Event Information

Race Results

DATE	DESCRIPTION	RACE RESULTS
October 16th-18th, 2009	Arbuthnot Latham Race for Pre ’61 GP Cars RM Auctions Race for Pre ’66 GP Cars

Race Report

Francisco Santos is an old friend of the Association. In the past he has organised races for us at Estoril and more recently at Porto; all have been thoroughly enjoyed. With the co-ordination of Porto 2009 moved to another promoter, Francisco looked for a new venue in Portugal to entertain the British competitors – where better that the fantastic new circuit being built in the sunny south of Portugal next to the tourist resort of Portimao. A meeting in London was arranged in the Autumn of 2008 and plans made for an ‘historic festival’ at the new ‘Autodromo Internacional Algarve’.

Not only is this fantastic circuit quite unlike the bland, flat, chicane ridden new F1 circuits, but an excellent package was also on offer – BBQ at the circuit and four nights free in a local four star hotel for all competitors. It made the long trip to the south of the Iberian Peninsular worthwhile.

The Association had agreed to provide two Grand Prix car grids and, in conjunction with Motor Racing Legends, a two hour sports-car grid. Initial enthusiasm for the Grand Prix grids was positive but, by the time our competition cars arrived at Portimao, the front engine grid had been reduced to 21 cars and the rear-engine grid to 16 cars – not as bad as some of the other grids at the event but a disappointment seeing what a wonderful opportunity it was to race in this circuit. Of the 32 entries in the sports-car race (The Sir Stirling Moss Trophy) in which Stirling was a competitor in his Osca, the HGPCA provided an excellent nine entries.

30 minutes of free testing was followed by 30 minutes qualifying practice giving the drivers an opportunity to start to learn the circuit. In the front-engine grid, and - bar one - they were all front engine, a magnificent group occupied the first four places, Tony Smith in the Dino Ferrari, Rod Jolley with his Monza Lister, Jos Koster in his lovely Piccolo Maserati 250F and Hubert Fabri in the green Aston Martin DBR4. Behind these four Eddie McGuire led the class 5 Cooper Bristol brigade with Richard Pilkington fronting classes 1 & 2.

Qualifying practice for the rear-engine grid was scheduled to start at the unusually early hour of 07.30 on Saturday. With sunrise at about the same time, it required particular skill to see the way around the circuit for the first few minutes! The grid was dominated by Jason Minshaw driving the family Brabham posting a time some six seconds faster than second place man, Alan Baillie in his historic Cooper. Third fastest, driving superbly, was Chris Locke in the Lotus 32B; Sid Hoole led class 11 with Nick Eden fifth on the grid to lead class 9.

Race 1 for the Pre 1961 grid had Tony’s Ferrari leading Jos in the 250F followed by Rod in the Monza Lister. A fine start by Paul Grant saw him in fourth place, even overtaking Rod at one point but subsequently to drop back behind Eddie McGuire. Hubert’s fine run ended with a puncture.

Pre 1961 race 2 started for David Clewley in the Cooper Alta by being towed around the outside of the track by a rescue vehicle to join in the race a couple of laps down (slight problem with fuel taps we hear). The Ferrari led with the Maserati second and the Monza Lister third; Hubert in the Aston starting from the back of the grid was up to fifth by half distance. A superb race developed for second place between the Maserati of Jos and Rod’s Monza Lister – resolved on the last lap when Jos spun and stalled.

With the Minshaw Brabham sidelined by gear-box problems, both the Pre 1966 races were won by Chris Locke in his elegant Lotus 32B, the first time the car has taken the chequered flag since the 1960s! Race 1 on Saturday saw him well clear of the rest of the field once Sid Hoole had stopped with fuel pressure problems; race 2 was a very different matter with the two cars finishing just 300ths of a second apart after 10 laps. In race 1, a fine second place was the reward for good driving by Nick Eden and in both races Charles McCabe ascended the podium in third place – a most determined effort.

Congratulations to the winners of the two hour “Sir Stirling Moss Trophy” race; although they did not enter the race under the banner of the Association, both were HGPCA members. The two Barrys - Wood and Cannell - drove the Wood Lister Knobbly to a win by over three minutes having successfully completed 50 laps. The two Tonys - Smith and Dron - drove the Smith Maserati 300s to ninth place overall and a class win while Malcolm Verey and Tony Bianchi won their class in Malcolm’s Lola Mk 1.

On Saturday evening, Peter Wallman and RM Auctions invited all HGPCA members and guests to a drinks reception in the Hotel dom Joao II – the unofficial ‘HGPCA hotel’ on the beach in Alvor. It was timed to allow those in the sports car race to join the party and nearly a hundred of us sampled the local wines and canapés as well as sangria and port.

It had been a great weekend of motor racing at a fine circuit in wonderful weather. Ian Nuthall very kindly allowed us to make use of his awning for teas and coffee and the circuit provided all competitors with an excellent BBQ supper on Friday night beside the swimming pool in the paddock! Should we return again, better viewing and catering arrangements will be our top priorities.

For the interest of members who were not at the Algarve meeting, attached are a few notes written by four of our member/competitors...

Postcard from Portimao

I arrived on Thursday afternoon and managed one 20min practice of 10 laps or so, only to find that my principle competition in the Pre 61 GP Race had been there all day. I also realised that this was a fantastic circuit with many blind corners, fast undulating sections and technically difficult, but so rewarding when one got it right. I also found out from one of the locals that you needed 50 or 60 laps to really learn it.

The event itself was so much fun, organisation pretty dammed good for a first try, weather glorious, hotel very nice (in a golf clubby kind of way), locals friendly and helpful, cars went well, two podiums and one class win, not much wrong with the world really. And on top of this I had the pleasure and privilege of co-driving in the two hour Sir Stirling Moss Trophy race with Tony Dron. It was down to Tony’s faultless driving of the 300S during the last 50mins of the race without any brakes (after I had completely buggered them) that got us the class win. Well done Tony!

Great event, lovely weekend and I will certainly be there next time.

Tony Smith

Yahoo weather forecast - brilliant. Gatwick security & Easyjet! Faro airport: clean and spacious - upgraded to Renault Scenic – rather have been downgraded! Circuit by tea time Thursday. Polygon had unloaded both cars. Why have all those rich people who went Thursday testing got wide eyes and big grins? Tricky to find hotel in Alvor. Great view of estuary from 14th floor. Friday, down to work. Now I know about those Thursday faces: 14 corners more than half of them blind. Tutorial from Rod Jolley on turns 10 and 11 (why can't corners have proper names like they used to?) saves me 3 secs. Great poolside BBQ. No breakfast before 7.30 am Saturday practice. Both pre 66 and Junior run well. Managed to spin at left-hand hairpin on my last lap! Much water and coffee from the middle-sized green truck - thanks, Ian. No signs for the Casino in Praia da Rocha. Nice meal - pity about the desert. Floorshow: decent of them to have one of the girls called Lola! Must ask about the 'September song' music. What a way to hang up my helmet after 47 years: it’s been like the weather forecast - brilliant.

David Pratley

The track has 38 configurations and, but for a hairpin with a fast approach, the configuration we used seemed to suit most cars. Its combination of some fast sweeping bends, blind brows and some adverse cambers meant the track was technically challenging but also thrilling. Gaining knowledge and understanding of the track wasn't easy but thereafter allowed the limits of bravery to be extended: thankfully it seemed a safe circuit with plenty of room and the busy timetable was never really upset.

I doubt few ever fully mastered the last two corners which make up the sweeping right hander on to the main straight. It gets my vote for a return to get the better of that part of the track, even if the bumps there are bad.

I talked to Rod Jolley afterwards who didn't care for the bumps either but grinned from ear to ear about the track - it has his vote too for a prompt return.

I'd hope next time however we can avoid qualifying in the dark (7.30am) although I admit it was quite exciting seeing the vivid orange glow of the discs of my T45 lighting up as I braked into the hairpin; it saved having to fit headlights!

Nick Eden

I thought that this new circuit was like a breath of fresh air to me. Not easy to learn or to drive fast on but, with many undulations, blind brows and tight corners, a very satisfying challenge. It is a safe circuit with a lot of attention made to minimise the amount of Armco and tyre walls, whilst making sure sufficient space was available if you get it wrong. Getting to and from the circuit was easy; this allowed competitors to stay by the sea and have no worries arriving on time. Wives who were not motorsport enthusiasts liked this.

It is a long haul from the United Kingdom being 1500 miles from Calais; it is even nearly 800 miles from Santander. Sadly the catering facilities in the paddock were terrible neither is the circuit good for spectators. In spite of having huge high stands, our passes did not allow access to any of them.

Would I wish to return? Only if I had sufficient time to make the race meeting into a family holiday – for a race weekend, it was too costly.

Criticisms apart, we had a great time, fantastic weather and great racing on a new exciting circuit.

Graham Burrows