The first international 24H SERIES race after the COVID-19 pandemic is really happening!

CREVENTIC is gearing up for its long-awaited return to the track next month at the Autódromo do Algarve for the 2020 Hankook 24H PORTIMAO. An event that already features several reigning series champions and former class winners on its ever-increasing entry list.

With just under a month to go before the fourth annual Hankook 24H PORTIMAO, entries numbers are continuing to rise in both the GT and TCE ranks for the first European race of the 24H SERIES powered by Hankook season.  

A pillar of the 24H SERIES since its inaugural edition in 2017, the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO is set to be the first real-world 24H SERES endurance event since January as lockdown restrictions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to be eased across Europe. The Autódromo do Algarve’s annual 24-hour race is also set to be the second official CREVENTIC event in as many months, following the highly successful ESPORTS 12H MONZA hosted via iRacing on 23 May.

With entry numbers well on their way towards 20-plus, CREVENTIC is forging ahead with plans to get its European season up and running in Portugal, with several high-profile teams throwing their weight behind the enterprise.

Herberth Motorsport is among the most notable confirmed entrants. The Bavarian team, which goes into this season as the defending A6-Am Teams’ champion in the 24H SERIES Europe, intends to run two Porsche 911 GT3s for the second year in a row. Team stalwarts Daniel Allemann and Ralf Bohn will once again partner with brothers / team principals Robert and Alfred Renauer in the #91 Porsche, while Jürgen Häring, Taki Konstantinou and Marco Seefried will team together in the sister #93 991. The latter, incidentally, took A6-Am class honours at the Autódromo do Algarve last year.

Speed Lover (#978), former SPX class champions in the 24H SERIES, look set to continue their developing rivalry in the ‘991’ category in Portimão. Speed Lover took two wins in-class last year in Brno and Barcelona. Dominique Bastien, Gavin Pickering and Olivier Dons have been confirmed in the Belgian Porsche.

 Last year’s GT4 class runner-up in the 24H SERIES Europe, and a former Overall GT Teams’ champion in both the European and Continental championships, PROsport Racing (#401) returns to the category with its Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. Team regulars Rodrigue Gillion and Nico Verdonck will lead the driver line-up alongside Belgian compatriots Tom Heeren and Laurent de Meeus. The field’s sole Aston Martin – thus far – will be joined in ‘GT4’ by Allied Racing in its first 24H SERIES start since claiming GT4 class honours in Imola, just over two years ago. The German team has also registered an entry in the ‘991’ class, which will be driven by Constantin Schöll, Jörg Viebahn, Nicolaj Möller-Madsen, Felix Hirsiger and Jan Kasperlik (#907). Detlef Schmidt, Dennis Fetzer, Bastian Buus, Felix Hirsiger and Jan Kasperlik meanwhile will partner up in the sister Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 CS MR (#407).

Last year, Autorama Motorsport by Wolf-Power Racing took four wins from seven outings to claim the Overall TCE Teams’ championship in both the 24H SERIES Europe and 24H SERIES Continents, and got its title defence off to a good start earlier this year with 3rd in Dubai. Like Herberth Motorsport and Allied Racing before it, Autorama has registered two cars for Portimão in the ‘TCR’ category. Overall TCE Drivers’ champion Yannick Mettler will be joined in the #112 Volkswagen by Jasmin Preisig, Miklas Born and Roberto Ferri, while Jérôme Ogay, Antti Bur and Kari-Pekka Laaksonen will drive the title-winning Golf GTi (#1).

 Autorama is far from the only former class winners travelling to the Algarve, however. AC Motorsport (#188), which finally broke its series’ duck by taking a popular maiden TCE win in Dubai in January, has entered an Audi RS3 LMS for Portimão and thus far has seasoned British motorsport icon Ricky Coomber on driver detail. Similarly, Red Camel-Jordans.nl (#101), which took TCE wins last season at Spa-Francorchamps and the Circuit of the Americas, returns to 24H SERIES action with a CUPRA TCR for father-son duo Ivo and Luc Breukers, and Belgian teammate, Sven Van Laere.

Comtoyou team Audi Sport (#117), an established race winner in the World Touring Car Cup, will make its 24H SERIES bow in Portugal with an Audi RS3 LMS. World Touring Car Championship icon Tom Coronel headlines the driver line-up alongside Nicolas Baert and Gilles Magnus.

SPV Racing (#104) makes a welcome return to the 24H SERIES, having entered an Audi RS3 LMS for Philippe SMaali, Alvaro Fontes and Mirco van Nostrum in, what will be, the Spanish team’s first series start in more than 18 months. Thierry Boyer meanwhile is a familiar name on the driver line-up for series newcomer, CODE Racing Development (#124). The Frenchman will join compatriots Philippe Baffoun and Thierry Chkondali in the team’s Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

Finally, one of the 24H SERIES’ most popular, and hard-working, competitors – Colin White – has registered his tenured Ginetta G55 at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO. The CWS Engineering owner, and former SP3-class Drivers’ champion, will also take his customary place behind the Ginetta’s wheel alongside America’s Jon Brunot.