There are 37 cars entered in the 6h of Portimão which marks round two of the 2023 FIA World Endurance Championship season over the weekend of 14-16 April.
After the 1000 Miles of Sebring we’ll be back on track next week at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve to resume the hunt for the Toyotas, which in Florida dominated the race without worries.
Clearly, however, the characteristics of the Portuguese track are very different from those of the American circuit where Ferrari obtained its historic first Pole Position with the 499P, therefore in the Hypercar Class we can expect different scenarios, also counting on the prompt redemption of Cadillac and Porsche .
#50 Ferrari AF Corse Ferrari 499P: Antonio Fuoco, Miguel Molina, Nicklas Nielsen
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
The unknown factor remains once again Peugeot, which by now has as its primary objective that of not suffering from the technical problems that chronically afflict 9X8s, rather than counting on performance which on the ups and downs of the Algarve certainly takes second place in priorities.
Vanwall and Glickenhaus, on the other hand, will continue to gain experience with the same crews seen in the United States, but something more is expected from the American 007 LMH managed by Podium Advanced Technologies given that it made its debut in the World Championship in Portimão two years ago.
And at the wheel of the #708 we will still have Olivier Pla, Ryan Briscoe and Romain Dumas, waiting to understand how the crews’ cards will be reshuffled when Maximilian Götz arrives (about to make his debut at the 6h of Spa-Francorchamps later this month) and the car #709 of HK MotorCars for the 24h of Le Mans.
#48 Hertz Team Jota Oreca 07 – Gibson: David Beckmann, Yifei Ye, William Stevens
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
In Class LMP2 we have 12 Orecas registered for the event and in the Prema house there is the debut of Juan Manuel Correa, now available for the 07-Gibson #9 after Andrea Caldarelli had replaced him in Sebring given the simultaneity of commitments in Formula 3 in Jeddah.
Also keep an eye out for the Lamborghini-branded Prema boys of the #63 – Pin/Bortolotti/Kvyat – on the podium in the USA behind the Jota, who this time will put the local idol António Félix Da Costa on the #48 in Hertz livery together with the confirmed Ye and Beckmann.
The two crews of Team WRT and Alpine certainly have a thirst for revenge, while United Autosports will not be lacking in the leading positions, where Giedo Van Der Garde will take the place of Tom Blomqvist in the #23.
Keep an eye also on the individual cars of Vector Sport and Inter Europol Competition ready to take advantage of favorable situations.
#33 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R: Ben Keating, Nicolas Varrone, Nicky Catsburg
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Finally moving on to the 14-car LMGTE AM Class, it is clear that the run-up will be made on the #33 Corvette leader thanks to the home win achieved by Keating/Varrone/Catsburg in the first round of the year.
Ferrari is betting on the 488 #57 of Kessel Racing – back from the podium at Sebring – and on the trio of cars prepared by AF Corse, with the #83 branded Richard Mille which will have to make up for its premature exit from the American scene. On the #21 we will see the veteran Diego Alessi in his season debut in place of Stefano Costantini.
The Porsche battalion was led by the Iron Dames Frey/Gatting/Bovy with the #85 911, followed by the #60 sister car and Weissach cars tuned by Proton Competition, Dempsey Proton Racing, GR Racing and Project 1-AO.
Finally we have the Aston Martins of ORT by TF Sport, D’Station Racing/TF Sport and NorthWest AMR, the latter which filled the empty box on the second driver with Axcyl Jefferies, as communicated shortly before the Sebring round, but which appeared still empty in the first draft of the subscriber list.
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