As is traditional, multiple European Le Mans Series squads have remained at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve after the conclusion of the season finale and Rookie Test for additional post-season running.
29 cars from 13 teams took to the circuit today, for a variety of purposes ranging from leisure to Asian Le Mans Series and general 2027 testing.
AF Corse was present with six cars: two ORECA 07 – Gibsons and four Ferrari 296 GT3 Evos, one of which was in LMGT3 specification. All bar one of these cars was running on Michelin tyres, likely in preparation for the upcoming Asian Le Mans Series.
Julien Andlauer and Alessio Rovera tested the #83 ORECA, whilst Phil Hanson (below) and Alex Demirdjian turned laps in the second LMP2, which ran as #50 today but will be the #55 in the Asian Le Mans Series.
Algarve Pro Racing was present with three ORECA 07 – Gibsons, testing a variety of drivers from the ACO paddock and beyond.
This included ELMS LMP3 racer Nick Adcock (below), with this believed not to be connected to any future racing plans, as well as Jacek Zielonka, Sebastian Murray and Maxwell Dodds. Several of the team’s regular drivers, including Matthias Kaiser and Michael Jensen, were also present.
The Portuguese outfit was also supporting Team Virage’s ORECA, and a previous-generation Duqueine D08 LMP3 for Mark Krader.
Algarve Pro’s hospitality unit has received a further update following last night’s ELMS award ceremony, with both the LMP2 Pro/Am Teams’ Championship and Stewart Cox’s Personality of the Year trophies joining the impressive display.
CLX Motorsport and DKR Engineering were each present with an ORECA 07 – Gibson and a Ligier JS P325 – Toyota apiece. Louis Iglesias and Kevin Rabin were amongst the drivers on-site for the former, whilst Chun-Ting Chou, Loris Kyburz and Lucas Fecury were with the latter.
High Class Racing’s #54 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) LMGT3 featured Stefan Aust and Felipe Fernandez-Laser on the driving roster.
IDEC Sport and Inter Europol Competition both fielded an ORECA 07 – Gibson, whilst Kessel Racing was running its #57 Ferrari 296 LMGT3 Evo on unbranded tyres, which appeared to be Goodyears, and could potentially be 2027 development rubber. The driver(s) of the Ferrari is unconfirmed, but one of the team’s 2026 ELMS pilots, Mathys Jaubert, was on-site.
Proton Competition was running an ORECA 07 – Gibson alongside a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 R (992.2) LMGT3s. Claudio Schiavoni, who told DSC sometime ago that he is looking to return to racing in 2027, turned laps in the #77 Porsche. Lucas Fluxa piloted the #75 Porsche, with Lenny Ried also driving for the team.
Ried, unfortunately, was involved in a misunderstanding during the morning running which led to contact with Jonny Edgar, who was piloting one of Racing Spirit of Léman’s pair of Aston Martin Vantage AMRs ahead of his Asian Le Mans Series programme with the team.
Alongside its Algarve Pro-supported LMP2, Team Virage also ran a pair of Ligier JS P325 – Toyotas, with Haydn Chance, Bruno Ribeiro and Kacper Sztuka amongst the drivers testing for the Polish squad.
United Autosports fielded both of its ORECA 07 – Gibsons, with Pierre-Alexandre Provost, Ian Aguilera and August Raber all having turns behind the wheel. IndyCar driver Sting Ray Robb is set to run with the Anglo-American squad tomorrow.
And finally, Enea Frey followed up his Rookie Test outing with further running aboard Vector Sport’s #7 ORECA 07 – Gibson LMP2.
After conversations with teams up and down the paddock across the past week, the most pressing concern seems to be that several confirmed Asian Le Mans Series competitors appear to be finding it difficult to put together complete driver line-ups.
Tomorrow will see the last of seven consecutive days of ELMS-related running at Portimão come to an end, before the growing number of SRO-associated trucks are unleashed upon the paddock for this week’s GT World Challenge Europe, GT2 European Series, GT4 European Series and McLaren Trophy Europe finales.
Images courtesy of David Lord
