The fifth and final round of the 2 Litre Cup in 2022 saw our unique one-make historic series return to the scene of last year’s finale, the Circuito do Estoril, with 23 cars entered at this technical but friendly circuit, the home of the Portuguese Grand Prix from 1984 to 1996. As has been usual this year, the weather was truly beautiful with air temperatures of the high 20s all weekend and no rain in sight.

With the emphasis on reliability as well as speed, and no dropped scores this year, conditions were always going to favour championship leaders Historika and their drivers Andrew Smith and Olly Bryant as they had finished all four races to date, unlike Jordan Race Team’s pairing of Mark Sumpter & Andrew Jordan, and Tuthill Porsche’s Seb Perez.

Andrew and Olly were of course the inaugural 2 Litre Cup Champions in 2018 and have been at the front of the series ever since. They started as they meant to continue with fastest time in Practice by over 0.5 second, with impressive series debutant Bon Grimes the fastest Gentleman driver for Tuthill Porsche as Gentleman Championship leader Matt Holmes learned the circuit for the first time.

Jordan and Sumpter turned the tables in Qualifying to qualify on pole position ahead of Historika with Holme showing impressive pace to lead the Gentleman class by just 2/10ths ahead of Tuthill’s José Ruben Zanchetta and James Turner.  The grid was particularly close at this race, perhaps as a result of the extra Thursday test session, with 10 drivers from 4th to 14th covered by less than four seconds.

Come the race, Mark Sumpter and Andrew Smith put on a superb display on the opening lap, running cleanly side by side all the way from the start to nearly the last corner.  Try as he might, Andrew could not pass Mark and presumably he had the championship in mind too.  Mark put his head down and pulled out a useful gap of a few seconds before his car cried enough and he had to retire. Nonetheless, the 2019 Champion has had a great season with 3 pole positions and 1 win – almost unarguably the fastest driver / car combination out there.

Behind Smith, there was a superb battle with Spaniard Christian Coll making an incredibly good start to leap up to run third from eight on the grid…. Christian battled Tuthill team mates Grimes and swift Californian Danglard (returning to a circuit for the first time in his six race career!) as well as Holme and 2021 Champion Xavier Dayraut before spinning out as a result of a cramp in his foot.

Further back, fellow Tuthill drivers Philippe de Craene and Syd Coombes were having great races along with team mates Stephen Edwards and Steve Perez – the latter in his first race ever with his son and former British Carrera Cup race Seb.

Ultimately, Smith and Bryant were able to take it relatively easy as they drove to their third win of the year (as well as Mugello and Spa) and enjoyed substantial celebrations as they justly claimed their second 2 Litre Cup Championship win.

Just as important for the series, Matt Holme, who has raced in 2 Litre Cup since the first year in 2018, took the Gentleman drivers Championship after a super consistent year in which he has often run with the frontrunners on pace. Matt’s change to the Jordan Race Team for this season has seen him secure great results and deservedly the championship.

Bon Grimes took third ahead of a brilliant battle for fourth between Danglard and Dayraut, with Danglard taking the spot on the last corner of the last lap. Popular series newcomer Steve Osbourne took the GTL-ELI win for Maldon Sea Salt Racing with his highly qualified team mate Chris Ward ahead of the Perez car and Edwards / Matt Neal.

All in all, a superb 90 minutes race with close clean racing throughout the grid and that’s it for this season. It has been a brilliant year of racing, both at the front between the Elite drivers and all the way throughout the grid. Many new drivers have come to the series and grid numbers have been strong. The 2023 calendar is confirmed and will avoid the clashes that impacted slightly this year.

Finally, though, it’s time for a party to celebrate 2022 and we will be in touch to arrange a relaxed lunch in London, in either late November or early December.