Francisco Carvalho and Nuno Batista will campaign an Araújo Competição-prepared McLaren 570S GT4 in this year’s Iberian Supercars Endurance and Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade by Hankook.
Guarda native Francisco Carvalho is one of the best known drivers of the Portuguese motor racing scene, having won several titles throughout his extended career, including the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade GT4 class in 2012, the GTS class in 2014 and Iberian Supercars Endurance GT4 Bronze class in 2022. He also won the Category 4 title in 2007, which makes him four times Portuguese Champion, and the GT4 South European Series Bronze class in 2020.
Nuno Batista is another big name in the Portuguese motorsport arena, having in his curriculum the titles of the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade in GT class in 2015, GT Cup in 2013 and also in Touring Cars class in 2011, 2010 (Category 2) and 2009 (Category 3). All in all Batista is a five time Portuguese Champion, and in 2018, the Oporto driver also won the Spanish GT championship.
The McLaren 570S GT4 of Araújo Competição will carry nine titles of the Portuguese national series, but it is not expected that this weight will slow it down, quite the contrary, being the Portuguese duo determined to battle for the triumph in the GT4 Bronze class.
Francisco Carvalho said: "this was the championship where I wanted to be, after having won the GT4 Bronze title last year. It is a competition that has the cars that, in my opinion, have the best cost-benefit (GT4), and very appealing machines both for drivers and spectators. I have to thank the support of my sponsors to take part in a championship that is the most professional in the Iberian Peninsula. We will work hard to fight for the victory in each race and to win again the GT4 Bronze title, and I believe that in Nuno I have a fast and competitive team mate to achieve these goals.”
Nuno Batista added: "Francisco Carvalho and I wanted to repeat the good experience we had in 2016, when we fought for the Campeonato Nacional de Velocidade until the last race. This year we were able to gather conditions to repeat with a car and a team to match our ambitions. I believe in the competence of the promoters and in the media visibility of the competition, which was determinant for our decision, since this is the only way we can give a return to our sponsors. We intend to battle for the GT4 Bronze title, having as another goal to try to win one or other race overall. I believe we are a strong duo, fast, homogeneous and with a lot of experience. I hope we can put on a nice display and give our opponents a good fight for the enjoyment of people who like motor racing!”
Race Ready CEO Diogo Ferrão added: “it is a pleasure to welcome Francisco and Nuno to our championships! Francisco is the GT4 Bronze champion, and we know him well in our organization, being always a top positions contender. Nuno has an equally impressive CV and it is fantastic to welcome him to this new format of the Supercars Endurance. With a class winner team and such an award-winning duo, they will be a strong competitor that will contribute to a lot of excitement on track and to give a great show to the public that follows us at the circuits and through television broadcast.”
