Algarve Classic Festival Announces Stellar Line-Up as Tickets Go on Sale

The Algarve Classic Festival returns to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão from 30 October to 1 November for three days celebrating the history of motorsport and the passion for racing. With tickets now on sale, the event once again stands out as one of the highlights of the national motorsport calendar for historic racing enthusiasts, offering a varied programme featuring different eras, categories and cars that have helped shape the evolution of motor racing.

Organised by Race Ready in partnership with the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, this historic racing festival combines practice sessions, qualifying and races, bringing touring cars, GTs, single-seaters and prototypes to the track. The programme features a total of 15 races, offering a true journey back in time through the history of motor racing.

For the second consecutive year, the headline race will be the 300 km Algarve Sports Cars. Following the success of its inaugural edition, the race returns with a format of 120 minutes or 300 kilometres, including mandatory pit stops for refuelling and driver changes. The grid will feature prototypes built between 1963 and 1972, alongside GT cars manufactured between 1966 and 1980.

Taking place late on Saturday afternoon, the race aims to pay tribute to one of the most memorable eras in Portuguese and international motorsport. Its closing stages, with cars lapping the circuit on their headlights, will recreate the atmosphere of the great endurance races that defined generations of motorsport.

The programme also features some of the leading historic racing series of today, including Iberian Historic Endurance, the benchmark Iberian series for touring cars and GTs dating back to 1976. The event’s popularity is clear, with the entry list already exceeding 70 entries. To accommodate all competitors, the grid will once again be split into two races: Historic Endurance 1, featuring the GDS, H-1965 and 1965 GTP & SC classes, and Historic Endurance 2, reserved for the H-1971 and H-1976 classes.

The event’s international line-up will be further bolstered by the return, for the second consecutive year, of the prestigious GT & Sports Car Cup. This British-based series is open to GT cars built before 1966 and prototypes built before 1963 that have competed in the World Endurance Championship, offering spectators the chance to see some of the most iconic and charismatic cars in endurance racing history take to the track.

Also returning is Carrera 80, an Iberian series for GT and touring cars built up to 1993, which will hold its first race in Portugal this year at the Algarve circuit. The programme also features Group 1 Portugal, dedicated to pre-1981 classic cars built to Group 1 regulations and incorporating the Mini Portugal Trophy, as well as the Single Seater Series, the only single-seater championship on the bill. It brings together open-wheel formula cars with and without wings, ranging from Formula Ford and Formula Renault to early-1980s Formula 3 machinery.

This year’s programme will also welcome a new international grid, Equipe Sports Prototypes, bringing together a wide variety of prototype racing cars. Diversity is one of the series’ defining characteristics, with the grid typically featuring a range of Radical, Revolution and Praga models, alongside chassis from smaller-volume manufacturers such as Juno, Ligier, Chiron and Jade. The field also includes several unique examples and cars developed specifically for competition.

Beyond the on-track action, the Algarve Classic Festival is also a celebration of motoring culture. The Classic Car Parade, aimed at classic car clubs, will take place early on Sunday afternoon, offering visitors the chance to admire these automotive gems up close in a relaxed, family-friendly atmosphere.

With a fantastic journey through time in store for spectators, filled with nostalgia and the distinctive sounds of historic racing cars, tickets are now available via WeBook.com and at the circuit ticket office, subject to availability at the time of purchase. Several ticket options are available: the “Main Grandstand” ticket grants access exclusively to the designated grandstand; the “Paddock” ticket includes access to both the paddock and the Main Grandstand; while the “VIP Tower” option allows access to the VIP Tower, the paddock and the Main Grandstand.

Admission is free for children and young people aged 3 to 16. Tickets can be purchased via the following link: Algarve Classic Festival 2026 – Tickets.