Philip Walker and Miles Griffiths took the honours in this year’s Modena Cento Ore event in their 1964 Jaguar E-Type the Philip Walker (usually paired with Howard Redhouse) has now won this event five times.
Among the ladies, Daniela Ellerbrock – Jackie Rohwer in their 1965 Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GTA left the other competitors standing, whereas Joelle Housseau – Aude Moreau dominated the regularity section in a 1972 Ferrari Dino 246 GT.
The top step on the podium for the regularity section was taken by crew 104: Ernst Schroeder – Philipp Ruppell in their 1961 Porsche 356 B AC Owners Club were the first team in the regularity section rankings, captained by the 1959 AC ACE Bristol owned by Bertie Gilbart-Smith – Simon Kelly.
The winners had a great story behind them: Bertie Gilbart Smith has owned the car since 1964, when it left the workshop in Scotland after maintenance work carried out by a young mechanic who worked at the family-run garage, Sir Jackie Stewart.
They drove the car drove all the way from England, a total of 1600 Km before the race even started, with a similar journey back home awaiting them in the days to come.
In the “index of performance”, i.e. the adjusted ranking for vehicle age, placed in third position the beautiful burgundy red 1952 Ferrari 212 Export Berlinetta Touring driven by Martin Halusa and Susanne Halusa.
One of the highlights of this year’s 17th edition of the tour was the visit to Monza and its high speed track. The final ranking shows no single model had a clear advantage over the others: the more powerful cars fared better on certain tracks; the more agile cars did better on others, whilst the uphill special stages allowed others still to shine.
As usual it all came down to the wire, as at the start of the last circuit trial, after four days of racing, only 0.4 seconds separated the cars holding first and second place.
A special prize was assigned to the team of mechanics, who were also undisputed stars of the Modena Cento Ore. Richard Walbyoff and Sarah Walbyoff took home the “Mechanical Miracle 2018” award for being capable of finding the V8, arranging shipment and replacing it on Mark Freeman and Mike Ellis’ 1965 AC Shelby Cobra 289. All in the space of just one night, of course, in less than optimum conditions.
If you were competing in this year’s rally and have a story to tell, please contact sarah@autoaddicts.co.uk and tell us how it went.
Final classification of winners and the ranking can be found here
