Alexandre Areia and Nuno Afonso claim victory in thrilling GT4 race

The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve provided the stage for a fitting conclusion to an exceptional Supercars Endurance weekend, as the second GT4 race of the event delivered fifty minutes of intense competition. In the end, it was Nuno Afonso and Alexandre Areia who emerged victorious.

The race had everything: a battle for the lead between cars from different divisions and fights throughout the field of twenty-six entrants, after the RV7 Aston Martin of Roberto Faria and Joel Bergström was unable to start due to electrical issues, while the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman RS CS of Paulo Macedo and Luís Calheiros was ruled out by a gearbox problem.

The race began with Alexandre Areia leading at the wheel of the Gianfranco Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, closely followed by the similar Batina Racing machine shared by Orlando Batina and Nuno Pires, with Batina taking the opening stint.

The leading pair managed to keep their pursuers at bay during the first phase of the race, but the driver changes introduced a new protagonist into the battle — César Machado, who shares the Speedy Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 with Tomás Teixeira.

The two-time Portuguese Touring Car champion steadily reduced the gap to Nuno Afonso, applying serious pressure to the race leader. However, fate would ultimately intervene. An incident involving the Autoworks Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 and the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Ricardo Costa and Andrés Prieto brought out the Safety Car, neutralising the race and denying the field what had become the most compelling battle of the afternoon.

César Machado, having overtaken Nuno Afonso under Safety Car conditions, crossed the finish line first in the Speedy Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, but the infringement earned him a ten-second penalty, dropping him to second overall. Even so, he and Tomás Teixeira still secured victory in the GT4 Pro division.

Nuno Afonso and Alexandre Areia were therefore declared overall winners after having led almost the entire race, while also taking honours in GT4 Pro-Bronze.

Second place in GT4 Pro went to Mees Houben and Lachlan Evennett in another Speedy Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, following a composed and consistent race. Third place was claimed by Race 1 winners Francisco Mora and Rodrigo Almeida in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal Supra, despite carrying a ten-second success handicap from yesterday’s victory. As Houben and Evennett are not eligible to score championship points, Carlos Vieira and Philippe Gogollok inherited the points for third place in GT4 Pro.

GT4 Pro-Bronze provided another highly competitive contest. Nuno Afonso and Alexandre Areia, in the Gianfranco Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, added a class victory to their second place overall finish. Orlando Batina and Nuno Pires finished second in class despite carrying a five-second handicap from yesterday’s runner-up result, while José Carlos Pires and Francisco Abreu completed the podium in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal Supra, despite their own ten-second handicap following victory in yesterday’s class race.

In GT4 Bronze, victory went to André Nabais and Miguel Nabais in the Gianfranco Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, the duo reaching thirteenth overall after a clean and consistent race. Vasco Oliveira and Ivan Velasco crossed the line first in class aboard the Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO, but a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits relegated them to second.

Andrius Zemaitis, driving the Nokotech Racing by Speedy Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, confirmed the strong pace shown yesterday by once again securing third place in the division.

In GT4 Am, Jaime Garcia and Alex Wendt, in the SMC Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4, reversed the outcome of Race 1 to claim victory in only their second GT4 outing. Yesterday’s winners, Ruben Vaquinhas and Romulo “Mico” Mineiro, in the Gianfranco Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4, completed the weekend with another podium finish, confirming the consistency that places them firmly in the title fight. Third place went to Javier Macias and Smörg in the Promotion Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO.

The next round of the Supercars Endurance season will take place at the Circuito de Madrid Jarama-RACE from 5 to 7 June 2026. The event will count exclusively towards the Campeonato de España de Supercars and promises once again to gather a highly competitive field at one of the most historic circuits in Iberian motorsport.