Carrera 80 ends 2025 with two great races at Estoril

Race Ready-organised Carrera 80 series closed the 2025 season with two thrilling races at the Autódromo do Estoril, held as part of the Estoril Endurance Festival programme. The grid, featuring a vibrant mix of Touring and GT models, delivered a great spectacle for both drivers and spectators.

On a day with excellent weather conditions for motorsport, and at one of Europe’s most iconic circuits, Brice Pineau and Olivier Muytjens, driving a Porsche 911 RS for HY Racing, claimed victory in the first race after an intense battle with Pedro Bethencourt, who returned this weekend to Iberian competition with his Porsche 934 prepared by Portuguese outfit Aurora Motorsport.

The opening moments of the first race were marked by a battle between the Porsche of the Franco-Belgian duo and the Porsche 934 run by Garagem Aurora. After the driver change, the Porsche 944 Cup of Diego d’Ambra / Jess Frandsen took the lead thanks to a shorter pit stop time, as it was running on Toyo tyres rather than slicks.

However, the RaceStreaming Sunders car would eventually give way with seven laps remaining, allowing the HY Racing Porsche to retake the lead and secure a well-deserved victory, also claiming the win in the GT Copa category.

Third place overall went to César Freitas at the wheel of his BMW 323i, the fastest of the Touring Cars and winner of the competitive Group 2. The RP Motorsport driver finished ahead of Manuel Ferrão in his Ford Escort MKII RS1800 and the Ford Capri 3000 GT of brothers Jorge and Gilberto Corrêa.

In the second race of the day, held over 40 minutes, the duel between the two blue Porsches — the HY Racing entry and that of Pedro Bethencourt — resumed once again. A Safety Car period bunched up the field before the driver-change window opened.

The Porsche 944 once again exited the pits in the lead, maintaining a strong pace, and it was only on the penultimate lap that the Porsche 911 RS finally managed to overtake the car of the Spanish squad. In a top three made up entirely of GT Copa cars, Pedro Bethencourt secured third place after overtaking Manuel Ferrão on the final lap.

In Group 2, Manuel Ferrão asserted himself at the wheel of his iconic model, finishing ahead of César Freitas and the Corrêa brothers.

The T2000 class battle ended in a tie: the Spain's Eficar Team pairing of Juan Alonso / José Antonio Zorrilla, driving their usual Honda Civic, won one of the races, while Arlindo Beça’s Toyota Carina E won the other.

The race also featured plenty of entertaining moments, with Frederico Formiga’s Honda Jazz and Frederico Castro’s Rover 25 swapping positions with models from other classes, such as the debuting SEAT Ibiza of Miguel Mateus and the Datsun 1200 of Guillermo Velasco / Celso de Miguel, winners of Group 1 / N.

Carrera 80 bids farewell to the 2025 season, promising to return in 2026 with even more competitiveness and new developments to be announced soon.