Clash of the Titans at the 300 km Algarve Sports Cars

With a superb grid of 27 prototypes, GTs and touring cars, the second edition of the 300 km Algarve Sports Cars promises to be one of the headline attractions of the Algarve Classic Festival, as the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve welcomes a weekend of pure nostalgia on wheels from 30 October to 1 November.

As the unmistakable sound of classic racing engines once again echoes around the imposing Portimão circuit, the event’s flagship race promises a compelling blend of spectacle, fierce competition and nostalgia. Run over 120 minutes, or 300 kilometres, the race will feature mandatory pit stops for refuelling and driver changes. Eligible entries include sports-racing cars built between 1963 and 1972, alongside GT and touring cars manufactured between 1966 and 1980.

The 2025 edition was won by Britons John Emberson and James Bellinger at the wheel of a Chevron B19, ahead of João Macedo Silva and José Monroy in a Lola T70 Mk3 Coupé. Third overall went to Joel Hopwood and Nigel Greensall in a Chevron B8, with the pairing also claiming victory in the H-1969 class. All three cars will return for this year’s event, each crew determined to fight for the winner’s trophy and the Briston Watches timepiece awarded to the race winners.

Fitting Tribute to the Golden Age of Motorsport

In an impressive starting grid, the H-1972 up to 2000cc class is the largest, with ten entries, and features a strong contingent of Chevron and Lola sports-racing cars. These two British marques have close ties to Portuguese motorsport, both at home and in the former overseas territories.

Alongside the B19 driven by last year’s winners, John Emberson and James Bellinger, Kyle Tilley and Phil Keen will share an identical car, which ran near the front in 2025 and set the race’s fastest lap in 1:52.225. Alan Purbrick and David Brise, Robin Ellis and Andy Wolfe, and Paul Cope and John Sheldon — the latter a former Group C racer — will each take the wheel of another Chevron B19.

The sixth Chevron in the class is a B21 with an international history, having raced in Angola and Portugal and carrying the colours of Team BIP. On Portimão’s roller-coaster circuit, the car in which Carlos Gaspar secured third place in the 1972 Rampa da Penha (hillclimb) will be shared by the four-driver line-up of Carlos Tavares, Edgar Botelho Moniz, José Forte and Frédéric da Rocha.

While the marque founded by self-taught engineer Derek Bennett fields six cars in this class, its contemporary rival, founded by Eric Broadley, is represented by three examples: two T290s, the model that claimed pole position in 2025, and a T212.

Nicholas Topliss and James Topliss will share a Lola T290, while Alex Collins and Martin Stretton, a three-time FIA Historic F1 Championship winner, will campaign an identical car. Completing the grid are James Claridge and James Denty in the same Lola T212 that competed in the 1971 24 Hours of Le Mans, driven by Guy Edwards and Roger Enever.

The class offers further variety with the entry of a 1970 Daren Mk 2, a formidable machine entrusted to Georg Kjallgren. Just eight examples of this prototype, powered by a 1,600cc Cosworth FVA engine, were built in British workshops between 1968 and 1972. Only two have survived, and both are now maintained by Richard Doe’s Triple R Restoration.

The H-1972 over 2000cc category brings together four spectacular Lola T70s. Alongside the Mk3 Coupé that João Macedo Silva will share this time with Diogo Ferrão, David Kelly and Stephen Doyle will team up in a Lola T70 Mk3B run by Gary Dunlop Motorsport.

Bruno Pereira, Charlie Hyett and Michel Speyer will campaign another Mk3B, entered by Pegasus Classic Engineering, which fought for victory in last year’s race until mechanical trouble brought its challenge to an end. The fourth T70 is even rarer: a Mk3B Spyder, one of just four originally built. This very special Lola will be driven by Marc Devis and Nick Padmore, two highly experienced historic racing competitors. Padmore is well known to Portuguese fans for his victories at the Estoril Classics, driving Lotus machinery in the pre-1986 Formula 1 category.

The six entries in the H-1969 category evoke one of the most memorable eras in endurance racing. Last year’s class winners, Joel Hopwood and Oliver Bryant, will share the same Chevron B8, while Robin Tuluie will compete solo in his own example. Bernard Foley and Lewis Dunlop return in their Crosslé 9S, a compact prototype born in the workshops of Crosslé in Holywood, near Belfast, Northern Ireland, which finished second in class last year.

Following their podium finish in the previous edition, Richard McAlpine and Nigel Greensall return with the 1965 McLaren M1B, a prototype powered by a 5,700cc V8 engine. Designed by Bruce McLaren for his assault on the Canadian-American Challenge Cup, the legendary Can-Am series, this machine remains an icon of the era.

GT/TC: Heritage and Tradition

But this grid is about far more than sports-racing prototypes. At the heart of endurance racing lies the spectacle of different classes battling wheel-to-wheel on the same circuit. Seven cars representing seven distinct schools of touring car and GT racing will take to the track in the GT/TC class, driven by competitors well known on the Iberian circuits from their many battles in the Iberian Historic Endurance series. To underline the importance of touring cars and GTs in this captivating endurance race, Briston Watches will also present a timepiece to the highest-placed finisher in a class that, in period, always raced alongside the prototypes.

French-speaking duo Olivier Muytjens and Brice Pineau, last year’s 300 km class winners, return in the same competitive Porsche 911 3.0 RS, prepared by Belgian outfit HY Racing. Given its pedigree, the car starts as the natural favourite.

Ralf Schnitzler and Patrice Campillo will share a Datsun 240Z, which competed in this year’s 300 km of Paul Ricard. Although the model is best remembered for its rallying exploits, the Japanese sports car also contested the world’s greatest endurance classics, including Le Mans, Sebring and Daytona. Alongside the Datsun, Garagem João Gomes will also provide support for the Porsche 924 shared by António Reis and José Carvalhosa, as well as the 911 2.5 ST to be driven by father-and-son pairing Piero and Guilherme Dal Maso, alongside Marco Nunes.

American muscle car enthusiasts will be delighted to see the imposing Shelby Mustang GT350, powered by a 4,700cc engine and entered by the Shelby Mustang GT350R Team for Ernesto Silva Vieira and António Paquete. Completing the entry list are two machines from Ecurie Luxembourg: a BMW 2002, driven by Michel Welter and Felix Feltes, and an Alfa Romeo GTAm entrusted to Patrick Wilwert and Philippe Vermast, winners of the H-1965 GR2 sub-class at the Historic Endurance 3 Hours of Spa in April.

How to Watch:

Throughout the weekend, the Algarve Classic Festival invites spectators on a journey through the history of motorsport, bringing together racing machines from different eras in a nostalgic atmosphere, accompanied by the unmistakable sound of engines from a bygone age.

Admission is free for children aged 3 to 16. Tickets are available through the event’s official website, algarveclassicfestival.org, with several options to choose from. The Main Grandstand ticket provides access to the main grandstand; the Paddock ticket includes access to both the main grandstand and the paddock; while the VIP Tower ticket also grants entry to the VIP Tower, alongside access to the paddock and main grandstand.

Qualifying is scheduled for 16:40 on Friday, 30 October, with the headline event, the 300 km Algarve Sports Cars, taking place late on Saturday afternoon, 31 October. The race will finish after sunset, creating an unforgettable spectacle as the cars sweep around the circuit illuminated only by their headlights, just as in the great endurance races of yesteryear.