24h Le Mans
The final battle for the titles in each of the three classes of the European Le Mans Series will play out at the season finale in Portimão, Portugal. Like at Spa-Francorchamps, the next-to-last round of the season, as many as 35 wins will comprise the starting grid.
For the first time since 2010, back when it was simply called the Le Mans Series, the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) will return to the circuit in Portimão, located near Algarve in the south of Portugal, serving as a replacement for the Estoril circuit that first figured on the ELMS calendar in 2014 as the closing round of the season.
The entry list includes six modifications to the composition of driver line-ups, with the arrival of Ricardo Sanchez at the wheel of Graff Racing's #39 ORECA 07, the only change in the LMP2 class. In LMP3, two drivers - the Russian Timur Boguslavskiy in By Speed Factory's #5 Ligier JS P3 and Italian driver Andrea Dromedari at the wheel of Eurointernational's #11 Ligier JS P3 - will make their respective debuts, and Frenchman Erwin Creed will return in the M.Racing - YMR team's #19 Norma M30 along with Yann Ehrlacher, the nephew of former Touring Car World Champion Yvan Muller. Lastly, in LMGTE, on the heels of his win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in LMGTE Am, Will Stevens will take the wheel once again in JMW Motorsport's #66 Ferrari 488 GTE, and German driver Immanuel Vinke will race Beechdean AMR's #99 Aston Martin Vantage.
In LMP2, the battle for the title is limited to a duel between G-Drive Racing's #22 ORECA 07 and United Autosport's #32 Ligier JS P217 with at the wheel local native and former official Audi driver Filipe Albuquerque. It is the same situation in the LMP3 class, with the Americans of United Autosport this time facing off against M.Racing - YMR. On the other hand, LMGTE is up for grabs given that five of the six cars in the class are still contenders for the title.
As Thursday is reserved for the administrative and technical verifications, the cars are scheduled to hit the track for the first time on Friday, October 20th at 2:15 p.m. local time for one half hour set aside for "Bronze" drivers (debuting or older) by the FIA so they can familiarize themselves with the 4.182 km track. All drivers will then head into the first 90-minute free practice session at 5:30 p.m.
A second 90-minute session is scheduled for Saturday, October 21st at 9:50 a.m., followed by the pit walk for spectators to access pit lane from 12:45 p.m. to 1:40 p.m., then 10-minute qualifying sessions for each of the three classes. Cars in the LMGTE class will kick things off at 2:40 p.m., followed by the LMP3s at 2:55 p.m. and the LMP2s at 3:10 p.m.
Once the autograph session from 9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. is concluded on Sunday, October 22nd, the cars will hit the track for the start of the 4 Hours of Portimão (all times are local but are the same as in the U.K.).
PHOTO (Copyright - Jakob Ebrey Photography/ELMS)
