In the weekend of March 22nd and 23rd , the first historic race of the year was on the program with the Espiritu de Montjuïc on the Grand Prix circuit of Barcelona. DHG Racing, with drivers David Hart, Bram Bontrup and Olivier Hart in their ranks, was strongly represented in various championshipsand achieved the first sporting successes of the season in changeable conditions.
CLASSIC ENDURANCE 1
In the Classic Endurance Racing 1 class, for long-distance cars built between 1966 and 1971, David and Olivier competed together for victory in the Ferrari 512 M. The speed was good from the first moment on track and after a great qualifying, DHG Racing proved so strong that David and Olivier were almost five seconds ahead of the field on a wet track. The race started well in David;s hands on a wet track, but when the asphalt in Barcelona started to dry and the team came in for a tire change, problems arose. Due to a stuck wheel, the team was unable to change from rain tires to slicks, and Olivier had to return to the track with worn rain tyres on an increasingly dry track. With more than a minute lost, a good result seemed impossible, but despite the problems and the wrong tires for the conditions, Olivier still drove the Ferrari, without grip, to an amazing third place.
Heritage Touring Cup
New for DHG Racing is the Heritage Touring Cup and with a specially prepared BMW 3.0 CSL from 1975, David and Olivier competed for the first time in this spectacular class for touring cars from the seventies. Qualifying turned out to be a matter of trial and error, which meant the duo found their name in 24th place. In the race, however, the BMW came to life, and the super-fast starting David cut through the field on his way to the front. During his driver stint in the sixty-minute race, David fought his way to sixth place, and when a Safety car period brought the field together during the driver changes, victory became possible. Olivier was allowed to fight for that win and did so, after fighting his way to the front, against Sebastian Glaser. A great battle ensued that was won by DHG Racing, crossing the finish line first in the first race with the BMW.
Classic Touring Challenge
DHG Racing was also successful in the Classic Touring Challenge where Bram Bontrup on board of the Ford Mustang 289 left the field full of touring cars built in the 60’s far behind him. After an extremely strong qualification on a wet track, Bram earned the right to star the race from pole position. On a dry track, Bram proved to be even stronger and he dominated the hour race from start to finish. With a lead of over a minute, the DHG Racing driver took his first victory in a field full of touring car legends such as British touring car champion Matt Neal.
Sixties Endurance
More than 40 participants were ready for the Sixties’ Endurance race, organized for GTs from the golden era of the Gran Turismo. Bram Bontrup and Olivier Hart shared the driving duties on board of the Shelby Cobra 289 and qualifying, where the lap times of both drivers are added together, the duo proved to be the fastest by far. The fastest lap in the rain was 2 seconds faster than any other driver’s. However, that speed could not be converted into a successful result in the race. Problems with the ignition of the Cobra created a 3 lap gap, which meant good results were impossible.
All in all a successful weekend for DHG Racing, a strong start to the Historic racing season.
