MLMC Portimão Round – Facts and Figures

1. The first edition of the 4 Hours of Portimão was held on the 22 October 2017 and won by the no98 Motorsport98 Ligier JS P3-Nissan of Eric De Doncker and Andy Meyrick.
2. In 2017 the GT3 category was won by the no20 Gulf Racing UK Porsche 911 GT3 R driven by Ben Barker and Andrew Baker.This was the only time the GT3 Category has been won by Porsche.
3. Ferrari has won five of the seven races held at Portimao. Kessel Racing won in 2018 and 2019, Iron Lynx won in 2020 and 2021 and AF Corse in 2022, all with a Ferrari 488 GT3.
4. Giacomo Piccini is the most successful MLMC driver, with two wins for Kessel Racing in 2018 and 2019 alongside Sergio Pianezzola and one for Iron Lynx alongside Rino Mastronardi in 2020.
5. 2021 MLMC LMP3 Champions Colin Noble and Tony Wells have both won twice in Portimão. In 2018 Noble won alongside Alasdair McCaig for Ecurie Ecosse/Nielsen and in 2020 alongside Tony Wells for Nielsen Racing. In 2023 Tony Wells and Josh Skelton won for Nielsen Racing.
6. Ligier have won six of the seven races held at Portimão and have scored 15 of the 21 podium places, including clean sweeps in 2023, 2022, 2018 and 2017. Duqueine are on 4, including a complete sweep of the podium in 2020, and two podium positions (2^ndand 3^rd) for Norma in 2019.
7. Ferrari crews have taken 10 of the 18 podium places in Portimao, five of which are first place, and Ferrari took a clean sweep in 2018.Porsche is on 4 podium places, including a win in 2017, Aston Martin, Honda and Mercedes on 2 each, while Lamborghini took the win last year.
8. The longest race was held in 2021, with the winners completing 316.40km or 68 laps of the 4.653km circuit.(NOTE: the MLMC races held prior to the 2022 season were 120-minutes long).

There are 3 previous winners of the Portimão Round taking part in the 2024 edition of the race

1. Tony Wells (no7 Nielsen Racing) - 2023/2020 - LMP3
2. Colin Noble (no77 Team Thor) - 2020/2018 - LMP3
3. Eric De Doncker (no6 ANS Motorsport) - 2017 - LMP3

The current lap records were both set on 31 October 2020

1. LMP3 - Matt BELL - 1m36.881 - 172.9kph
2. GT3 - Julien ANDLAUER - 1m40.795 - 166.2kph

The fastest MLMC lap recorded at Portimão was set on 30 October 2020

1. Alessandro GHIRETTI - 1m34.897 - 176.5kph - LMP3 Qualifying

The Portimão Round is the final race of the 2024 Michelin Le Mans Cup and it will be held on Saturday 19 October.