VILA REAL: VIEIRA AND STILL VICTORIOUS FROM THRILLING DUEL IN RACE 2

Veloso Motorsport duo Carlos Vieira and Hendrik Still capped off the third round of the Supercars Endurance season in style by claiming victory in Race 2 at the Circuito Internacional de Vila Real, a meeting counting towards the Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade. The pair's triumph came after a fiercely contested race, highlighted by the outstanding pace shown by Pedro Salvador and Hendrik Still.

Local hero Pedro Salvador, at the wheel of the Speedy Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, started from pole position and held the lead through the opening corners. However, Hendrik Still made a remarkable start in the Veloso Motorsport Porsche Cayman RS CS GT4, overtaking Francisco Abreu within the opening few hundred metres to move into second place.

What followed was one of the most spectacular moments of the afternoon. Despite making his first appearance on the demanding Vila Real street circuit, the German driver matched Pedro Salvador's blistering pace, with the pair pulling clear of the rest of the field and delivering a high-quality battle that thrilled the large crowd in the grandstands and around the circuit.

That opening duel came to an early end when Vítor Costa, driving the Monteiros Competições Porsche 911 Cup, and Michel Fernandes, in the J. Santos Competição Peugeot 308 TCR, became involved in an incident on the exit of the Araucária Chicane. The Portuguese-Luxembourgish driver moved his Peugeot up the inside on the approach to the following corner, but the two cars made contact and both ended up in the safety barriers. The deployment of the Safety Car was inevitable to allow the stranded cars to be recovered and the circuit to be cleared.

When racing resumed, almost the entire field took the opportunity to complete the mandatory driver changes. Benefiting from the absence of a pit-stop time handicap, unlike the Speedy Motorsport Toyota, Veloso Motorsport moved into the race lead with Carlos Vieira now at the wheel of the Porsche.

Shortly afterwards, a further lengthy Safety Car period neutralised the race once again, initially following Vasco Oliveira's excursion into the barriers in the Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO, and later after Sérgio Azevedo crashed the Batina Racing Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, with both incidents occurring at the Cipreste Chicane.

The race ultimately finished behind the Safety Car, allowing Hendrik Still and Carlos Vieira to secure overall victory as well as honours in the GT4 Pro class.

Pedro Salvador and César Machado guided the Speedy Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2 to second overall and second in GT4 Pro after another outstanding performance, while Francisco Mora and José Carlos Pires completed the overall podium in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Caetano Portugal Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2. The pair also claimed victory in GT4 Pro-Bronze for the second time this weekend, helping their team strengthen its lead in the Teams' Championship.

Having claimed victory on Saturday, Francisco Mora and Rodrigo Almeida secured fourth place overall and stepped onto the third step of the GT4 Bronze podium.

António Veloso and Patrick Cunha made their debut as a driver pairing, finishing an excellent second in GT4 Pro-Bronze aboard the Veloso Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT4. Orlando Batina and Sérgio Azevedo appeared well placed to challenge for the leading positions, but Azevedo's late accident denied the Batina Racing duo a finish.

Brothers Miguel and André Nabais, driving the Gianfranco Motorsport Toyota GR Supra GT4 EVO2, inherited victory after Ricardo Costa and Bruno Pires, in the Speedy Motorsport Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 RS CS, were penalised for failing to comply with the minimum pit-stop time.

After making a strong start, the Speedy Motorsport pairing consequently dropped to second in class. Vasco Oliveira and series returnee Manuel Gião, in the Racar Motorsport Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 EVO, showed competitive pace for much of the race, after yesterday’s division win, but Oliveira's contact with the barriers ended their hopes of fighting for the top positions.

Portuguese racer Rúben Vaquinhas steered the RV7 Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 to ninth overall while claiming victory in the GT4 AM division, once again demonstrating remarkable progress compared with his previous appearance in Vila Real, improving his best lap time by three seconds.

GTC – Caçoilo and Santos reign once again

Iberian pair Gabriel Caçoilo and Ángel Santos dominated the GTX division in the Chefo Sport by Petrogold Ligier JS2 R, confirming the Iberian pairing's excellent adaptation to the Vila Real circuit with a commanding victory.

Stephanie Hobeika and her driver coach, Will Hunt, finished second in the TRS Team McLaren 570S GT4, while Artur Ferreira and José Maria Marreiros brought the Veloso Motorsport Ligier JS2 R home in third after the car stalled on the starting grid moments before the race got underway.

Despite receiving two penalties for pit-stop infringements, André Fernandes once again imposed the pace in the AF Motorsport Porsche 911 Cup, taking another victory in the Cup division ahead of Adam Fawsitt, driving the Art of Speed Porsche 911 Cup, while Vítor Costa was forced to retire.

António Duarte brought the TRS Team McLaren 570S GT4 home in twelfth place overall to win the GTX Am class, despite still suffering discomfort following the accident he sustained during the opening free practice session on Friday.

Touring Cars – Teixeira stamps his authority

Portuguese touring car champion Daniel Teixeira produced one of the drives of the race. Starting only ninth on the combined grid, he fought his way through to finish fifth overall in the JT59 Racing Hyundai Elantra N TCR, taking victory in the Touring Cars category.

Michel Fernandes and Charles Valentiny both retired following an accident, while Frederico Formiga was forced to retire with transmission problems in the Art of Speed SEAT León Supercopa Mk2.

Following two fiercely contested races on the streets of Vila Real, Supercars Endurance bids farewell to one of the highlights of the season with every championship battle still wide open heading into the second half of the campaign. The series returns from 25 to 27 September at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, where drivers and teams will once again go head-to-head in what promises to be another decisive round of the 2026 season.