In the year of the model’s 50th anniversary, two Porsche 911s finished 1st and 2nd in the London to Lisboa Reliability Trial & Classic Car Tour on Sunday May 5.
Drivers had set off from Greenwich, in London, on Saturday April 27, on a 2386-mile route across England, France, Spain and Portugal, and arrived in Lisbon after nine days of tough classic rallying.
The winners of the London to Lisboa classic rally were Michael and Simon Baker in a 1978 Porsche 911 SC. The father and son team from Bolton, UK, winners of the 2012 HERO Cup, eventually finished with just 35 penalties on the regularities, earning Simon the Clockwatcher’s trophy for best performance. The Bakers, who are regular and experienced competitors in HERO events, also won the “Best UK Crew” award.
Chas Colton, from Cheshire, and Guy Woodcock, from North Wales, finished in 2nd place in their 1965 Porsche 911 2.0 SWB. Chas Colton won the Test Pilot Award as he had the best overall performance on the tests. They were closely followed by the Swiss crew of Michael Gerber and Christophe Kung in a 1965 Austin Healey Mk I BT7, who came in 3rd and also won the “Best Non-UK Crew” award.
Hagerty’s crew, Angus Forsyth and Marcus Atkinson, who drove a 1930 Austin 7 Ulster, one of the oldest cars in the event, received the Veteran’s Award and the Spirit of the Rally Award after a heroic journey.
