The World Endurance Champion (WEC) heads to Portimão, Portugal for round 2 of the championship at Algarve International Circuit this week. The race will be a 6 hour endurance race that marks the return of Portugal to the WEC event calendar. Algarve International Circuit is a 2.891 mile circuit that features 15 turns and a variety of elevation changes throughout. Hypercars travel almost 50% of the track at full throttle reaching speeds of 193+mph. The circuit hosts many racing series year over year, and it is used as a testing facility for the majority of the WEC drivers. Cadillac Racing, Ferrari AF Corse, Porsche Penske Motorsport and Floyd Vanwall Racing Team will all be making their European Hypercar debut in Portimão.
After securing a 1-2 finish at the 1000 miles of Sebring, Toyota Gazoo will be looking to capitalize on their early lead in the championship standings. One camp that will be looking to change this outcome is Ferrari. The Ferraris looked keen on winning in Sebring. However, after some on track traffic issues, poorly timed yellow flags and malfunctions with the cars; they were not able to capitalize on their pole position start.
The Cadillac V-Series.R will make its debut on European soil. After a strong performance at Sebring the Cadillacs will test their grit in what should be a very competitive field. Toyota leads Ferrari with Cadillac rounding out the top three with 18 points. There is plenty of room for movement in the championship standings. Tensions will be high in an effort to solidify dominance in WEC round two.
Where can you watch?
37 cars have entered the race. Free practice is set to kick off at 12:00pm local time on April14 2023. Coverage for the race can be found at FIA World Endurance Championship TV.
You can find the full entry list here which include Hypercars, LMP2 and LM-GTE Am classes.