The calendar for the first major Iberian racing circuit event of the year, which will be held in the Algarve in May, has been announced.
Two of most important circuit series in Portugal and Spain
Around two hundred cars are expected at the Algarve Welcome Spring
Three-day programme, 8 racing series and 18 races on the menu
The first major Iberian speed event of the year will be held at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve from 5 to 7 May. Around two hundred modern and classic racing cars will animate the "Algarve Welcome Spring".
Headlining the event will be the season opening race of the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade/Iberian Supercars, Portugal's biggest speed car competition, which brings together on track some of the most spectacular GT and Touring cars competing on the Iberian Peninsula.
The Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade is a competition that already has a long history in national motorsport, joining in Portimão once again with the Iberian Supercars Endurance. This year, expectations are very high, with a big boost given by drivers, teams and public, thanks to machines such as Mercedes, McLaren, Porsche or Audi. With two races per event, both lasting forty-five minutes, excitement seems guaranteed for yet another season, and all the races can be followed live on the competitions' social networks and on A Bola TV.
The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, which has hosted Formula 1 twice, features 16 turns and many rolling passages, nestled in the hilly hinterland of the Atlantic coast close to the resorts of Portimão and Lagos, and is the perfect scenario for the start of the season of the Iberian Historic Endurance. The Race Ready-organized series celebrates its 10th anniversary, keeping its successful semi-endurance format and a seven-event calendar, visiting prestigious circuits like Pau, Spa-Francorchamps, Estoril, or Jarama.
A bumper grid is expected for Portimão with entertainment races in H-1965, H-1971, and H-1976 classes under the well-known Historic Endurance "3 C" motto - "No Cheating, No Crashing, No Complaining." The Index of Performance and the 1000 km Trophy have been kept, as well as the Gentlemen Drivers Spirit class that meets the spirit of the Iberian Historic Endurance.
The 4.684-kilometer circuit will also host the opening round of the revitalized Carrera Los 80 racing series, which enters a new era in 2023 with four events in the Iberian Peninsula. The GT and Touring car racing series offer a platform where, above all, drivers can enjoy driving the race cars that marked a golden era of motorsport in an enjoyable atmosphere, with no points or a champion at the end of the season. The Carrera Los 80 calendar will "grow" this year, with two races in Portugal and another two in Spain, in four of the most prestigious motorsport venues in the Iberian Peninsula: Portimão, Jarama, Jerez, and Estoril.
With twenty entries expected for the start of the season, the semi-endurance format will continue this season, but this season each event will always consist of two 40-minute races, with a compulsory pit stop, allowing teams formed by one or two drivers, and welcoming Touring cars and selected Grand Touring cars from 1976 to 1993.
The Algarve Welcome Spring weekend also features the opening round of the Group 1 Portugal, Iberian Supercars Endurance/Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade (for GT4 and TCR cars), the local Super 7 series, and the Spanish Endurance championship.
For Diogo Ferrão, CEO of Race Ready, this start of the season "will begin in the best way, in an event in which there are more than 200 teams registered from all over the Iberian Peninsula and some even from Northern Europe. In short, all the condiments to be a great event, with races in number and quality in one of the best circuits in the world, the famous 'rollercoaster' of Portimão and 18 races for all tastes, the charm of the classics, the innovation of the modern GTs and the competition of the single-make series."
