Belgians won and entered the history of the Historic Portugal Rally – Coimbra News
A classic among classics. The Rally de Portugal Histórico once again had emotion until the end, landscapes of rare natural beauty and the charm of classic cars, in an edition won by the Belgians Yves Deflandre and Jennifer Hugo. Porsche 911 duo reached their third victory in the ACP race, equaling João Mexia Leitão’s record of triumphs.
The 16th edition of the Historic Portugal Rally justified the ACP event’s status as one of the most emblematic events of Historic Regularity in Europe. Seven kilometers of distant enemies of some models, for the most part, face the challenge of meeting the challenge of most of Portugal’s mainland roads.
Among these, they reigned as different generations of the Porsche 911, with the power of reliability of the German car to allow French and Belgian drivers a performance difficult to match in the selective and demanding sections of the Rally de Portugal Histórico. Christophe Baillet was the battery rider during the first phase of the race, but the winner of the 2021 edition was delayed in passing through the legendary Arganil area, on Wednesday’s stage. Compatriot Christophe Berteloot took command, also in the Porsche recovery, but the Frenchman could not overcome Yves Deflandre. It was in Mortágua that the Belgian was built by Jennifer Hugo and began his third victory, moving to the front of the rally, concentrating on managing the advantage until arriving at the Estoril Casino Gardens, in the early hours of Saturday morning, already after the famous ‘Sintra night’.
Portuguese on the podium
Deflandre’s consecration coincided with the famous Estoril Classics, the ideal stage for the Belgian driver to celebrate his third triumph in the Historic Portugal Rally, equaling João Mexia Leitão’s record. Berteloot still kept the thriller as for the final winner, as the robust is also scarce in Deflandre, with the Portuguese Piero Dal Maso and Sancho Ramalho taking the final podium, after their Porsche 911 had passed the lead of the rally, still in the first stage.
Another Portuguese duo, Domingos Santos and Filipe Menezes, was fourth, while Spaniards Joaquim Muntada Colom/Jan Rosa Viñas completed a top 5 monopolized by versions of the Porsche 911 (produced between 1970 and 1983). In the team classification, victory for Catalunya Team 1 Mediterrania, soon followed by Portugal Clássicos, while the Alfa Romeo Giulia of the Jean-Guy Monmarthe / Nicolas Guiset duo triumphed in Category C.
A total of 53 pieces of equipment reached the end of the race, after 43 special stages and 2,060 kilometers of course, a number that attested to the resistance of the real time machines that staged the XVI Rally of Historic Portugal.