The FIA World Endurance Championship will move this weekend to the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal for the 6 Hours of Portimão and will be headlined by 11 Hypercars, many of which will be seen in competition in Europe for the first time. Having hosted an eight-hour race in 2021, this year’s six-hour event will mark the return of the Portuguese venue to the FIA WEC calendar.
Cadillac Racing, Ferrari AF Corse, Porsche Penske Motorsport and Floyd Vanwall Racing Team will make their competitive Hypercar debut in Europe, while Toyota Gazoo Racing and Glickenhaus Racing will be present at Portimao in 2021.
Most WEC teams and drivers are familiar with the 4653km circuit, which has been a mainstay on the European Le Mans Series calendar for several years, as well as the venue of choice for some of the Hypercar manufacturers in their test programs . Hypercar drivers cover 48.5% of the lap at full throttle and change gears 40 times per lap around the circuit, reaching top speeds in excess of 310 km/h.
Toyota started their title defense campaign at Sebring last month on the right foot, with a new double – Conway, Kobayashi and López beating Buemi, Hartley and Hirakawa-, but Ferrari, with Catalan Miguel Molina along Fuoco and Nielsen, he also came out. strong and took the first pole position of the season and a third-place finish. Both manufacturers carried out tests on the circuit, as did Peugeot.
Local hero Antonio Félix da Costa will return to the WEC for his home race after sitting out Sebring. The fan favorite competed in Portimão in 2021, but that time the race was held behind closed doors, so this year’s edition will be the first time for the 31-year-old to race in front of his home, in The world’s leading endurance racing series.
Other faces joining the race at Portimão will be Ben Hanley, who will replace Filipe Albuquerque in the #22 United Autosports, and Giedo Van der Garde, who will replace Tom Blomqvist in the #23 car. Prema Racing will see driver from F2 Juan Manuel Correa take over the #9 Oreca for Portimão in place of Andrea Caldarelli, while Diego Alessi replaces his compatriot Stefano Costantini in the #21 AF Corse LMGTE Am. Finally, Project 1 – AO #56 adds two local names to drive with Matteo Cairoli, while Portuguese Miguel Pedro Ramos and Guilherme Moura de Oliveira are registered to drive the Porsche 911 RSR – 19 at the front of their audience.
In LMP2 United Autosports (38 points), he leads Prema Racing (27) and Inter Europol Competition (23). The LMGTE Am class is led by Corvette Racing, which won Sebring and leads the standings with 38 points, followed by Dempsey-Proton Racing (27) and Kessel Racing (23).
The schedules
Friday April 14
Free Training 1: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Free Training 2: 3:30 pm – 5:00 pm
Saturday April 15
Free practice 3: 11:15 am – 12:15 pm
Classification: 3:30 pm – 4:35 pm
Sunday April 16
Race: 12:00 – 18:00
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
