Estoril Classics 2025 Ends in a Blaze of Glory

The third and final day of the 2025 Estoril Classics marked the perfect culmination of a weekend devoted to the pure celebration of motorsport. The grandstands were once again packed, and the paddock buzzed with excitement, as 40,000 spectators enjoyed four days of thrilling action in an atmosphere of triumph.

The roar of engines echoed relentlessly, providing the soundtrack to a living museum moving at full throttle. The crowd thrilled to legendary machines such as the Lola T70, the De Tomaso Pantera, and the Porsche 908/3, stars of intense races that recalled the great chapters of motorsport history.

The Formula 1 cars demonstration, part of the celebrations marking 75 years of the pinnacle category of motor racing, once again moved spectators, closing the event with the same awe and reverence that had characterised it from the first day. Yet it was the Classic GP race, for single-seater Formula 1 cars up to 1986, that truly set the crowd alight.

Classic GP: Toriba Dominates the Final Race

The second Classic GP race delivered twenty minutes of drama, speed, and intensity. The British driver Steven Brooks, in a Lotus 91 and starting from pole position, was caught out at the start and dropped to third. The Japanese driver Yutaka Toriba, in a Williams FW07C, immediately took the lead, setting a blistering pace.

Brooks briefly regained second place, but technical problems with his Lotus forced him to retire to the pits on lap seven, following yesterday’s victory.

Behind him, Steve Hartley moved up to second, heading for a strong result in the ex-John Watson McLaren MP4/1, while Jonathan Holtzman, in a Lotus 87B, rose to third, fending off a challenge from Dan Gore in the Tyrrell 010 all the way to the chequered flag.

In the end, it was an undisputed victory for the Japanese driver Toriba, capping a weekend in which he showcased both speed and consistency, delivering an impressive performance and even thanking the crowd in Portuguese for their support.

A Triumph of Diversity and History

The remaining categories, organised by Peter Auto, offered a parade of emotions and contrasts. In the 2.0 Litre Cup, dedicated to two-litre Porsche 911s identical to those that dominated the circuits in the 1960s, victory went to the pairing of Vincent Kolb and Max Moritz, following a display of consistency and pace.

In Classic Endurance Racing 2, reserved for prototypes and GT cars from 1972 to 1981, Maxime Guenat took the 1976 Lola T286 to victory in a true celebration of speed, outperforming his father, Dominique Guenat, in the 1978 TOJ SC303. On the third step of the podium were Tony Sinclair and Nick Padmore in a 1973 Lola T292.

In Classic Endurance Racing 1, victory went to Armand Mille in a Lola T70, after fending off relentless pressure from former F1 driver Jan Magnussen, father of Kevin Magnussen, who, alongside Chris Ward, recovered several positions and finished less than two seconds behind the winner following a thrilling final lap in an impressive Eric Broadley prototype.

Lotus once again demonstrated its supremacy among pre-1966 sports cars, securing a podium in The Gentlemen Challenge entirely dominated by the British marque. Kyle Tilley, at the wheel of a 1960 Lotus XV, repeated his Saturday triumph with a display of class and consistency. Jakob Viggo Holstein, in a 1959 Lotus 15, finished second, while Serge Kriknoff, driving an elegant 1956-built Lotus XI 1500, completed the top three in a race that celebrated Colin Chapman’s technical and aesthetic genius.

Maxime Guenat shone at the Estoril Classics, convincingly winning the Heritage Touring Cup, a category that revives the indomitable spirit of the great touring cars of the 1970s and 1980s. Behind the wheel of a powerful Ford Capri RS3100, the Swiss driver dominated a thrilling race full of overtakes and engine roars that echoed the golden era of European touring cars. Armand Mille, also in a Capri RS3100 Cologne, kept up the pressure until the end, while Yvan Mahé, in a consistently fast BMW 3.5 CSL, completed the podium.

The programme concluded with an excellent race in the Iberian Historic Endurance, won by German driver Christian Oldendorff in a Ford GT40, who triumphed at the Estoril Classics in his third attempt with this car. Young Briton Tom Canning, in his first race at the wheel of a classic — in this case, a Ginetta G10 —, finished second, narrowly ahead of Oliver Muyjens, also in a Ford GT40, in a final sprint that saw the two separated by just three hundredths of a second.

It was a closing day worthy of the event’s reputation: thrilling races, high pace, and a crowd that experienced every moment with the passion of those witnessing history in motion.

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