As expected, the beautiful blue skies and sunshine quickly gave way to threatening clouds and even rain in the first hour of the 4 Hours of Algarve.
Unsurprisingly, many competitors were caught off guard. Forced to slow down significantly while waiting for pit stops, some drivers suffered from the arrival of the rain, like Henrik Hedman.
The German lost control of his Oreca 07 N°81 from Dragonspeed USA at turn 4 and couldn’t avoid contact. Fortunately, he was able to continue. The chaos began on the Portimão circuit.
Everyone took advantage of the situation to dive into the pit lane. This sequence shook up the overall standings. At the end of the first hour, Algarve Pro Racing N°25, which started in pole position, maintained its lead ahead of United Autosports USA N°22 and Duqueine Team N°30.
Algarve Pro Racing continued its smooth progress. Fastest in free practice and in pole position on Friday morning, the Oreca 07 N°25, still led by James Allen, was definitely untouchable. After a hectic start to the race with the expected arrival of rain, the British driver gradually pulled away.
After the second hour of the 4 Hours of Algarve, James Allen had more than a 30-second lead over United Autosports USA N°22 driven by Marino Sato. Behind them, with pit stops playing a role, the competitors were more than a minute behind.
With one hour remaining in the 4 Hours of Algarve, the N°22 car driven by Oliver Jarvis took the lead. The pole-sitting Algarve Pro Racing N°22, driven by Alex Lynn, was in second place, followed by Job Uitert (Panis Racing).
In LM P2 Pro-Am, COOL Racing N°37 led by Malthe Jakobsen took first place ahead of another Oreca from United Autosports, the N°21. Nielsen Racing held the third position. The French team Ultimate led the LM P3 category ahead of Nielsen Racing. At the end of the third hour, Inter Europol Competition’s Ligier N°13 had to retire due to a fire.
Proton Competition’s N°16 car was leading the LM GTE category when it entered the pits at the end of the hour. Kessel Racing’s Ferrari took control of the race in this category.
With 22 minutes left, COOL Racing’s Malthe Jakobsen was hit by Tristan Vautier of Algarve Pro Racing. United Autosport’s N°22 car passed Algarve Pro Racing with just 10 minutes left in the race.
After falling in 4th place, Malthe Jakobsen with an impressive pace overtook the AF Corse and managed to close the gap to Nielsen Racing’s Mathias Beche, not enough tho on the track but in one last twist in this race, Nielsen Racing received a 10-second penalty just after the checkered flags for causing a collision, leaving first place to cool racing.
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LMP2
In the final hour of the race, the #22 United Autosports car driven by Oliver Jarvis took the lead, followed by the Algarve Pro Racing #22 with Alex Lynn in second place and Job Uitert of Panis Racing in third.
LMP2 PRO AM
COOL Racing’s #37 car with Malthe Jakobsen behind the wheel took first place in the LMP2 Pro-Am category, followed by another Oreca, the #24 Nielsen Racing.
The #24 was in the lead, but Beche Mathias received a 10-second penalty just after the chequered flags leaving the 1st place to #37 Cool Racing, they end up 2nd.
Third place is for the AF Corse #83 after almost taking the lead 20 minutes before the end, falling of the pace at the end.
LMP3
First place is for #12 WTM by Rinaldi Racing, 2nd place for #35 Ultimate and the last place on the podium is for #4 DRK Engineering.
LMGTE
Proton Competition’s #77 car take forst place in the LMGTE category, the same team is also in 2nd place with #16 after a close internal battle in the last hour.
Third place is for #60 Iron Lynx, it’s a podium full of Porsche 911 on a track that is normally in favor of Aston Martin and Ferrari LMGTE cars.
