The European Le Mans Series is heading to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for an exciting final event of the 2026 season, with 47 cars entered for the 4 Hours of Portimão with all four titles still to be decided.
ENTRY LIST
The 4 Hours of Portimão is also the home race for Algarve Pro Racing and for two drivers, Manuel Espírito Santo (no19 Rossa Racing by Virage) and José Fernandes Cautela (no5 Rinaldi Racing). In total there are 140 drivers and 3 teams representing 29 different nations for the ELMS Season Finale on Saturday 10 October.
LMP2: 11 Entries
The 2026 ELMS LMP2 title is a straight fight between the no22 United Autosports crew of Grégoire Saucy, Griffin Peebles and Ben Hanley and reigning champions Forestier Racing by Panis and Louis Rousset, Esteban Masson and Oliver Gray. Also at stake are two automatic invitations to the 2027 24 Hours of Le Mans.
2020 LMP2 champions United Autosports has a 13-point lead and is already guaranteed an invitation to Le Mans. Forestier Racing by Panis need to finish 5th or higher to secure the second Le Mans invite. However, they still face a strong challenge from the no25 Algarve Pro Racing of Matthias Kaiser, Jake Hughes and Alex Lynn, who replaces Ben Barnicoat for the 4 Hours of Portimão.
The no18 IDEC Sport of Jamie Chadwick, Valerio Rinicella and Laurents Hörr and no34 Inter Europol Competition of Reshad de Gerus and Bijoy Garg are also racing for that coveted invitation, but none of these teams can challenge for the overall title as they are more than 26-points behind United Autosports.
There is one other driver change on the LMP2 grid from the last race at Silverstone, with Luis Felipe ‘Pipo’ Derani replacing Jack Aitken in the no24 Nielsen Racing Oreca, the Brazilian driver joining Ed Pearson and Roy Nissany for the final race.
Reigning 24 Hours of Le Mans Champions and 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps race winners Nick Yelloly, Tom Dillmann and Kuba Smiechowski will be racing the no43 Inter Europol Competition and although they are out of title contention, they will be hoping for a good finish to their season in Portugal.
The no28 IDEC Sport crew of Paul Lafargue, Job Van Uitert and Paul-Loup Chatin took their second podium finish of the season in Silverstone and will be looking for another good result in Portugal.
The LMP2 field is completed by the no47 CLX Motorsport, the no9 Proton Competition and no10 Vector Sport Orecas, all with unchanged driver lineups from the Goodyear 4 Hours of Silverstone.
LMP2 Pro/Am: 12 Entries
With eight contenders still in the running for the 2026 ELMS LMP2 Pro/Am title, and with just 6-points splitting the four cars, there is all to play for in Portugal.
Former class champions AF Corse have a slim 5-point lead at the top of the table, with François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxiviere looking for their third title in four years, with former 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Antonio Fuoco hoping to add an ELMS title to his impressive CV.
TDS Racing enjoyed a perfect weekend in Silverstone, with Steven Thomas, Sami Meguetounif and Scott Huffaker II scoring 26-points to move up the standing to second on 62-points and a shot at the title in Portugal.
Portuguese team Algarve Pro Racing are just one point behind TDS Racing and Barcelona race winners Michael Jensen, Enzo Trulli and Malthe Jakobsen are hoping for a team home win to put them at the top of the championship table on Saturday evening. APR are tied on 61-points with the no30 Duqueine Team trio of Giorgio Roda, Richard Verschoor and Doriane Pin.
The no7 Vector Sport Oreca is still in contention with 4 Hours of Imola race winners Jens Reno Møller, Cem Bölükbaşı and Lorenzo Fluxa on 53-points, two ahead of the no19 Rossa Racing by Virage Oreca driven by Portuguese driver Manuel Espírito Santo, Dutch racer Rik Koen and former champion John Falb.
2025 class champions PJ Hyett, Louis Delétraz and Dane Cameron are on 45-points and have an outside chance of retaining their title this year. However, with 22-points between them and AF Corse, nothing less than victory in Portugal will do. Daniel Schneider, Marino Sato and Oliver Jarvis head to Portimao have a similar task in the no21 United Autosports Oreca after leaving Silverstone on 44-points thanks to a third place overall and second in class.
There is one driver change, with Tristan Vautier replacing Maceo Capietto, racing alongside Jean Glorieux and Marlon Hernandez in the no3 DKR Engineering Oreca.
The LMP2 Pro/Am field is completed by United Autosports, Nielsen Racing, CLX Motorsport and Proton Competition.
LMP3: 10 Entries
Three entries can still win the LMP3 crown with reigning champions CLX Motorsport holding the upper hand with a 9-point advantage over R-ace GP.
Paul Lanchère, Alexander Jacoby and Louis Iglesias are currently on 84-points following wins in Imola and Spa-Francorchamps and a second-place finish in Silverstone, while Fabien Michal, Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Hugo Schwarze are on 75-points following their first win of the season in the UK.
The no5 Rinaldi Racing Ligier of Portugal’s José Fernandes Cautela, Italian Alvise Rodella and Dane Mikkel Gaarde Pedersen is still mathematically in with a shot of the title, but with a 25-point gap to the no17 CLX Ligier, they will need to win the race and hope their rivals have a problem.
While the other seven cars in the LMP3 field are not in the running for this year’s title, and the coveted automatic invitation to the 24 Hours of Le Mans, they will still be looking for a strong finish to the season in Portimão.
4 Hours of Le Castellet race winners Alexander Buhkantsov, Henry Cubides Olarte and Chun Ting Chou will be back in the no13 Inter Europol Competition Ligier. Matthew Richard Bell, Douwe Dedecker and Max Van Der Snel will be in the no11 Eurointernational Ligier-Toyota, while Terrence Woodward, Lucas Fecury and Sebastian Gravlund will be racing the no35 Ultimate Ligier.
The no31 Racing Spirit of Léman is back to a three-man crew with Oskar Kristensen joining Lenny Ried and Ralph Meichtry in the Ligier JS P325-Toyota. The other driver change in the LMP3 field is reigning MLMC LMP3 Pro/Am champion Gillian Henrion replacing Wyatt Brichacek in the no4 DKR Engineering Ligier for the race in Portugal.
The LMP3 field is completed by Team Virage and M Racing.
LMGT3: 14 Entries
The LMGT3 grid will once again feature 14 cars, with 6 still in the running for the 2026 ELMS title.
After scoring the first ever ELMS victory for a Qatari flagged team, the no62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG leads the title race on 73-points with Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi and Julien Hanses leading the driver standings. They will be joined by Ralf Aron as they were in Silverstone.
2025 champions TF Sport are second on 70-points, with the no33 Corvette crew of Alec Udell, Blake McDonald and Charlie Eastwood knowing victory in Portugal would secure the 2026 crown.
The two Proton Competition Porsches are within striking distance with the no77 Porsche on 62 points and the sister no75 911 just one point behind. Martin Berry, Huub Van Eijndhoven and Harry King will be racing the no77 entry, while Barcelona winners Matt Kurzejewski, Thomas Sargent and Richard Lietz will be in the no75 car.
The no57 Kessel Racing Ferrari crew of Takeshi Kimura, Mathys Jaubert and Daniel Serra won in Le Castellet and with 21-points gap to the leader, the Swiss team know victory in Portugal is needed to keep their title hopes alive. 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps winners Michael Wainwright, Lorcan Hanafin and Mex Jansen also need to win in the no86 GR Racing Ferrari 296 as they are 23-points behind the no62 Mercedes-AMG with 26-points still left to be won in Portimão.
United Autosports will field their McLaren 720S LMGT3 Evo for Wayne Boyd, Michael Birch and Garnet Patterson. Reigning LMGT3 champion Rui Andrade is out of the running to retain his title, and he will be in the no63 Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG, with the Angolan driver joining Brazil’s Sergio Sette Camara and Britain’s Ameerh Naran.
The no 59 Racing Spirit of Léman Aston Martin will see Clément Mateu return to race alongside Valentin Hasse Clot and Marius Fossard.
The LMGT3 grid is completed by the no50 Richard Mille AF Corse, no51 AF Corse, the no55 Spirit of Race and no74 Kessel Racing Ferrari 296s and the no54 High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R LMGT3.
