Report and Gallery: Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or 2024 at Dijon-Prenois

Submitted by Marcel Hundscheid on July 2, 2024

By Marcel Hundscheid / Speed-O-Graphica

Early in June, the Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or was held on one of Europe’s most beautiful old school race circuits, Circuit Dijon-Prenois in changing conditions. We are pleased to bring you a report and gallery from the weekend.

The Dijon-Prenois circuit is located approximately 17 km west of the city of Dijon, in the heart of the beautiful Burgundy region. In the past, a total of six Formula 1 Grand Prix have been held at the circuit, the last of which was in 1984.

For the Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or, Peter Auto brought out the 2.0L Cup for Porsche 911s, Classic Endurance Racing 1 and 2, Classic Touring Challenge, Heritage Touring Cup, Sixties’ Endurance and the Gentlemen Challenge 1 and 2.

Roughly twenty five two-litre Porsche 911s competed against each other in a ninety-minute race. During the formation lap, the heavens opened, and so in pouring rain a battle broke out between the 911s of Kyle Tilley/Oliver Bryant, Andrew Smith and Matt Neal. Only after the mandatory pit stop did it become clear who would take the win. This fell to Kyle Tilley and Oliver Bryant, who crossed the finish line first, almost half a minute ahead of the Porsche of Evgeny Kireev and Phil Quaife.

In Classic Endurance Racing 1, Henrique Gemperle and Marc de Siebenthal claimed pole position in their beautiful Martini Porsche 908/03 from 1971. The former CanAm McLaren M6B of Max and Andrew Banks outpaced them at the start of the race, however on the sixth lap the Porsche took the lead and never relinquished it.

Yves Scemama won a hard-fought battle for pole position in Classic Endurance Racing 2. The Swiss drove his TOJ SC304 from 1976 to the pole with a difference of just 0.421 of a second ahead of Maxime Guenat.

However, Guenat seized his opportunity at the start of the race, after which an interesting game of cat and mouse developed. On the eleventh lap, Scemama then struck and disappeared over the horizon, while Guenat fell further back in the rankings. Scemama triumphed convincingly with a lead of almost 1 minute over Dominique Guenat’s TOJ SC303.

Classic touring cars from the sixties were represented in the Classic Touring Challenge. In this race, which lasted sixty minutes, the Alfa Romeos proved to have the most in the tank. The victory went convincingly to the Giulia Sprint GTA of Max and Andrew Banks.

Fans of Ford Capris and BMW CSLs, among others, were well served in the Heritage Touring Cup. Forty iconic touring cars from the seventies came to Dijon for a single sixty minute race.

Michael Kammermann and Sebastian Glaser narrowly drove their BMW 3.0 CSL to pole and took the lead immediately after the start of the race. However, Yves Scemama quickly advanced in his Capri and claimed the lead on the third lap.

Just like in previous races over the weekend, the top two cars did everything they could to maintain the lead. Scemama eventually gained the upper hand and finished first unthreatened.

The program also included races from The Gentlemen Challenge and Sixties’ Endurance.

The Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or remains a jewel in the historical motorsport calendar. The legendary old school circuit and the ambiance and exciting races contribute to placing this event firmly on the calendar for 2025.

Results Grand Prix de l’Age d’Or 2024:

2.0L Cup