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Espiritu de Montjuic, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya


Martin Lanting, Ferrari 458 GT2 s/n 2864

Martin Lanting, Ferrari 458 GT2 s/n 2864

Ferrari 365 GTB4 s/n 14091

Ferrari 365 GTB4 s/n 14091

 

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 17 – 19 April, 2015

The fifth running of the Espiritu de Montjuic historic car race meeting took place over the weekend of 17 – 19 April, under predominantly clear blue skies and with pleasantly warm spring sunshine. The gathering attracted some 34,000 spectators over the course of the weekend, and they were treated to a wide variety of classic motor racing, together with a couple of modern variants, the GT Sports Club and X-Bow Battle, which provided three days of almost constant track action. There was also plenty to see in the expansive paddock area, with numerous displays, plus a children’s adventure area, a kart track, a vendor area and live music forming part of the off-track entertainment. One of the main feature displays was by SEAT, with an array of their concept cars over the years, along with another display of classic Fiat based models from their history.


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The venue for the Spanish Grand Prix in the hills to the north west of Barcelona, is a demanding 4.655kms circuit with a wide variety of turns and plenty of elevation changes following the contours of the landscape, much liked by drivers, attracting a large international gathering of competitors. It also offers great viewing facilities for spectators from numerous vantage points around the track. The circuit was completed in 1991 and hosted the Spanish Grand Prix that year. It was originally named the Circuit de Catalunya, but a sponsorship deal was struck with the Barcelona City Council in 2013, and the city name was added to the title, becoming the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The 14 race programme featured the first 2015 rounds of the FIA Masters Historic F1 Championship, with a massive 33 car entry and some great duels through the field. Gregory Thornton from the UK in his Lotus 91/5 won the first race from the Tyrell 010 of Loic Deman from Belgium, but the latter reversed the positions in race 2. There were races for earlier Grand Prix cars in the HGPCA races, also with a strong field of 29 cars, with John Fairley from the UK in his Brabham BT11winning both races, with Peter Horsman from the UK in his Lotus 18/21finishing 2nd on both occasions. There weren’t as many Group C cars, with 12 entries, but they provided a varied colourful mix of some iconic liveries, with Christophe D’Ansembourg from Belgium winning the first race in his Silk Cut liveried Jaguar XJR14, but having to give best to Katsu Kobota in race 2 in a NissanR90CK.

The FIA Masters Historic Sports Car race was won by the Lola T70Mk3B of the American driver Jason Wright, after the similar car of Leo Voyazides/ Simon Hadfield experienced electrical problems while leading, and had to be content with the runner-up spot. The Portuguese pairing of Rui and Pedro Macedo Silva made it an all Lola podium in their T70Mk2. In the Gentlemen Drivers & Pre-66 Touring Car race the duo of Voyazides/Hadfield had better luck, as their Shelby Daytona Cobra went the distance without problems to take the win, with Portuguese Macedo Silva pairing finishing 2nd in their AC Cobra, with the similar example of Carlos Monteverde and Gary Pearson filling out the podium. The Trofeo Javier del Arco had a predominantly Spanish entry list, apart from a trio of Alfa Romeos from Italy in the very varied 34 car entry list, ranging from a Renault 5 GT Turbo and VW Golf GTI through to a variety of Porsche 911 models. Race 1 was won by Fernando Navarette & Antonio de la Reina in a Porsche 968 Cup, with the race 2 win going to the BMW E30 M3 of Manuel Hermida, with the Porsche 911 3.0 RS of Luis Lopez Andes followed by Juan Antonio Miranda in his Ford Sierra Cosworth, being the runners-up on each occasion.

The modern races were for the X-Bow Battle, which included a guest drive from the Spanish ex-Torro Rosso F1 driver Jaime Alguersuari, who won the first race, but was out of luck in race 2, which was won by the Swiss driver Niki Leutwiler. In the newly formed GT Sports Club series for gentlemen GT drivers, it was the Italian Stefano Pezzuchi in his Porsche 911 GT3 R, who took a comfortable win in the first race from the Ferrari 458 GT3 of Marco Cordoni. In the second race the Pezzuchi Porsche retired with overheating problems, and after a fraught inter-Ferrari battle victory went to the 458 GT3 of fellow Italian Massimiliano Bianchi, from the similar car of Cedric Mezard from France.

Results

FIA Masters Historic F1 Championship

Race 1
1st        # 11, Gregory Thornton, Lotus 91/5
2nd       # 70, Loic Deman, Tyrell 010
3rd        # 44, Martin Stretton Tyrell 012

Race 2
1st        # 70, Loic Deman, Tyrell 010
2nd       # 11, Gregory Thornton, Lotus 91/5
3rd        # 37, Christophe D’Ansembourg, Williams FW07/C

Gentleman Drivers & Pre-’66 Touring Cars
1st        # 2, Leo Voyazides / Simon Hadfield, Shelby Daytona Cobra
2nd       # 194, Pedro Macedo Silva / Rui Macedo Silva, AC Cobra
3rd        # 5, Carlos Monteverde / Gary Pearson, AC Cobra

Historic Grand Prix Cars Association

Race 1
1st        # 11, John Fairley, Brabham BT11
2nd       # 22, Peter Horsman, Lotus 18/21
3rd        # 32, Chris Locke, Lotus 32B

Race 2
1st        # 11, John Fairley, Brabham BT11
2nd       # 22, Peter Horsman, Lotus 18/21
3rd        # 30, Julian Bronson, Scarab Offenhauser

Group C

Race 1
1st        # 17, Christophe D’Ansembourg, Jaguar XJR14
2nd       # 5, Steve Tandy, Spice SE90GTP
3rd        # 27, Gareth Evans/Bob Berridge, Nissan RC90

Race 2
1st        # 23, Katsu Kobota. Nissan R90CK
2nd       # 17, Christophe D’Ansembourg, Jaguar XJR14
3rd        # 31, Kriton Lendoudis/Rui Aguas, Mercedes C11

Trofeo Javier del Arco

Race 1
1st        # 32, Fernando Navarette / Antonio de la Reina, Porsche 968 Cup
2nd       # 88, Luis Lopez Andes, Porsche 911 3.0 RS
3rd        # 99, Juan Antonio Miranda, Ford Sierra Cosworth

Race 2
1st        # 3, Manuel Hermida, BMW E30 M3
2nd       # 88, Luis Lopez Andes, Porsche 911 3.0 RS
3rd        # 99, Juan Antonio Miranda, Ford Sierra Cosworth

FIA Masters Historic Sports Car Championship

1st        # 3, Jason Wright, Lola T70Mk3B
2nd       # 1, Leo Voyazides / Simon Hadfield, Lola T70 Mk3B
3rd        # 27, Rui Macedo Silva / Pedro Macedo Silva, Lola T70 Mk2

KTM X-Bow Battle

Race 1       
1st        # 19, Jaime Alguersuari
2nd       # 88, Niki Leutwiler
3rd        # 44, Holger Baumgartner

Race 2
1st        # 88, Niki Leutwiler
2nd       # 44, Holger Baumgartner
3rd        # 8, Artur Chwist

GT Sports Club

Race 1(Qualifying)
1st        # 35, Stefano Pezzuchi, Porsche 911 GT3 R
2nd       # 52, Marco Cordoni, Ferrari 458 GT3
3rd        # 23, Massimiliano Bianchi, Ferrari 458 GT3

Race 2 (Main)
1st        # 23, Massimiliano Bianchi, Ferrari 458 GT3
2nd       # 8, Cedric Mezard, Ferrari 458 GT3
3rd        # 42, Patrick Van Glabeke, Ferrari 458 GT3

Keith Bluemel
04/2015