After 100 hours and four days of thrilling Historic motor sport, an AC Cobra 289, Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RSR, BMW 328 Roadster and Porsche 911 RS took the podium positions in the 2024 Modena Cento Ore.
Held in the heart of northern Italy’s Motor Valley, the event combined special stages on closed roads, as well as circuit races, and attracted competitors from around the world.
Held annually, the Modena Cento Ore is renowned as a challenging feat of endurance. This year, however, competitors also had to deal with tumultuous weather conditions, with sunny spells being punctuated by storms.
Mugello hosted a thrilling wet race that saw Belgian driver Glenn Janssen take the win with a last-lap pass on the final corner
Participants took to the start line in Rimini, and took part in circuit races and closed-road special stages before reaching the finish line in front of the Palazzo Ducale in Modena for the prize-giving ceremony and afterparty.
Over four days, the cars meandered through the challenging, picturesque roads of the Apennines in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany, passing through the mountainous microstate of San Marino and historic Italian towns of Arezzo, Forlì and Florence.The road sections were contrasted by day- and night-time track sessions at the Misano and Mugello circuits.
The Modena Cento Ore is open to cars built between the 1930s and 1980s, so the winning machines are divided among different categories.
In the Competition category, the Pre-1965 classification was won by the 1964 AC Shelby Cobra fielded by the German-Swiss crew of Michael and Peter Hinderer, followed by the 1960 Ferrari 250 Berlinetta SWB Competizione driven by Roderick and Elizabeth Jack from the UK. The 1965 Lotus Elan 26R crewed by Martin Eyears and Amanda Stretton – also from the UK – rounded out the podium.
The 1975 Porsche 911 Carrera 3.0 RSR piloted by the Italian duo of Domenico Guagliardo and Giovanni Campeis won the G/H/I class for cars built from 1966 onwards. They were followed by the Austrian-Bavarian pairing of Kris Rosenberger and Nicola Bleicher, and the 1971 Ferrari 512M driven by France’s Mr John of B and Sibel.
For the Performance class, times are handicapped based on the age and performance of each vehicle. Here, the oldest model in the category, a 1938 BMW 328 Roadster driven by Germans Albert Otten and Uwe Drange, came out on top. They were followed by Roderick and Elizabeth Jack’s Ferrari 250 and the 1952 Ferrari 212 Export of Martin and Susanne Halusa.
The Regularity section was a closely fought affair, but it was the 1972 Porsche 911 RS crewed by the German pairing of Karsten and Patricia Wohlenberg that claimed the victory. They were followed by the 1958 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint of Peter Kappeler from Switzerland and Marie Tourner from France. The last spot on the podium was taken by the Czech team of Jakub and Petr Kejdus in their 1967 Jaguar Mk2.
Mugello hosted a thrilling wet race that saw Belgian driver Glenn Janssen take the win with a last-lap pass on the final corner after six laps were spent behind the safety car.
Enzo Mattioli Ferrari and co-driver Hussein Kedier suffered chassis damage that required overnight repairs from their mechanics, who had to source parts from several Italian garages. Their perseverance was rewarded when they re-entered the competition after missing only the first special stage of the third leg.
Glenn Janssen’s hard-working mechanics also came to the rescue, performing an incredibly fast gearbox replacement between the sixth and seventh special stages.
The next edition of the Modena Cento Ore is due to be held from October 5-11, 2025. For more information, click here.
