Algarve Classic Festival

The first annual Algarve Classic Festival has been announced as the logical successor to the annual October historic race meeting at the five-year-old circuit in southern Portugal. Scheduled for October 18-21, the event will include such races as the Stirling Moss Trophy for pre-’61 sportscars and sports-racers, the Motor Racing Legends Pre-War Sports Car Series, the JD Classics Challenge for Touring Cars from 1966-’85, the U2TC for under-2-liter Touring Cars, the 1000km for pre-’72 sports-racing, Touring and GT cars, and the GT & Sports Car Cup for pre-’66 GTs and pre-’63 sportscars.

Duncan Wiltshire of Motor Racing Legends, organizers of three of these races, commented, “When we first came here in 2009, we weren’t sure how our racers would take to the Portuguese circuit which rises and falls a startling 106 feet and presents a technically tricky challenge to the drivers. There are blind brows and steep drops, strung together by corners with complex changes in camber and the odd tightening double apex. But by the end of that first weekend we were hearing comments along the lines of, ‘It’s as good as Spa or the Brands Hatch GP circuit,’ or simply, ‘Bloody fantastic!’”