FRANCISCO MORA AND RODRIGO ALMEIDA WIN EMOTIONAL SEASON OPENER IN PORTIMÃO

The opening GT4 race of the 2026 Supercars Endurance championships delivered a spectacle of remarkable intensity to everyone present at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, with wheel-to-wheel battles unfolding across every division. In the end, victory went to Francisco Mora and Rodrigo Almeida in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2.

Following the emotional qualifying sessions earlier in the afternoon, the first race of the season began dramatically as pole-sitter Mathieu Martins stalled at the start, dropping his Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO several positions and handing the lead to César Machado, followed by Carlos Vieira, who immediately looked aggressive and capable of fighting for the lead.

Shortly afterwards, the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman CS RS and the Speedy Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 became involved in contact which forced the retirement of the former Portuguese Rally Champion due to a water leak, while the two-time Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade champion saw his race severely compromised, effectively ending any hopes of fighting for victory.

Later, as the race entered a decisive phase and shortly before the driver changes, Mathieu Martins, who had climbed to second place in the Racar Motorsport Aston Martin, was forced to retire following a wheel rim failure, losing what could have been a very positive start to the season.

Francisco Mora and rookie Rodrigo Almeida therefore inherited the lead and controlled the second half of the race on their way to a comfortable victory. The Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal duo managed the 26 laps with intelligence and pace, eventually crossing the line in isolation.

Behind them, Rafael Rajani and Luís Aguiar, driving the McLaren Barcelona - SMC Motorsport McLaren Artura GT4, produced one of the pleasant surprises of the day by finishing second, 8.680 seconds behind the winning car, in an excellent performance from the young drivers making their Supercars Endurance debut.

Third place went to Filip Vava and Tomás Granzella, who produced a strong recovery drive in the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4 to finish 16.630 seconds behind the winners, demonstrating that both the Stuttgart-built machine and the Spanish squad have the potential to fight regularly for podium finishes.

In GT4 Pro-Bronze, one of the fiercest battles of the afternoon saw José Carlos Pires and Francisco Abreu, in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, secure victory and fourth place overall despite receiving a ten-second penalty for exceeding track limits.

The pairing that won the Supercars Endurance title in 2023 was forced to carefully manage the gap to birthday celebrant Orlando Batina and Nuno Pires. Despite the setback, Francisco Abreu and José Carlos Pires successfully resisted the pressure from their rivals, with the Batina Racing Toyota taking second place. The class podium was completed by Kyam Potez and Himar Acosta in the CV Performance Group x JP Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT4.

In GT4 Bronze, Vasco Oliveira and Ivan Velasco proved clearly dominant. The Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage GT4 EVO pairing climbed as high as the overall top five before eventually finishing eighth overall, which was more than enough to secure victory in class. Ricardo Costa and Andrés Prieto finished second in the NM Racing Team Mercedes-AMG GT4, just 0.777 seconds behind after steadily closing the gap in the final stages. Benefiting from the retirement of Paulo Macedo and Luís Calheiros, Andrius Zemaitis claimed third place in the Nokotech Racing by Speedy Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, giving the team a very encouraging start to the season.

Rubén Vaquinhas and Rómulo ‘Mico’ Mineiro also began the year on a high note. The Gianfranco Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 drivers emerged victorious in GT4 Am, despite the McLaren Artura GT4 of Jaime Sanchis and Alex Wendt having led during the opening half of the race. The Promotion Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 EVO driven by Smörg and Javier Macias finished second, while Miguel Ferreira and Fernando Soares completed the podium in an Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 during NGT MotorSport’s debut weekend in the GT4 category.

The second and final GT4 race of the Supercars Endurance weekend, counting towards the Iberian Supercars, Campeonato de España de Supercars and Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade, is scheduled for tomorrow at 14:05. The race will be broadcast live on DAZN Portugal and DAZN Spain, and will also be available on the Race Ready YouTube channel with coverage in Spanish, English, German and Italian.