Double podium for Perez at Imola

The 25-year-old took part in two separate endurance races at the legendary Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari to take the flag second in both races.

Perez would race in the usual Peter Cup 2 Litre Cup Classic Championship in his pre-66 Porsche 911 2-litre short wheelbase car and then in the Classic Challenge Touring Cup, in a 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia GTA with his teammate Germany’s Christian Albrecht, also in both races

The Italian circuit was inaugurated in 1953, home of Italian Grand Prix in 1980, and then from 1981 to 2006, the 26 editions of the San Marino Grand Prix, seven of which were won by Michael Schumacher and now the Emilia Romagna Formula One Italian Grand Prix that took place earlier this year.

The 5th edition of the counter-clockwise circuit run Peter Auto Imola Classic 2025 would provide a challenge for Perez, racing in the two different classic endurance racing cars both very different to drive, but in his usual fashion the gauntlet was laid down and he was ready to take on anything, to show his fellow contenders what he could do on the 3.050 mile, 19 turn Italian tarmac.

The whole of the weekend saw mostly dry and bright weather, Fridays 40-minute Free Practice session in the #140 Alfa Romeo saw the duo take 5th fastest, completing 13 laps between them and fastest on lap five with a time of 2:17.157s, with speeds over 130kph.

Saturday was a day of further practice for the Porsche 2 Litre Cup followed by two qualifying sessions for Seb and Christian.

A 30-minute qualifying session for the Alfa, they finished in fourth place with a time of 2:16.692s. Perez took command for the first 6 laps, he was fast and on lap 5 he took fastest lap of their 10-lap session, Albrecht completed the last 4 laps of the session and again the pair were topping nearly 197kph on track.

A quick change saw the pair all ready and prepared for a fast 30 minutes in Porsche 2 Litre Cup qualifying, to take a second place and front row for race day in the #177 car is just what they wanted. Perez’s winning experiences in the car helping throughout the session. Perez took to the reins again for the first 6 laps followed by Albrecht finishing the last 6 laps off , totalling 12 for the session. Perez again taking fastest on lap 5 and only +0.576 seconds off pole position for Sunday’s race.

First race of Sunday’s race day saw Classic Touring Action, with 15 magnificent examples of endurance race cars of the past including 1960’s Ford Cortina Lotus, Austin Mini Cooper S 1275 and Ford Mustang’s with an array of Alfa Romeo Giulia’s including the #140 car of Seb and Christian.

As the lights went out, for the 60-minute race, Albrecht climbed into the car for the first 12 laps topping speeds of around 197kph. On the first lap he dropped six places into P8 and slowly climbing back up the charts, by lap 9 was back into P4 as the pit lane window opened, he pitted the car, and Perez was waiting to take over. a fantastic pit stop and Perez was out retaining the P4 status. Two laps later and Perez was into third place, on lap 17 Perez took his fastest lap of 2:15.984s, a lap later even faster and topping speeds of over 200kph and fastest on some sectors. With 3 laps left Perez put the Alfa into P2 and had a battle with #14 of Spiers and Greensall in the Mustang that had led from the start but just struggled and settled for second over the line and +1.41secs off taking number one slot.

Just over five hours later the pair were ready again for the Porsche 2 Litre Cup race, 13 identical cars lined the grid and 90 minutes of race action to start, Perez’s #177 taking front row with fellow Brits Tilley and Bryant. 15 laps with Albrecht in charge to start saw him keep the car at bay in P2. On lap 15 both Albrecht and Tilley pitted around the same time, tyres and fuel sorted and Perez in the driving seat, both cars left the pit lane with Perez in front that saw some great driving skills from Perez and a cat and mouse chase began. After 3 laps Perez had took command over Bryant in the #60 car. Perez had pushed into P2 leaving Bryant in P5. By lap 26, Perez was into first place and Bryant second, pushing from behind hoping Seb would make a mistake. For 9 laps a tense race between the two commenced, Bryant was on Perez’s rear bumper and wasn’t letting go. On lap 36, final lap, with 90 minutes on the clock, Bryant made a final attempt and took Perez seconds off the chequered flag, Perez coming over the line in second. “What a race.”

Afterwards Perez said, “It was a really busy but great weekend, sharing the Alfa with Christian and getting a second place with some excellent driving, the Porsche race was good but tough, it was very hot but I was happy with the result, enjoying having some battles with Bryant near the end”.

It was a successful weekend for the pair, taking a first in class, two podium second places and a P1 in the Index of Performance Award.