Portugal was a popular venue for sports car racers in the 1950s, when International grade events were staged on temporary street circuits at Oporto [the fabled Boavista, which also hosted the 1958 and 1960 Portuguese Formula 1 Grands Prix] on the Atlantic coast and Monsanto, north of Lisbon.
Today, the friendly country is blessed with the fabulous Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in the south, a world-class facility opened in 2008 which – when Covid ravaged the original calendar – attracted F1 back in 2020, following a 24-year break.
The GT & Sports Car Cup has supported the venue’s Algarve Classic Festival annually since 2011 – although 2020’s fell to the pandemic – and the demanding 2.891-mile roller-coaster ride never disappoints. Testing drivers and cars to the maximum as it writhes, climbs and swoops through the red-brown hills above the progressive oceanside town of Portimao, replete with great restaurants, it invariably serves up end-of-term excitement and drama in equal measure, culminating in Sunday morning’s two-hour race.
Following enduros at historic Enna-Pergusa in Sicily, Silverstone’s Grand Prix circuit and delightful old-school Castle Combe, it is a joy to be welcoming numerous debutants – competitors and machines – to our racing family’s final “rendez-vous” of the season. The ethos of the invitation series – for Pre-1966 GT cars and Pre-1963 sports racers of a type which contested period World Championship races, with a Touring Car challenge to the GT timeline, to race hard but respectfully, and have as much social fun on track as off it – has never been stronger. Our excellent hospitality is generously sponsored by insurance experts Gilbart-Smith Associates, with grateful thanks to Bertie and E-J.
Among the newcomers, the entry of an Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ2 is sensational. Evolved by Ingegnere Carlo Chiti of Autodelta from the legendary tube-framed GT, the longer, leaner, lighter beauty with smaller but wider 13 inch wheels – shrink-wrapped in glassfibre body panels styled by Ercole Spada of Zagato – was again created by Autodelta, albeit by then acquired and brought in-house by Alfa Romeo as its competition department. Powered by dry-sumped twin-plug versions of the proven 1570cc DOHC engine, crafted by Virgilio Conrero in Turin to develop a lusty 170bhp, the 620kg TZ2 was capable of topping 150mph.
First shown at the 1964 Turin Salon, a dozen examples were made. Results were excellent, the eye-catching coupes winning 1600cc classes everywhere following works drivers Roberto Bussinello/Andrea de Adamich’s giant-slaying seventh in the 1965 Monza 1000kms. Enrico Todaro/Nino Pinto’s fourth overall in the 1966 Targa Florio, on Sicily’s Piccolo Madonie road circuit, was another superb result. A couple of TZ2s were also rallied. Although Alfa Romeo’s attentions had switched to Giulia Sprint GTAs, they raced on for several seasons, competing as far afield as Australia, the USA and Macau.
Raced at Estoril Historic showcases in previous years, the TZ2 entered by Pedro Fernandes and Christian Oldendorff is a wonderful addition to the GT2 class, where it faces singleton Morgan, Porsche and TVR opposition, plus a quartet of MGBs. Florian and Julius Brandt bring further European flavour with their TVR Grantura, experienced Moggie tamers Simon King/Richard Plant saddle the Plus 4 Super Sports model from Malvern and Porsche specialists Peter Tognola and Steve Monk bring their well-travelled short-wheelbase 911.
The MG posse features ERA racer Nick Topliss and son James, out for the first time in the B last raced by Oliver Marçais. Returnees George Grant (Mazda MX-5 racing son of 99-year-old Formula Super Vee and F3 legend Ronnie, this time partnered by Nick Rutter) and Scot Sandy McEwen, with Steven Gray, will fly the octagon marque’s flag proudly too.
GT3 is the strongest category, with 10 entries, of which Austin-Healeys are numerically dominant. The sextet of rorty six-cylinder cars again features the irrepressible Jeremy Welch – outright GTSCC victor at Silverstone in 2009, sharing John Clark’s Jaguar E-type, and Thruxton in 2020 and Castle Combe in 2021 in Mark Holme’s Healeys – switching horses in trademark style. Jeremy drives the ever-quicker Doug Muirhead’s 100/6 [TON 792, “The Chairman’s Car,’ originally built in 1956] and Bruce Montgomery’s 3000.
Aiming to challenge are jovial Bristolian David Smithies/Chris Clarkson, their associates Mark ‘Pangio’ Pangborn/Harvey Woods and classic motorcycle guru Michael Russell, who is teamed with rapid Mighty Mini racer Olly Samways. John Caudwell also makes a welcome debut with Kieren Clark set to play musical chairs between John’s big Healey and fellow Radical sports racing convert brother Brian Caudwell’s GT4 AC Cobra 289.
The Healeys definitely won’t have things all their own way, for Matt Walton – who also races a Bugatti T35 – has timezone-hopping throttle-jockey Nigel Greensall on his side in an early spec Jaguar E-type, reprising last year’s Donington GT3 winning line-up. Rob Newall/Oliver Marçais in Sir David Scholey’s rapidly conducted Jaguar XK120 and the omnipresent Triumph TR4 of Allan and Daniel Ross-Jones will also be in the mix. Powered by a similar 2.2-litre engine, the Morgan +4 SS of Simon Orebi-Gann will make a welcome return to the fray too.
Three Cobras, two E-types and a brace of Lotus Elan 26Rs form the GT4 pack. Two of the AC crews bring strong form. Portuguese father-and-son Rui and Pedro Macedo Silva won the Algarve race in 2017 with saloon ace Joaquim Jorge, while Chris Chiles Jr scored the first of his six outright wins – spanning Albi, Oulton Park, Donington and two at Castle Combe – at the 2018 Algarve Classic Festival with occasional co-driver Simon Garrad, the other five with father Chris Sr. Brian Caudwell/Kieren Clark are up for the fight too.
The Jaguars are in contrasting configurations, Germany’s Rhea Sautter’s bubble-topped roadster, shared with regular British partner Andrew Newall, is unmissable in its vivid turquoise hue, while Martin Melling and Jason Minshaw’s svelte low-drag coupe flies more subtly. Elan racers Rob Cull/Darren Dunne and newcomer Joel Hopwood will be trying to emulate Andrew Haddon/Andy Wolfe’s 2022 Algarve victory. Cull and John Pearson won GT2 last October in their TVR Grantura.
A four-strong TC1 set features loyal protagonists Ellie Birchenhough/Nick & James Topliss in the Dorset Racing Mini Cooper S and father and daughter Richard and Alice Locke’s pretty Broadspeed GTS coupe, winner last month at Castle Combe. Ellie’s late father and team founder Tony raced two-litre sportscars in Portugal and its African enclave Angola in the 1970s, incidentally. Ryck Turner/Bruce Galliford and Richard Parsons/Alistair Pugh double the intrigue in Cooper Ss.
John Spiers and Chris Ward’s overall success at Castle Combe in the former’s Lister-Jaguar Costin appear to have alerted Sports Car owners to the opportunities of some autumn fun in the sun. Max Smith-Hilliard is back with his Monaco-winning Lotus-Bristol X, the ex-Cliff Davis chassis shared by Miles Griffiths, 2017’s Combe winner in Philip Walker’s later Lotus 15. German ace Rudi Friedrichs, on top form at Spa last month, is bringing his Jaguar C-type and the SP1 trio is completed by Canadian Dean Baker who shares his newly-acquired HWM-Jaguar with Gregor Fisken, GTSCC winner at Donington and Nogaro in 2009 with fellow Scot John Clark in ‘Clarky’s E-type.
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