– The Madrid natives David Liceras and Ainhoa Ayarra, with TR6 from 1972, gain regularity after their good work, especially in La Gomera
The silver anniversary of the Tenerife Classic concluded hastily this Saturday due to the imperative of a Dana over the Tenerife capital. The three passes through the so-called Revival circuit, similar to the 1965 Tenerife Grand Prix, remained undeveloped. The Madrid natives David Liceras and Ainhoa Ayarra were the absolute winners - they have already had two -, after collapsing in Atogo, their closest pursuers José Carlos Rendón and Samantha Montaner, winners the last two years
With the last stage suspended by order of the local and island authorities, the organization decided to quickly improvise the presentation of trophies during the dinner already scheduled at the Taburiente hotel. There Miguel Hernández Calzadilla, president of the Real Automobile Club (RACT) and Leo Mansito, race director, proceeded to deliver the unique badges made on volcanic rocks, matching this year's advertising poster, the work of Diego Izquierdo, with the Involcan seismological scale.
Prizes were awarded to the first three in categories E, F and G of regularity and to the first classified in tourism in categories E, F, G, as well as the absolute winners, the oldest team, the youngest participants and the best participating female team, which went to Cristina Montes de Oca and Cristina Rodríguez, daughter and mother, aboard a Triumph TR6, the most represented brand this year in the Classic with 19 units.
Qualifying turnaround in the sections in Tenerife
When everything was heading towards a duel this Sunday for the final victory between the two couples that have dominated the Classic in the last three years, José Carlos Rendón and Samantha Montaner suffered difficult navigation in Atogo, leaving the final victory in the hands of the Madrid natives David Liceras and Ainhoa Ayarra, the first they achieved with their TR6, after having debuted three years ago with a Morgan. The young Rendón-Montaner couple was on the verge of achieving the triplet (winners in 2024 and 2025) and will wait until next year to achieve it and dedicate it to the offspring (four months) that is on the way. The Rendón are the family with the most cars (nine) and participants (five) in this Classic, ahead of the Hernández Calzadilla and Montes de Oca, who thanks to the generational revelation they foster allow our automobile heritage not to leave the Island. An “extraordinary, very well preserved” heritage, in the words of Maurizio Corbi, the designer of great automobile models from brands such as BMW, Ferrari or Lamborghini. Corbi was, in turn, amazed by “the beautiful landscapes and surprised by “the short distance between the mountain and the coast.”
Precisely José Carlos Rendón Sr., with Pablo Afonso as navigator, finished second overall and first in group E, with 296.9 points, to the voter of the spectacular Jaguar Mercedes Montes de Oca and her nephew Álvaro Merino finished, with their beautiful Austin Healey BN2, fourth with 340.7 points, ahead of Santiago Sesé and María José Hernández-Francés, with a Porsche 911, fifth with 417.8 points and second in group G.
In tourism, the winners were Antonio Sosa and Alonso Méndez (MG B) with 4.5 points; second, Diego Acosta-María Monterrey, with TR6, 22.4 points, and third Martín García-Gloria Morales, with TR4, with 22.9 points.
Leo Mansito, very satisfied
The director of the race, and this year also the main organizer of all the logistics of the event, Leo Mansito Pérez, commented that "the XXV Tenerife Classic has been one more step in the growth of this event, which on its silver anniversary, had the great novelty of competing in two closed road sections that were a spectacle for the participants, in a mythical section of Tenerife and with extraordinary safety measures and which turned out to be perfect, without any type of incident."
Mansito described the stage in La Gomera as "very hard for the mechanics, especially those coming from outside, not used to so many ups and downs on the magnificent roads of the Colombian island. It was a real challenge for the organization that, thanks to its splendid team of mechanics, managed, once again, for all the participants of the Classic to return to Tenerife."
"On Saturday, already on the island, - continues the race director - with a simple route through an Atogo that the pilots really enjoyed, which, however, was a pain for their co-pilots. After a well-deserved rest in Güímar, the last two sections were competed on the route of the "old road, reducing the average speed imposed by 5 km/h, due to the delicate weather conditions", which determined the activation of the municipal emergency plan and subsequently the island, being “impossible to carry out the Revival”.
Despite this serious setback, “the organization ended up satisfied with having achieved the milestone of Los Loros and already with its mind set on the next edition that will come full of new features,” commented Mansito.
