Back to Imola
Italy has been a set fixture on the Peter Auto calendar for many years, using alternating circuits. After trips to Mugello, Vallelunga and Monza, the historic racing series was back at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola for the first time in seven years in 2025. For most grids, it was the fourth round of the championship but also felt as an encore to the Le Mans Classic staged just three weeks earlier. Even though it was scheduled late in July, around the start of the Summer vacation for most people, there were strong grids. With Group C skipping this round, there was space in the roster for the local Alfa Revival Cup for 1960s and 1970s touring cars from the Milanese manufacturer. One of the drivers in the one-hour race was none other than Arturo Merzario. Another former Formula 1 driver that starred at Imola was Erik Comas, who drove his now Penzoil liveried Nissan R390 GT1 racer over the road to the track and then demonstrated it for a few laps during a rare break in the schedule.
Our photographers enjoyed a weekend around the very scenic track and their efforts have been combined into this 210-shot gallery.

The race that wasn't
It seems that rain is almost inevitable at a Peter Auto event, and during the 2025 Imola Classic it arrived late on Saturday afternoon. The first drops fell during the first Endurance Racing Legends 2 race but then the heavens opened spectacularly right before the start of the two-hour Sixties' Endurance race. Loris Hezemans had qualified his Bizzarrini 5300 GT on pole position for what is the traditional Saturday head-liner. Due to the conditions, the race was started behind the safety car and as the weather situation actually worsened, it was red-flagged. Once the track had dried a little racing resumed but most of it was behind the safety car. Lee Mowle and Phil Keen eventually completed 21 laps in their Jaguar E-Type to claim victory.
The weather was back to its very hot self for the 2.0L Cup race on Sunday. It was very closely disputed and only settled on the final lap when Ollie Bryant set up a brilliant pass for the lead in the Porsche 911 that had been started by Kyle Tilley. Second was for Christian Albrecht and Seb Perez, while gentleman driver David Danglard was third.
Pole for both of the Gentlemen Challenge races was for Dr. Afschin Fatemi in his mid-engined Tojeiro Buick. He managed to convert that to victory in the first but had to concede the win in the second 45-minute race to John Spiers and Nigel Greensall in the former's Lister Costin Jaguar.

Touring cars
With the addition of the Alfa Revival Cup, there were three touring car races races on the roster for the Imola Classic. Spiers and Greensall were also found at the sharp-end in the Classic Touring Challenge where they started from pole position in a Ford Mustang. With a fastest lap over two seconds faster than any other car on the field and a 1:41 minute lead over the second placed car, they scored a commanding victory on Sunday morning.
Among the most hotly disputed races of the weekend was the one-hour Heritage Touring Cup. Reliving the old Ford vs BMW European Touring Car Championship rivalry of the 1970s, the top nine cars in qualifying were either a Cologne Capri or a 3.0 CSL. Pole was for the CSL of Guillaume Mahe ahead of Equipe Europe team-mate Armand Mille in a Capri. In the race, Sebastian Glaser came to the fore with his Warsteiner liveried CSL, beating Maxime Guenat in a Capri and front-row starters Mahe and Mille.
The final race of the weekend was the one-hour Alfa Revival Cup. This proved well worth the wait as most of the GTAs, Juniors and GTAms were very spectacularly driven. Sadly red-flagged to meet the circuit curfew, the race was eventually won from pole position by Davide Bertinelli in a GTAm specification Alfa Romeo Giulia GT.

Classic Endurance Racing
The grid that started it all for the Peter Auto events is Classic Endurance Racing, which has been split in two now for many years. The CER1 field consisted of over 30 sports prototypes and GTs from the 1960s and early 1970s. Although dominated by Chevrons, Lolas and Porsche 911s, the entry also included Ford GT40s, a Porsche 917 and a Ferrari 512 M. In qualifying there was a dominant performance by the Lola T70 shared by ace historic racer Chris Ward and former Corvette-works driver and ex-F1 racer Jan Magnussen. Unfortunately, they ran into trouble during the race, which allowed Armand Mille to score a storybook victory with the Lola T70 that had been comprehensively rebuilt by the Equipe Europe team in less than three weeks after being involved in the massive accident that had halted the Le Mans Classic for over two hours. In the GT1 category, it was the GT40 of Fred Wakeman and Mike Grant-Peterkin that snatched up the class win
Pole position for the CER2 race was for Yves Scemama in his golden TOJ SC304 with brothers Dennis and Marc Busch claiming a surprise second on the grid in their Porsche 935. Scemama looked set to convert his pole position into victory but a stop outside of the pit window saw him penalised. Instead the win went to Tony Sinclair and Nick Padmore, who shared the 1973 European Championship winning Lola T292. Emmanuel Brigand placed his Porsche 935 ninth overall and first in the GT2 class.

Endurance Racing Legends
As was the case with the Classic Endurance Racing grid many years ago, the immense popularity of the recently added Endurance Racing Legends grid saw the field split in two from last season onwards. The ERL1 field caters to prototypes from the early 1990s through to 2006 and GT1 cars of up to 2010. The ERL2 category includes three generations of GT2 machinery.
Demonstrating great form in qualifying for ERL1 was Christian Albrecht in his ex-Dyson Racing MG Lola EX257. Particularly in the first race, he had a great fight with Jamie Constable in the ex-Jota Racing Zytek 04S. Although Constable did get ahead, it was not an entirely clean pass and he was penalised. As a result the tables were turned once more and Albrecht was declared the winner ahead of Constable. The second race had the same result. Joe Macari won the GT1 class in the first race with his Maserati MC12, while Emmanuel Collard claimed the class win in the second with a Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranello.
In ERL2, Marco Zanasi had grabbed pole by a hair from Philip Kadoorie, both in Ferrari F430s. In slowly deteriorating conditions, the Italian made no mistake and won the first race from Kadooire. The second proved too much for Zanasi's Ferrari and he had to retire. Kadoorie had no such issues and grabbed victory in the ex-Team Modena F430.

Final thoughts
Despite the late July date, the 2025 Imola Classic attracted healthy fields for most grids. There was great racing throughout the weekend and the Alfa Revival Cup proved a worthy addition to the schedule. It was a shame that the weather prevented a proper Sixties' Endurance race as that is usually one of the most hotly disputed during the Peter Auto weekends. Following the summer break, the action will resume at Paul Ricard with the annual Dix Mille Tours.