Portimao Weekend Notebook

***The 4 Hours of Portimao marks the final round of the European Le Mans Series season, where champions in the three main classes and LMP2 Pro-Am will be decided. This weekend marks the sixth time that ELMS has visited Algarve International Circuit.

***The No. 55 Spirit of Race Ferrari 488 GTE Evo has been withdrawn from the event at late notice after driver Duncan Cameron tested positive for COVID-19. Its absence reduces the field to 40 cars.

***Ferrari squad Rinaldi Racing has gone down to a two-driver crew after Pierre Ehret was ruled out at late notice due to “medical issues” according to a stewards’ bulletin. Nico Varrone and Diego Alessi will run as a pair, with the series accepting the lineup adjustment as a case of force majeure.

***It results in the first two-driver ELMS GTE lineup since the 2020 race at Spa, which WEC regulars Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr entered as a duo for AF Corse.

***FIA World Endurance Championship LMP2 driver Rui Andrade has joined Duqueine Team for the season finale. The Angolan-Portuguese won the LMP2 Pro-Am title last year with G-Drive Racing. Andrade is Richard Bradley and Memo Rojas’ fourth different co-driver in as many races.

***LMP3 competitor Santiago Serrano has switched from Eurointernational to 360 Racing. The Spaniard made his ELMS debut last time out at Spa, but he is now sharing the 360 Ligier JS P2320 Nissan with Terrence Woodward and Ross Kaiser, in place of Mark Richards.

***Takeshi Kimura is back in the No. 57 Kessel Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo after being replaced by U.S. racer Conrad Grunewald for the previous round.

***Kimura’s co-drivers Mikkel Jensen and Frederik Schandorff are nine points behind GTE championship leaders Gianmaria Bruni, Lorenzo Ferrari and Christian Ried, marking the closest title battle heading into the season finale.

***LMP3 has a much larger gap between the contenders approaching the final race. Inter Europol Competition’s Charles Crews, Nico Pino and Guilherme Oliveira sit 19 points clear of Cool Racing’s Malthe Jakobsen, Michael Benham and Maurice Smith.

***Whichever one of Inter Europol and Cool Racing clinches the LMP3 title, it will signify Ligier’s sixth LMP3 championship in eight seasons. The exceptions have been Team LNT (Ginetta) in 2016 and DKR Engineering (Duquiene) last year.

***DKR Engineering purchased the ex-Graff Oreca 07 that it rented for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and hopes to run the car in next year’s ELMS and Asian Le Mans Series, depending on budgets.

***According to DKR team principal Kendy Janclaes, the successful LMP3 outfit will field one of its Duqueine D08 Nissans in Asian LMS, most likely the ELMS chassis. It also has ambitions to contest the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, however only the Asian program is confirmed.

***In addition to the official Free Practice sessions, a pair of paid tests were held on Thursday. IDEC Sport’s Paul-Loup Chatin led both sessions, posting a time of 1:33.123 in the opening one-hour, 55-minute run before clocking a 1:33.427 in the second session which lasted two hours, 55 minutes.

***There was also a one-hour test for Bronze-rated drivers on Friday afternoon. It was topped by Racing Team Turkey driver Salih Yoluc, whose 1:35.286 effort was 0.128 seconds quicker than John Falb’s second-placed time for Algarve Pro Racing. Results

***The ELMS will hold its end-of-season awards ceremony on Sunday evening, using a large temporary dome located on the infield. The Michelin Le Mans Cup race has been shifted from its usual Saturday slot to Sunday morning, ensuring that drivers and teams remain on-site for the party after the ELMS wraps up.

***Prema can secure the LMP2 title by taking pole position, however the team’s best qualifying result so far this season is third. Louis Deletraz told Sportscar365: “So far this year qualifying has not been our strength, so I wouldn’t put all my coins on it!”

***Deletraz’s co-driver Ferdinand Habsburg is continuing to work on his plan for a fan-owned LMP2 entry into next year’s FIA World Endurance Championship. The Austrian and his Rebel Team colleagues are set to do a rehearsal of how the entry might operate at next month’s 8 Hours of Bahrain WEC race. Members of the Rebel Team Discord channel can join in.

***The rehearsal will include interactive sessions with Realteam by WRT driver Habsburg during the weekend. According to Habsburg, it will be “50 percent capacity” of what the Rebel Team plans to do during WEC events next year.

***Prema is aiming to win titles in three different locations this weekend. In addition to its ELMS effort, the Italian squad has drivers leading both ADAC Formula 4 and Formula Regional European, which are racing at the Nürburgring and Barcelona respectively.

***United Autosports is arriving off the back of its first ELMS win of the season, but the 2020 champion squad is out of title contention. Qualifying was its Achilles’ heel this year, according to team principal Richard Dean, who said there could be some “marginal benefit” in the return to a two-car program next year. “Two cars allows you to get through specific work for each venue like wind direction and weather,” he told Sportscar365.

***United is the only team to have won the 4 Hours of Portimao more than once, having done so in 2018 and last year. The other outright winners of the race are Graff, IDEC Sport and G-Drive Racing.

***Dean added that United hasn’t had “any serious discussions” with drivers about potential LMP3 entries into the Asian Le Mans Series. The team stated LMP3 as a possibility when it announced its two-car LMP2 commitment. “We have to know by the end of next month,” he said.

***TDS Racing is planning to continue in ELMS next year alongside its increasing commitment to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, team principal Xavier Combet told Sportscar365.

***United Autosports LMP3 driver Finn Gehrsitz described his upcoming WEC rookie test drive in an Aston Martin Vantage GTE as a “great opportunity”. The 18-year-old from Germany made his ELMS debut this year after previously racing for Phoenix Racing in Michelin Le Mans Cup. “It was a surprise,” he told Sportscar365. “I want to perform well and show my best side. There’s a bit of pressure, but I’m looking forward to it.”

***Gehrsitz is a brand ambassador for AVL and was able to visit the Austrian company’s simulator for a session to prepare for the rookie test, which takes place on the Sunday after the 8 Hours of Bahrain.

***Grid diversity in the GT3 class of the Michelin Le Mans Cup has increased for the season finale, with U.K.-based Team Parker Racing bringing a Porsche 911 GT3 R and German squad Schnitzelalm Racing fielding a Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo with Gunnar Jeanette among the drivers. It brings the field up to five brands, along with Honda, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

***Several ELMS and Le Mans Cup teams will go testing immediately after the race weekend. Privately-booked running is planned for three days with Cool Racing, TDS Racing, Iron Lynx and Proton Competition among the expected participants.