Spiers’ Maserati 250F took victory twice, Spiers lamenting the absence of a fight, as his nearest rival – Richard Wilson in a Ferrari 246 Dino – had problems all weekend.
Alex Ames in his Formula Junior Brabham BT6 put up a strong fight against double Filipe Nogueira Trophy winner Jeremy Timms in his F3 Chevron B15. (photo 8W)
The greatest entertainment was undoubtedly provided in the combined race for Formula Juniors and Formula 3s from the 1000cc era. Slipstreaming was the order of the day, although the Jeremy Timms’ F3 (Chevron B15) managed to largely avoid that. His biggest opposition came from Alex Ames’ Junior (Brabham BT6), but Ames was forced to look in his mirrors more often than he wanted, especially in the first race in which many other F3s and FJs were targeting him. Still, Ames managed to retain second place twice.
In both Masters sportscar championships, the titles were still undecided. In Masters Sports Car Legends, the fight was between Tom Bradshaw (Chevron B19) and Andy Willis (Lola T212), both competing in the same class and with only two points between them going into the final race. Bradshaw was the favourite, especially after having taken two wins in a row in the previous races, but his Chevron proved unreliable and he soon had to abandon the fight. Willis drove a careful race to fifth place overall and second in his class, enough to claim the title. Victory went to newly formed duo Julian Thomas/Andy Wolfe, who had borrowed Jason Wright's Lola T70 Mk3B, and the win helped Thomas draw level with Bradshaw in the final standings.
In Stephan Joebstl's Lola T212, Andy Willis stole the Masters Sports Car Legends title from his fierce rival Tom Bradshaw who ran out of luck with his quick Chevron B19. (photo 8W)
In Masters Endurance Legends, the fight for the overall title wasn’t at the head of the field. While Kriton Lendoudis (Peugeot 908) and Christian Gläsel (debuting his Pescarolo Judd 01) split the victories, the LMP3 class battle would be decisive: Masters boss Ron Maydon (with various teammates) and duo Stephan Joebstl/Andy Willis had scored more points in their class than the best in all the other classes, so their mano-a-mano would settle the thing. Maydon (this time with Craig Davies) defeated the Austrian-British duo twice and the result was a tie. So would the number of wins be the clincher? No, the rules didn’t say so. Instead, the cars’ respective age would bring the decision. But since both teams battled each other in identical Ligier JSP3s, no differentiator could be found there there either. As a result, three drivers were declared champions.
Marco Werner wasn't the only three-time Le Mans winner at the event, as Werner's former Audi teammate Benoît Tréluyer guested in the Corvette Stingray and Jaguar E-type of Nick and Rob Jarvis. Here, the Frenchman gets strapped into the Corvette sometime during the GT & Sport Car Cup race. (photo 8W)
The GT highlight of the weekend came from the GT & Sports Car Cup, the British championship that always celebrates its season-closing once a year in Portugal with a two-hour race. So too this year. Andrew Haddon and Andy Wolfe ran away with the win in Haddon’s Elan, while Xavier & Olivier Galant in their Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupé were gifted second place on the last lap, as the Cooper Monaco T49 of their rivals Justin & Ben Maeers/Charlie Martin ran out of petrol.
Many cars from the GTSCC field also opted to take part in the 90-minute Masters Gentlemen Drivers race. In this race too, Haddon (now solo) pulled ahead. His little Elan proved too fast for the TVR Griffith of John Spiers/Nigel Greensall. Although Greensall had produced a phenomenal lap to claim pole, the TVR suffered from overheating during the race, so Spiers had to keep his pace in check during his stint. With fourth place (and third in the CLP class), Robin Ward in Ron Maydon’s Ginetta G4R captured the title.
Andrew Haddon was mighty at the Algarve track, taking wins in both the GT & Sports Car Cup race and the Masters Gent Drivers bout. (photo 8W)
The title in the Masters Pre-66 Touring Cars was also still up for grabs. The championship leaders – Sam Tordoff (Ford Falcon) and Richard Dutton (Lotus Cortina) – were not present in Portugal, but Julian Thomas was. With a win, he could still jump both of them. He had a good chance of that, having teamed with Andy Wolfe and his Cortina for the occasion. But early in the race the car fell victim to electrical problems, allowing Kyle Tilley, debuting his new Cortina, to take victory, while Tordoff became champion by default.