Tale of three races in one weekend for Chesterfield driver Perez

Seb Perez, FIA European Historic Rally star and racing driver from Chesterfield, captivated crowds at the Donington Park Historic Festival in a tale of three races in one weekend.

After a triumphant second-place finish in Sardinia’s FIA European Historic Rally Championship just over a week ago, where Perez drove the iconic Amigos Tequilla Beer sponsored Lancia Stratos on gravel, he took to Donington’s tarmac.

Not only that, instead of a rally track, a racetrack, but Perez is no stranger to this with his championship winning ways in the European Peter Auto 2 Litre Cup and previously a Porsche Carrera Cup racer too.

He competed in the Historic Touring Car Challenge, piloting the Franklin & Sons-sponsored Ford Escort Mk2, showing impressive speed across both Saturday and Sunday’s races

Meanwhile, in the Royal Automobile Club Pall-Mall Historic Endurance race, the Franklin & Sons-sponsored classic Porsche 911 2.0L took Perez and his long-time historic racing teammate, British Touring Car racer and Porsche Carrera Cup champion George Gamble to new heights on a two hour race over Donington Park’s 1.97 mile circuit, showed a blistering pace, with Perez achieving personal best laps during qualifying.

Saturday and Sunday’s Historic Touring Car Challenge saw Perez get to grips in the Escort lining up 16th on the grid for the first race. He was doing fantastically well in the race when, unfortunately, the car failed mechanically on lap 19.

All was not lost, he showed that he was still a master on tarmac, fastest out on the first two laps of the race as he made his way through the grid ahead of him, taking another four fastest laps in class of the time on track.

Saturday’s Royal Automobile Club Pall-Mall two-hour endurance race in the Porsche 911 was a different affair for both Perez and Gamble, a quick change from Escort to Porsche.

The pair started middle ground on the 42-entry grid that saw Perez out for the first stint. After two further pit stops that saw Gamble climb into control, the third stop was more intense, Perez back behind the wheel, that saw the car retire with a mechanical issue on lap 56 just over 20 minutes before the end of the race.

Throughout the race period, Perez chalked up two fastest laps., on lap 4 and on lap 32 with a time of 1m:25.841s and topping speeds at over 85mph.

A rainy third race of the weekend, Sunday’s Historic Touring Car Challenge race, saw the Escort back and Perez ready to take on another 40 minutes of action and he was just as quick.

Completing 27 laps of wet tarmac, he finished in P13, leading his class for the first 5 laps of the race with another four fastest lap times.

Seb Perez commented, “After the gravel of Sardinia, switching to Donington’s tarmac was a huge challenge, but the Ford Escort and the team performed brilliantly. I’m thrilled with how we adapted.” Thanks to the team at Dansport and Tuthill for a great weekends racing.

George Gamble added, “It was an incredible weekend. Sharing the Porsche in the Pall-Mall race with Seb was fantastic—our teamwork was spot on, and we pushed hard from start and it was so unfortunate having to retire with mechanical issues near to the end of the race.”

Perez’s seamless transition from Sardinia’s gravel to Donington’s tarmac, coupled with Gambles precision and teamwork, reaffirmed them as a formidable force in historic motorsport.