The 4 Hours of Portimão (also known as 4 Hours of Algarve) is an endurance race for sports cars, held at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, in Portugal. The first races were held in 2009 and 2010 as 1000 Kilometres of Algarve, as part of Le Mans Series calendar. Since 2017, it is run in 4 hours format, as part of the European Le Mans Series.

4 Hours of Portimão
Le Mans Series
VenueAutódromo Internacional do Algarve
First race2009
First LMS race2009
Duration4 hours
Most wins (driver)United Kingdom Philip Hanson (4)
Most wins (team)United States United Autosports (4)
Most wins (manufacturer)France Oreca (6)

History

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The 1000 Kilometres of Algarve was run for the first time in 2009, and was the third round of the Le Mans Series. The race was won by Pescarolo Sport, whilst Quifel ASM Team won the LMP2 category, Alphand Aventures won the GT1 category, and JMW Motorsport won the GT2 category.[1] The race was held again in 2010, and again was the third round of the Le Mans Series. This time, Team Oreca Matmut took the overall victory, whilst RML won the LMP2 category, DAMS won the Formula Le Mans category, AF Corse won the GT2 category, and Larbre Competition won the GT1 category.[2] For 2011, the Portuguese round of the Le Mans Series used the Autódromo do Estoril instead,[3] and the 1000 km of Algarve hasn't been run since.

In 2017 Portimão took the place of Estoril in the European Le Mans series calendar, in a 4 hour race.[4]

In 2023 with the cancelation of the 4 Hours of Imola for the European Le Mans Series, the Portimão round became a double-header to fill the void,[5] with the race being named 4 Hours of Algarve and 4 Hours of Portimão.

Winners

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Year Drivers Team Car Time Distance Championship
2009   Jean-Christophe Boullion
  Christophe Tinseau
  Pescarolo Sport Pescarolo 01 Evo 5:49:04.176 1000 km Le Mans Series
2010   Olivier Panis
  Stéphane Sarrazin
  Nicolas Lapierre
  Team Oreca Matmut Peugeot 908 HDi FAP
(Diesel)
5:48:30.820 1000 km Le Mans Series
2011–2016: not held
Year Drivers Team Car Laps (Distance) Duration Championship
2017   James Allen
  Richard Bradley
  Gustavo Yacamán
  Graff Oreca 07 139 laps (646,64 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2018   Filipe Albuquerque
  Philip Hanson
  United Autosports Ligier JS P217 140 laps (651,69 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2019   Paul-Loup Chatin
  Paul Lafargue
  Memo Rojas
  IDEC Sport Oreca 07 106 laps (492,95 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2020   Roman Rusinov
  Mikkel Jensen
  Nyck de Vries
  G-Drive Racing Aurus 01 147 laps (683,72 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2021   Jonathan Aberdein
  Tom Gamble
  Philip Hanson
  United Autosports Oreca 07 130 laps (604,89 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2022   Louis Delétraz
  Ferdinand Habsburg
  Juan Manuel Correa
  Prema Racing Oreca 07 126 laps (586,28 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2023 (4 Hours of Algarve)   Marino Sato
  Philip Hanson
  Oliver Jarvis
  United Autosports Oreca 07 120 laps (558,00 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2023 (4 Hours of Portimão)   Marino Sato
  Philip Hanson
  Oliver Jarvis
  United Autosports Oreca 07 97 laps (442,32 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series
2024   Lorenzo Fluxá
  Malthe Jakobsen
  Ritomo Miyata
  COOL Racing Oreca 07 127 laps (590,93 km) 4 hours European Le Mans Series

References

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  1. ^ "Algarve 1000 Kilometres 2009 - Race results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  2. ^ "Algarve 1000 Kilometres 2010 - Race results". Racing Sports Cars. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  3. ^ "Pescarolo team wins the Estoril 6 Hours". Planetlemans.com. 26 September 2011. Archived from the original on 18 October 2011. Retrieved 2 August 2013.
  4. ^ "ELMS: Final da época de 2017 passa do Estoril para Portimão | AutoSport".
  5. ^ "Portimão To Host ELMS Grand Season Finale In October". European Le Mans Series. 14 April 2023. Retrieved 14 April 2023.