The most international championship in the history of the Porsche C6 Bank Endurance Challenge will start in Europe, more precisely in Portugal. The Autódromo Fernanda Pires da Silva, popularly known as Autódromo do Estoril, 31 km from the capital Lisbon, will be the stage for the first stage of the long-distance championship of the category in the 2024 season on Saturday, June 22, with a race of 300 kilometers or 2h30min of maximum duration on the 4,182-meter track and 13 curves.

A success since the first long-distance race in 2015, the Endurance Challenge has been consolidated by the competitiveness and exchange between the regular talents of the Porsche Cup C6 Bank Mastercard and their guests – in the best Pro-Am style of the world's great endurance events. And this year, the championship will have the differential of two races abroad: in addition to Estoril, in Portugal, the modern Autódromo de Termas de Río Hondo, in Argentina, will host the category at the end of September.

In total, there are 14 international rounds in the history of the Porsche Cup C6 Bank. Portugal has hosted six events: four in Estoril (2011, 2012, 2014 and 2019) and two in Portimão (2012 and 2013). Argentina, on the other hand, returned to host the category last year, after a five-year absence. Previously, the South American country hosted races in Buenos Aires (2010, 2011 and 2017) and Termas (2016, 2017, 2022 and 2023). The other country to host one of the world's most produced race cars was Spain at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in 2013.

The regulation remains the same as last year. The race will be divided into two segments, with 40% of the points awarded to the teams that have covered 75% of the initial segment and made at least one mandatory pit stop. In Estoril, the forecast is that the complete race will have 72 laps – the size of the first segment will be disclosed in the particular regulations of the race, on the weekend of the event.

The driver with the most experience of the duo (B.O.P., Balance of Performance) will have a lap limitation in the race. None of them will be able to do consecutive stints: that is, the change of drivers will be mandatory at each of the pit stops. Each of them is categorized as platinum, gold, silver, bronze, or copper.

The status of each competitor is defined by an intricate combination of elements, which considers how long the driver has or has not been active, the category where he regularly competes, the category where he last competed, his age, record in Porsche Cup C6 Bank events, among others.

Just like last year, each pair will have to make three mandatory pit stops of at least six minutes in the first stage. The teams will have eight-minute windows to make their stops on predetermined laps and informed later in the Particular Race Regulations.

As in the Sprint championship, each team can discard a segment in the final score. That way, a car that has problems in the middle of a race can stay alive in the title race until the end. The grid definition is determined by the average of each driver's best laps in qualifying, so the fastest pairs prevail regardless of whether the driver is the fastest in their session.

Another characteristic feature of the planet's major long-running events is present in the event: several categories simultaneously battling it out on the track. They are two distinct divisions, each with three subcategories. The Carrera Cup is intended for the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup of the 992 generation, equipped with a 4.0-liter engine and ABS brakes. The Challenge class uses those from the previous version, 991-2. Each one is subdivided into a general one – in which everyone competes – Sport and Trophy. The classification of the crews in the Sport and Trophy classes is established by the combined B.O.P. of each team.

In the opening of the Endurance Series in Estoril, Portugal, and in the second stage, in Termas de Río Hondo, Argentina, the races will be 300 km or 2h30 long, disputed only by pairs. The final race, at Interlagos, will be 500 km long and can be contested by pairs or trios.

List of entries in numerical order*:

Carrera Cup
#1. Alceu Feldmann and Guilherme Salas
#3. Franco Giaffone and Cesar Ramos
#7. Miguel Paludo and Alan Hellmeister
#8. Werner Neugebauer and Rubens Barrichello
#9. Edu Guedes and TBC (R)
#14. Carlos Campos and Tony Kanaan (S)
#15. Leonardo Sanchez and Átila Abreu (R)
#25. Paulo Souza and Galid Osman (R)
#27. Josimar Junior and Sergio Ramalho (S)
#29. Rodrigo Mello and Thiago Camilo
#33. Bruno Campos and Nicolas Costa (R)
#56. Peter Ferter and Diego Nunes (S)
#70. Lucas Salles and Rafael Suzuki
#74. Piero Cifali and TBC (R)
#77. Francisco Horta and William Freire (S)
#80. Rouman Ziemkiewicz and Nelson Piquet Jr (S)
#84. Gustavo Farah and Raphael Abbate (R)
#85. Eduardo Menossi and Antonio Felix da Costa (S)
#88. Georgios Frangulis and Pedro Boesel (S)
#100. Sebá Malucelli and Marcos Gomes (R)
#111. Pipe Bartz and Dudu Barrichello
#139. Célio Brasil and Israel Salmen (R)
#199. Nelson Marcondes and Luiz Razia (S)
#544. Marçal Muller and Enzo Elias
#888. Lineu Pires and Beto Gresse (S)
#911. Leandro Martins and Dieter Svepes
(S) Sport / (R) Rookie

Sprint Challenge
#2. Luiz Souza and Bruno Bonifácio (S)
#17. André Gaidzinski and Wagner Pontes (R)
#19. Luiz Landi and Tom Filho (R)
#22. Caio Castro and Matheus Iorio
#23. Leonardo Herrmann and Vitor Baptista (S)
#38. Eric Santos and Gabriel Robe (R)
#44. Giuliano Bertuccelli and Pietro Rimbano (S)
#45. Paulo Totaro and Guga Lima (R)
#66. Sadak Leite and Fabio Carbone
#72. Antonella Bassani and Leticia Bufoni
#166. Miguel Caetano and João Posser
#83. Alceu Feldmann Neto and Gabriel Casagrande (R)
#808. Iago Garcia and Miguel Mariotti (S)
#999. Cláudio Reina and João Gonçalves (R) (S) Sport / (R) Rookie