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Imola Classic race meeting at the Circuit Enzo & Dino Ferrari offering free entry to all


35 Gianluca RATTAZZI_Emanuele PIRRO ALFA ROMEO T33_3 1969

35 Gianluca RATTAZZI_Emanuele PIRRO ALFA ROMEO T33_3 1969

 

Imola Classic, 26 – 28 October 2018

The Peter Auto organisation ran the Imola Classic race meeting at the Circuit Enzo & Dino Ferrari over the weekend of 26 – 28 October 2018, offering free entry to all. This attracted a good audience to watch a packed weekend of classic racing, despite the weather being a mix of sunshine and showers. At least it didn’t suffer from the torrential rain and storms that some parts of Italy were experiencing that weekend. The event also attracted strong entries in most of the races, with only the Euro F2 Classic races having sparse grids, whereas the Heritage Touring Cup, with its colourful array of well known liveries, attracted a very healthy 48 entries, and the Sixties Endurance Race topped the charts with a massive 54 car entry.

Apart from those already mentioned, there were Classic Endurance Races 1 and 2, the former for cars built between 1966 and 1974, plus sports racing cars built between 1966 and 1971, whereas the Race 2 entries were GT cars built between 1975 and 1981, with sports racing cars built between 1972 and 1981, providing a wide array of makes and models on the grids. There were also two races for Group C cars, those monstrously powerful endurance protagonists that dominated endurance racing between 1982 and 1994, with the likes of the dominant Porsche 956 and 962 models, Jaguar XJR11 and XJR14, plus lesser known examples like Cheetah, Spice and Ecosse. There was a further pair of races, The Greatest’s Trophy races, which were open to pre-1966 sports and GT cars, with the emphasis on gentlemanly driving, in respect of the value of some of the cars taking part. The Heritage Touring Cup was open to saloon cars eligible for the European Touring Car Championship between 1966 and 1984, in a number of classes dependent upon age and engine capacity, whilst the Sixties Endurance race was for pre-1963 sports cars and pre-1966 GT Cars that ran in endurance races in period. From this it can be seen that there was scope for many varied trips down memory lane. 

Apart from some superb machinery taking part, there were also a number of familiar names in the driving seats, notably five times Le Mans 24 Hour Race winner Emanuele Pirro. He shared a beautiful Alfa Romeo T33/3 with Gianluca Rattazzi in the Classic Endurance Racing 1 race, with the same duo competing in a Lola T290 BDG in the Classic Endurance Racing 2 race, whilst his son, Goffredo, shared a Porsche 911 ST with “Blumax” in the former race. Other well know names taking part included Jurgen Barth, Ralf Kelleners, Soheil Ayari and Raymond Narac. 

The vagaries of the weather through the course of the weekend caused a few off course excursions under the changing conditions, and with them a number of full course yellows and safety car periods. However, it also made for some exciting racing and mixed up the race finishing orders, notably where there were two races for a category, one on the Saturday, which was predominantly dry, and one on the Sunday, where showers were for the most part the order of the day. None of these races featured the same winner on both days.

 

Race Podiums

Classic Endurance Racing 1
1st - # 67, Maurizio BIANCO, CHEVRON B19 FVC
2nd - # 71, Christophe VAN RIET, LOLA T70 Mk III
3rd - # 31, Marc DEVIS/Martin O'CONNELL, LOLA T70 Mk III B 

Classic Endurance Racing 2
1st - # 52, Yves SCEMAMA, TOJ SC304
2nd - # 3, Maxime GUENAT LOLA T290
3rd - # 65, Franco MEINERS, LANCIA Beta Montecarlo Turbo

Euro F2 Classic Race 1
1st - # 7, David TOMLIN, RONDEL Motul M1
2nd - # 19 Mark HAZELL, MARCH 782
3rd - # 6, Jean Marc BUSSOLINI, LOTUS 69

Euro F2 Classic Race 2
1st - # 28, Martin STRETTON, MARCH 712
2nd # 23, Nick PINK, LOLA T360
3rd - # 7, David TOMLIN, RONDEL Motul M1 

Group C Race 1
1st - # 5, Steve TANDY, SPICE SE90C
2nd - # 82, Michel LECOURT / Raymond NARAC, PORSCHE 962C
3rd - # 104, Philippe SCEMAMA, SPICE SE89C

Group C Race 2
1st - # 25, Michael LYONS, GEBHARDT C91
2nd - # 5, Steve TANDY SPICE SE90C
3rd - # 27, Pierre-Alain FRANCE / Erwin FRANCE, NISSAN R90-CK

Heritage Touring Cup
1st - # 116, Stephen DANCE, FORD Capri 3100 RS
2nd - # 25, Christian TRABER, BMW 3.0 CSL
3rd - # 55, Grahame BRYANT / Oliver BRYANT, FORD Capri 2600 RS

Sixties’ Endurance
1st - # 220, Christophe VAN RIET, SHELBY Cobra 289
2nd - # 70 Pierre-Alain FRANCE / Erwin FRANCE, SHELBY Cobra 289
3rd - # 51 Maxime GUENAT / Guillaume, MAHE JAGUAR E Type

The Greatest’s Trophy Race 1
1st - # 144, Afschin FATEMI, PORSCHE 904
2nd - # 58, Carlo VÖGELE / Alain VÖGELE, PORSCHE 904/6
3rd - # 46 Christian BOURIEZ, BIZZARRINI 5300 GT

The Greatest’s Trophy Race 2
1st - # 58, Carlo VÖGELE / Alain VÖGELE, PORSCHE 904/6
2nd - # 164 Franco MEINERS, ALFA ROMEO Giulia TZ
3rd - # 120, Christian DUMOLIN, FERRARI 250 GT Drogo

Ferrari Entry

Classic Endurance Racing 2
# 46, 512 BB/LM, chassis # 35525, Christian Bourriez
# 47, 512 BB/LM, chassis # 44023, Jeremy Lancksweert / Christophe Van Riet

The Greatest’s Trophy
# 41, 275 GTB4, chassis # 09247, Jan Gijzen
# 56, 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, chassis # 3107GT, Conrad M. & Conrad C. Ulrich
# 114, 250 GTE “Drogo”, chassis # 2391GT, Larry Kinch
# 120, 250 GT PF Coupe Drogo, chassis # 1717GT, Christian Dumolin

In Paddock
# 20, 250 GT SWB Berlinetta, White, Chassis # 3401GT
250 GT SWB Replica, Dark Blue Met’, Chassis # ?, UK licence plate 835 UYN
# 4, 308 GTB “Achilli Motors”, Red-Blue, Chassis # 18855

 

 

Keith Bluemel         
11/2018