Across five editions of the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO, five different teams have led the field away at the green flag. 

Scuderia Praha got the ball rolling with outright pole in 2017, with SPS automotive performance and Herberth Motorsport emulating the Czech team in 2018 and 2019 respectively. HTP Winward Motorsport was on pole in 2020, and, after a one-year hiatus, Phoenix Racing took the top spot in 2022.  

Strangely though, avoiding outright pole might be a sound strategy for teams in 2024, given that, of those five polesitters, only one – Scuderia Praha in 2017 – has gone on to take the overall win that year. 

As it turns out, the outside of the front row is stastically your best bet for success, as three of the event’s five winners – Scuderia Praha (twice) and Herberth Motorsport – all started 2nd. 

Hankook 24H PORTIMAO – Polesitters 

2017 – Scuderia Praha (#11, Ferrari 488 GT3)

2018 – SPS automotive performance (#24, Mercedes-AMG GT3)

2019 – Herberth Motorsport (#93, Porsche 991.2 GT3 R)

2020 – HTP Winward Motorsport (#84, Mercedes-AMG GT3)

2021 – N/A

2020 – Phoenix Racing (#18, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II)

Sticking with qualifying for the moment, of the five editions to-date, the front row for two of them – 2017 and 2022 – was decided by less than one-HUNDREDTH of a second.  

The 0.011s that split Scuderia Praha and  GP Extreme in 2017 is particularly noteworthy, as only one 24H SERIES qualifying session in the seven years since then has been closer. That came at the 2018 Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS, where the top three qualifiers – SPS automotive performance, Scuderia Praha (reading a lot about them, aren’t we…?!), and PROsport Performance – were separated by just 0.013s, while a scarcely believable 0.006s split the front row. 

Qualifying for the 2022 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO was decided by a similarly wafer-thin 0.024s, meaning that two of the four closest 24H SERIES qualifying sessions since 2017 both took place at the Autodrómo Internacional do Algarve. 

Hankook 24H PORTIMAO – Qualifying deficit (front row)

2017 – Scuderia Praha, GP Extreme – 0.011s.

2018 – SPS automotive performance, Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha – 0.446s

2019 – Herberth Motorsport, Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha – 0.308s

2020 –  HTP Winward Motorsport, Herberth Motorsport – 0.282s

2021 – N/A

2022 – Phoenix Racing, WTM Racing – 0.024s

2019 Overall GT Teams’ ‘Europe’ champion Scuderia Praha is the current event record holder at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO, having won the race outright three times from 2017 to 2019. 

Only one other team can claim that level of consistent success at a 24H SERIES event. 

Herberth Motorsport has a similarly impressive record at Circuit Paul Ricard. Having finished 2nd at the inaugural Hankook 24H CIRCUIT PAUL RICARD in 2015, the Bavarian outfit won overall in 2016 and 2017, and again in 2021 following the event’s return as a 12-hour race. Interestingly, a fault-free weekend in the Algarve could see Herberth Motorsport, winner of the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO in 2020, draw to within one of Scuderia Praha on 10-11-12 May. 

And yes, dear reader, we weren’t mistaken when we mentioned THREE events, as Scuderia Praha has a similarly devastating record with CREVENTIC in Brno. The Czech team won its home endurance race – in both 12-hour and 24-hour guises – three times on the bounce in 2015, 2016 and upon the event’s return in 2019. 

Hankook 24H PORTIMAO – Overall winners

2017 – Scuderia Praha (#11, Ferrari 488 GT3) – 722 laps

2018 – Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha (#11, Ferrari 488 GT3) – 586 laps

2019 – Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha (#11, Ferrari 488 GT3) – 721 laps

2020 – Herberth Motorsport (#92, Porsche 991.2 GT3 R) – 731 laps

2021 – N/A

2022 – CP Racing (#85, Mercedes-AMG GT3) – 718 laps

Its mid-summer position on the calendar, the ‘roller-coaster’ nature of the Autodromo’s 4.652km layout, and the challenges that come with acute Algarvean temperatures means the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO has become the ideal, endurance racing test bed for more than a few debutants over the years.  

At the inaugural race in 2017 for example, the Mercedes-AMG Testteam, together with long-time customer Black Falcon, put some development mileage on the then-new AMG GT4. Two years later, Mercedes was back – this time as the ‘Mercedes-AMG Team Driving Academy’ – for the competitive debut of the ‘EVO’ upgraded AMG GT3, and had ‘employed’ series faithfuls Charles Putman, Rik Breukers and Kenneth Heyer alongside Mercedes PRO Maximilian Buhk and three-time Hankook 24H DUBAI winner Hubert Haupt for the weekend. The EVO even finished an impressive 6th overall.  

That result – perhaps unfairly – paled slightly in comparison with the ‘991.2’ generation 

Porsche 991.2 GT3 R that debuted at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO in 2018: an incredible run for Herberth Motorsport staples Alfred and Robert Renauer, and Ralf Bohn (competing in a series one-off with Manthey Racing) and Porsche PRO Mathieu Jaminet saw the ‘2019’ Porsche GT3 R finish 2nd overall.  

BMW M Motorsport completed the set in 2022, when a non-homologated BMW M4 GT4 ‘Concept’ – a development version of the second gen ‘G82’ model – took a GTX podium. 

It’s not just developmental racers that make their debuts at Portimão either. Six-time Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy started his first-ever endurance race at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO in 2017, and won his class. Portugal’s first Formula 1 points scorer – and multi-time FIA GT, LMS, and WEC class champion – Pedro Lamy made his series debut at Portimão in 2019, and one year later, WTCC race winner Nathanael Berthon also made his CREVENTIC bow at the event. 

On 13 June 2020, after a six-month hiatus, 24H SERIES endurance racing action finally returned at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve after a Covid-enforced hiatus. Held behind closed doors, the 2020 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO was the first, international motor race hosted in Europe in the post-Covid era, beating the 2020 Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix by two weeks.  

CREVENTIC’s family-friendly paddock atmosphere was noticeably muted, of course.  

None of the 15 cars competing were sharing a garage, for example. No fans were in attendance. Team personnel and VIP numbers were limited, and new health and safety protocols, including mandatory face masks and six-foot ‘social distancing,’ was heavily policed. Team personnel not abiding by the rules could cost their team a five-lap penalty, or, in severe cases, expulsion from the event altogether. 

Even the radiolemans.com commentary, a 24H SERIES staple since 2012, was conducted from the international broadcast centre in the UK, with pit reporting and grid walk duties instead taken on by CREVENTIC’s Peter Freij and Ole Dörlemann. 

Across 24 hours of safely-distanced, heavily-disinfected racing, soon-to-be three-time Overall TCE Teams’ champion Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing celebrated its first TCR win of the season, ahead of World Touring Car Championship frontrunners Comtoyou team Audi Sport and Tom Coronel. Autódromo CEO Paulo Pinheiro took a ‘CAY’ podium with  

Portugal’s Veloso Motorsport (the in-house Parkalagar Racing Team finished 2nd in GT4). And Herberth Motorsport took its first, decisive win at Portimão with a 1-2 finish, the #91 having charged back through the field after a gearbox change.  

The paddock atmosphere had softened and the grid had shrunk. But motor racing was back! 

In a “Cinderella story” moment, multi-time GT3-AM Teams’ champion CP Racing recently bid farewell to the 24H SERIES with outright victory at Spa-Francorchamps. This was the American team’s fourth overall race win with CREVENTIC.  

The first was secured at Portimão in 2022, when the American team bested eventual Overall GT Teams’ ‘Europe’ champion Phoenix Racing by just 26.611s. Not only is that the closest finish to-date at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO, it was also – briefly at least – the fourth closest finish in 24H SERIES history, beaten only by the 12H MUGELLO in 2014 (5.417s), the Hankook 12H SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS in 2019 (7.871s), and the Hankook 24H BARCELONA, also in 2019 (10.841s).  

Incredibly, just over a year later, TWO 24H SERIES events would feature closer finishes. And ironically, CP Racing was involved in one of them.  

The fight for Hankook 6H ABU DHABI victory in January 2023 came down to just 7.226s between Pure Rxcing and Herberth Motorsport. Later than year in December, CP Racing destroyed AF Corse’s existing 2014 record by finishing just half a second ahead of Manamauri Energy by Ebimotors after 12 hours of racing. 

While not quite the accolade it once was, the sixth closest finish in series history – and the second closest 24-hour race CREVENTIC has ever organized – is still a sizeable feather in the Autodromo’s bolero. 

2022 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO – Overall top five

1. CP Racing (#85, Mercedes-AMG GT3) – GT3 – 718 laps

2. Phoenix Racing (#18, Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II) – GT3 – +26.611s

3. Red Ant Racing (#903, Porsche 992 GT3 Cup) – 992 – 690 laps

4. Red Ant Racing (#904, Porsche 992 GT3 Cup) – 992 – 681 laps

5. Leipert Motorsport (#710, Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo) – GTX – 671 laps

Unbelievably close, wasn’t it?!

Portimão featured one of the strongest TCE grids of the season in 2018, with 14 entries – split across the TCR, SP3 and CUP1 categories – registered to compete. That the front three rows were split by less than a second in qualifying, and that the ‘Kawasaki Racing’ and ‘NKPP Racing’ CUPRA TCRs on the front row were both entered by Bas Koeten Racing, suggested the fight for TCE victory would be an intense one. Provided the run down to turn one went cleanly.

As it turns out, two of the front four qualifiers almost didn’t make turn one at all.  

A blistering start by CTF Performance’s Nicolas Béraud meant the #238 Lamera Cup was already up and alongside the front row starters moment after the red lights went out. Antti Buri, aboard the TCE pole-sitting Kawasaki Racing CUPRA, put up a stout defence (as was his right), but still gave the Lamera more than a car’s width to the pitwall as it came past. 

As the TCE field approached the end of the pitwall, and as Béraud started to take his line into turn one, the left rear wheel of the Lamera made contact with the front right corner of the Kawasaki CUPRA, spearing both across the track – in front of the chasing pack – and perilously close to the grass. 

Both, somehow, managed to survive, and even re-joined the TCE train in 4th and 5th. Even more remarkably, after 24 hours at Portimão, CTF Performance eventually took the SP3 class win, while Bas Koeten Racing was celebrating a 1-2 finish overall in TCE, with the Kawasaki CUPRA at the head. How differently it all could have ended one day earlier…

Hankook 24H PORTIMAO 2018 – Top 3 (TCE)

1. Kawasaki Racing / Bas Koeten Racing (#155, CUPRA TCR) – 529 laps

2. NKPP Racing / Bas Koeten Racing (#175, CUPRA TCR) – +17.585s

3. Team Altran Peugeot (#908, Peugeot 308 Racing Cup) – 519 laps

Hankook 24H PORTIMAO, 2018 – Top (GT)

1. Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha (#11, Ferrari 488 GT3) – A6-Pro – 586 laps

2. Manthey Racing (#912, Porsche 991.2 GT3 R) – SPX – 577 laps

3. PROsport Performance (#85, Mercedes-AMG GT3) – A6-Am – 576 laps

On 2017, Team Altran Peugeot finished 1st and 2nd in-class at Portimão to secure the 2017 TCR Teams’ title. The following year, the reigning champion’s Peugeot 308 Racing Cups finished line astern once again, albeit this time in 3rd and 4th. With just 42 minutes of the 2019 edition left to run, another overall TCE top three finish seemed a lock.  

Then the Peugeot ground to a halt.  

As Michel Derue was towed back to the pits, Team Altran, now running as ‘Nordschleife Racing,’ faced a dilemma. The TCR-class podium was banked, category rivals Red Camel-Jordans.nl and TOPCAR sport having already retired from the event. If however the French team couldn’t replace the 308’s ruptured fuel pump in-time, the final spot on the TCE podium was in danger of slipping to A3-class leader Synchro Motorsport, just eight laps behind and closing fast. 

The unnerving moment seemed to have passed, as 15 minutes later, the Peugeot, still two laps to the good over the Honda, made its way back on-track. 

Brutally, Derue pulled up on-track once again shortly afterwards, this time with less than nine minutes to run. Out of luck, and out of time, the French team could do nothing to stop the Synchro Honda sailing past the stricken Peugeot to claim the final TCE podium spot on the penultimate lap. History had been made once again in the Algarve. 

Amazingly, that wasn’t the end of the drama. At the start of that penultimate lap, the Synchro Motorsport came very close to putting overall leader Scuderia Praha into a spin at the first turn!

Hankook 24H PORTIMAO 2019 – Top three (TCE)

1. Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing (#112, Volkswagen Golf GTi) – TCR – 641 laps

2. AC Motorsport (#188, Audi RS 3 LMS DSG) – TCR – 622 laps

3. Synchro Motorsport (#676, Honda ‘FK8’ Civic Type-R) – A3 – 609 laps

Hankook 24H PORTIMAO 2019 – Top three (GT)

1. Bohemia Energy racing with Scuderia Praha (#11, Ferrari 488 GT3) – 721 laps

2. GPX Racing (#24, Porsche 911 GT3 R) – 714 laps

3. Wochenspiegel Team Monschau (#22, Ferrari 488 GT3) – 712 laps

After two CREVENTIC ‘track days’ on the Wednesday and the Thursday, official track action for the 2024 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO begins with Free Practice on Friday 10 May. The 90-minute session, scheduled to run from 13.30 hrs to 15.00 hrs local time, will be following by 55 minutes of qualifying, for all classes, later that evening from 17.00 hrs to 17.55 hrs. 90 minutes of Night Practice rounds out the day from 20.30 hrs to 22.00 hrs.

The green flag for the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO itself will be flown at 12.00 hrs on Saturday 11 May, and the 24-hour event will run uninterrupted through the night until the chequered flag is flown at 12.00 hrs on Sunday 12 May. Entries are still open, and further details can be found HERE