With round three of this year’s 24H SERIES powered by Hankook European season just under a week away, drivers worldwide are finalizing their spots on the starting grid for the 2024 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO.
The sixth edition of the Autodromo do Algarve’s 24-hour has already seen close to 90 drivers from 19 different nationalities sign-up, an array that includes reigning and former 24H SERIES champions, class winners, and even frontrunners from Australia’s prestigious Supercar Championship.
GT3
Herberth Motorsport, the overall winner of the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO in 2020, will field a two-car effort in Portugal
2017 Overall GT Drivers’ ‘Continents’ champion Ralf Bohn will pilot the Bavarian team’s #91 Porsche 992 GT3 R alongside American teammates Scott Noble and Jason Hart once again following their podium finish in Mugello and 4th outright at Spa. The trio will be joined by Britain’s Ian Loggie, back for his first 24H SERIES event, fittingly, since winning in-class at Portimão in 2022, and his first with Herberth Motorsport since Dubai in 2021.
The line-up for Herberth’s second Porsche meanwhile (#92) will be headlined by team principal Robert Renauer. Also an Overall GT Drivers’ ‘Continents’ champion in 2017, Renauer will drive alongside the returning Vincent Kolb and Felix Neuhofer, and series debutant Max Mortiz.
After spirited outings at both Abu Dhabi and Dubai earlier this year, Grove Racing (#10) makes its first European start of the season at Portimão. Grove father and son Stephen will race the Mercedes-AMG GT3 alongside fellow Antipodean (and Supercar Championship race winner) Matthew Payne, who debuted with the team in Dubai.
2007 V8 Supercar Champion Garth Tander – also a five-time Bathurst 1000 winner – rounds out the Grove Racing line-up for Portimão, and is set to start his maiden 24H SERIES race on 10-11-12 May.
Hofor-Racing (#11) continues its full European campaign with CREVENTIC in Portugal with an unchanged driver line-up. 2017 Overall GT Drivers’ ‘Europe’ champions Michael Kroll, Chantal Prinz and Kenneth Heyer, all of whom finished 3rd overall at the 2017 event, will compete alongside Alexander Prinz (a GT4 winner in 2018) and Maximilian Partl.
2022 GT3 Drivers ‘Europe’ champions Michael Doppelmayr, Pierre Kaffer and Elia Erhart finished 2nd overall with Swen Herberger at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO in 2022. A result, following an impressive 6th overall (from the back of the grid) at Spa-Francorchamps, the quartet will want to repeat aboard the Saintéloc Junior Team Audi R8 LMS GT3 EVO II.
Doppelmayr, Kaffer, Erhart and Herberger will be joined by Philippe Chatelet in Portugal, as the Frenchman makes his first 24H SERIES start since the 2018 Hankook 24H DUBAI.
E2P Racing (#90) rounds out the GT3 field thus far with its Porsche 991.2 GT3 R. The Spanish team, the current GT3-Pro/Am standings leader, has once again confirmed Antonio Sainero and Pablo Burguera alongside Álvaro Parente for the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hours winner’s home endurance race.
992
Kobe de Breucker returns to the Red Ant Racing fold in Portugal after a one-round absence, and will race the #903 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup alongside 2022 992 Drivers’ ‘Europe’ champions Ayrton and Yannick Redant. Interestingly, the Redant brothers secured 992 class victory – and an overall podium – at the event in 2022, while de Breucker finished 2nd in-class that year aboard Red Ant’s sister entry.
The Belgian team has also registered Brent Verheyen, Peter Guelinckx and Michiel Haverans – the 992 runners-up at Spa – aboard its #904 Porsche.
Like Red Ant Racing, Orchid Racing Team has registered a dual-car line-up. Alexandre Mottet and Daniel Gillioz continue their full-season campaign in the #917 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup alongside Mugello teammate Antonio Garzon and the debuting Jeremy Brodard. Laurent Misbach and Loic Villiger, who finished 2nd in 992 at Mugello, will drive the sister #963 entry alongside Loic’s brother Frank, and GT4 European Series frontrunner Antoine Leclerc, back for his first 24H SERIES outing in more than two years.
Also continuing its season-long campaign in Portugal, HRT Performance (#967) enters an extended driver line-up for Portimão, as Stefano Monaco and team owner Kim Hauschild join Nicolas Stürzinger, Amedeo Pampanini and Linus Diener in the Algarve.
2023 992-AM Teams champion RPM Racing (#907) continues its 2024 title defense with the category’s reigning drivers’ champions Tracy Krohn (who made his 24H SERIES debut at the event in 2017), Niclas Jönsson, and Philip Hamprecht. Patrick Huisman, who took 992-Am class victory with the German team last year in Barcelona, makes his first European start of the season.
Magnus and Jonas Holmgaard, the 24H SERIES’ reigning TCR Drivers’ champions (and 2019 Junior Cup winners) headline Holmgaard Motorsport’s (#902) driver line-up alongside compatriot Martin Vedel Mortensen and two-time Hankook 24H DUBAI TCE winner Stéphane Perrin, the latter back for his second run with the Danish team.
SebLajoux Racing continues its affiliation with former CUP1 Teams’ champion DUWO Racing (#908) in Portugal, the latter of which already has a 991 class win at the event to its name. Team namesake Sebastien Lajoux will drive alongside Eric Mouez, back for his first CREVENTIC event since Abu Dhabi in 2023, and Solenn Amrouche.
Following its 6th in-class at Spa-Francorchamps, MRS GT Racing (#988) returns for its second 24H SERIES race of the season at Portimão with a brand-new line-up. The returning Shaun Thong, who finished 2nd in-class at the event in 2022, and Terence Tse, back for his first CREVENTIC event in close to six years, will compete with series debutants Marco Müller, Will Langhorne and Ricardo Costa.
Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#909) rounds out the 992 entrants. After a dire weekend in Belgium, the Dutch team will hope for improved fortunes at the Autódromo for Ivo, Rik and Luc Breukers, and 2019 Overall TCE Drivers’ ‘Continents’ champion Fabian Danz.
GTX, GT4 and TCE
Vortex V8 (#701) looks set to extend its GTX standings lead at Portimão with its Vortex ‘2.0.’ Team mainstays Lionel Amrouche, Philippe Bonnel, Gilles Courtois and Lucas Sugliano, who finished 2nd in-class at Mugello, are on driver detail.
Following back-to-back class wins in Mugello and Spa, Buggyra ZM Racing (#416) leads the GT4 title chase heading into the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO on 10-11-12 May. Team staples Aliyyah Koloc, David Vršecky and Adam Lacko will be joined aboard the Mercedes-AMG GT4 by FIA GT Championship race winner Jaroslav Janis.
The Czech-based team’s closest rival – Lionspeed GP (#424) – is just eight points adrift after securing the category runners-up spot at Mugello and Spa. The German squad, which also finished 2nd in-class at the 2022 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO, will run team founders José Garcia and Patrick Kolb alongside Patric Niederhauser and Dennis Bohn once again in its Porsche 718 Cayman Clubsport RS GT4.
The returning GSR Motorsport (#405) features an all-Lithuanian driver line-up – Ernesta Globytė, Rokas Kvedaras, Mindaugas Liatukas, Egidijus Gelūnas, and Aras Kvedaras – for only the second series start for its Ginetta G56 GT4.
Series debutant W Autosport Garage (#491) rounds out the GT4 entrants. Former class winners Thierry Chkondali and Michel Sallenbach, and the returning Marc Girard – all three of whom last competed with CREVENTIC at the 2023 Hankook 24H DUBAI – will pilot the French team’s Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO with series debutant Caryl Fritsché.
PR-V (#125) and CWS Engineering (#178) meanwhile are set to go head-to-head for TCE honours in Portugal. The former enters a Peugeot 308 Racing Cup for Christian Gloz, Hervé Houdré, and Alain and Flavien Remi (the quartet also raced together at the 2019 Hankook 24H BARCELONA), while the latter enters its established Ginetta G55 for Daniel Morris and team owner Colin White.