• The 2023 season continues on 8, 9 and 10 September after a well-deserved summer break
• The European championship comes to Portugal for the 3rd time since 2019

The 2023 season of the Ultimate Cup Series continues this weekend at Estoril in Portugal, where the championship took off in March 2019.

Built in 1972, the Estoril circuit is a place steeped in history. It was home to Formula 1 between 1984 and 1996, when Ayrton Senna won his first F1 race, but it has also hosted the FIA GT and the DTM.

All the protagonists are in the starting-blocks on the eve of this fourth stage, which marks the changeover to the second half of the season. The 600 kms of Estoril will feature three days of intense competition for the following four grids: Troféu GTE (GT Endurance), Troféu Proto (Endurance Proto), Troféu GTS (GT Sprint) and Troféu Formula (Single Seater).

All the races will be broadcast via live streaming.

Troféu Proto: TS Corse and Team Virage battle it out in LMP3

LMP3

The quality of the field on offer in the sport-prototype discipline has resulted in some exciting races since the opening of the season, and above all an indecisive battle for the championship, particularly in the LMP3 category. And with good reason, three different teams have won the first three races: Team Virage, then TS Corse and finally Zosh Compétition.

Ayrton Simmons arrived in Portugal at the top of the standings on behalf of the Italian team TS Corse (#27 Duqueine D08) with a total of 67.5 points, just a few points ahead of George King, the driver of Team Virage (#14 Ligier JS P320) who has 61. The Briton will be reunited with Manuel Espirito Santo and Viacheslav Gutak, with whom he triumphed at Le Castellet.

Graff Racing could well be the spoilsport on its return with a Ligier JS P320 which will be entrusted to Vincent Capillaire (eight appearances in the 24 Hours of Le Mans), Stephan Rupp and Nicolas Chartier.

NP02

Once again, it will be hard to predict the winner of this fourth round in the NP02 category. Here too, three different cars won in as many races contested. The first was the CD Sport team at Castellet, followed by Racing Spirit of Léman at Navarra, before victory at Hockenheim for ANS Motorsport.

The latter team, with the #72 Nova Proto driven by Frédéric Croullet and Mathys Jaubert, topped the category with 59.5 points, just behind them came Daniel Bassora, Mathias Beche and Philippe Yschard (n°21 DB Autosport) with a total of 52 points. On the third step of the podium, Nicolas Maulini and Jacques Wolff (Racing Spirit Of Leman #51) will be back this weekend.

Among those mentioned, Mathys Jaubert will be one of the big absentees from the 600km of Estoril, and will be replaced by ANS Motorsport team boss and driver Nicolas Schatz.

With two podium finishes from three races, Dimab Motosport by ANS will also be keeping an eye on the race and could also be in the fight for victory.

CN

The 600 Kms of Estoril will also see Sacha Clavadetscher and Iko Segret with ANS Motorsport in the CN category. The two men have the chance to build on their success of the last two rounds, which saw them take back-to-back victories.

The 4-hour race will take place on Sunday September 10, between 9.15am and 1.15pm (UTC+1).

 

Troféu GT Endurance: A line-up as varied as ever and the battle resumes in the premier class

After an excellent first half of the season, the Visiom team, still with its winning trio of Jean-Paul Pagny, Jean-Bernard Bouvet and David Hallyday, will be aiming for another victory in the UGT3A category.

In the Porsche Cup, local team Racar Motorsport will be in the thick of the battle, up against championship regulars Martinet By Almeras (Porsche no. 95/Dorchy-Martins) and Seb Lajoux Racing. The Seb Lajoux Racing 911 GT3 Cup ‘992’ #58 will see Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer share the wheel with Lauris Noroy and Lucas Walter. The return of the 2B Autosport team with Olivier Favre, Yann Penlou and Hugo Chevalier is also worthy of note.

Victory in the UGTC4A category will be contested by the #17 BMW M4 GT4 for L’Espace Bienvenue and the #8 Ginetta GT4 G55 for CMR.

Estoril will also see the return of ANS Motorsport’s #42 Ligier JS2 R, as well as the 488 Challenge of the XP Racing team, in UGT3B, which will be looking to collect as many points as possible to return to the championship.

The 4-hour race will bring the weekend to a close on Sunday September 10, between 2pm and 6pm (UTC+1).

Troféu GT Sprint: Ten makes compete in Portugal

In the GT Sprint, variety is once again the order of the day. No fewer than ten different makes are represented, with each model more prestigious than the last. Starting with the Renault RS01 entered by AB Sport Auto with a certain Franck Thybaud. Thybaud returns to the Portuguese track where he won the GT Sprint title in 2021. In the same UGT3A category, the CMR team is fielding a Bentley Continentale GT3 in the hands of Eric Mouez and Jean-Marc Bachelier.

It will also be interesting to see whether either of these two teams has what it takes to succeed the Porsche 992 Cup of Seb Lajoux Racing, the latest Porsche Cup and overall winner at Hockenheim. The latter will be joined by a newcomer to the series, the local Racar Motorsport team, as well as the French 2B Autosport team which, in addition to its participation in GT Endurance, will be fielding its Porsche in GT Sprint with the father-son duo of Olivier and Romain Favre.

The UGT3B category will have a strong Italian and Maranello flavour. The SR&R team will be fielding two Ferrari 488 Challenge cars, with Lorenzo Cossu and Alessio Bacci still in the #13, while the #33 is still driven by Edouardo Barbolini and Francesco Atzori. The two Italian crews will probably cross paths with Patrick Michellier, the only CMR team representative at Estoril in this class (Ferrari no. 73).

The UGTC4A series is the largest GT Sprint class for this fourth round of the season. The Alpine A110 GT4 and the Audi R8 LMS GT4 of the Speedcar team are lined up alongside another R8 GT4 entered by Milan Compétition, not forgetting the BMW M4 GT4 of Rosel Racing by l’Espace Bienvenue.

To complete the field, the UGTC4B category will see the Mitjet 2L, driven by Serge Nauges, and the n°555 Ginetta GT4 G50 driven by François Denis.

The three races will take place on Saturday 9 September.

 

Troféu Formula: The duel at the top intensifies between Gaspard Le Gallais and Paul Trojani

The fourth act in the battle for the title in the Single-Seater Challenge on the Estoril circuit, between Swiss driver Gaspard le Gallais (CMR) and Frenchman Paul Trojani (Graff Racing). The two young men are separated by just twelve points in the F3R category. There’s no shortage of opportunities to overtake on the Portuguese track, especially as every point can make all the difference at the end of the season.

In the overall standings, Walter Ryckart in his #2 Tatuus F3R has the opportunity to consolidate his third place on behalf of Formula Motorsport.

Jordan Roupnel, who has been putting in some very solid performances in the FR2.0 category since the start of the season, will be the other key player in the Single-Seater Challenge at Estoril. After nine wins in as many races, he has also consistently finished in the top 4 overall. Now in F3R, he could well be one of the sensations of the end of the season, not forgetting Laura Villars, Formula Motorsport’s female driver, who is continuing the adventure.

Last but not least, the Polish team Team Virage, used to endurance racing in the Proto Challenge, makes its debut in the Single-Seater Challenge this weekend with Argentine Juan Francisco Soldavini Nores, aged just 16.

The first race takes place late on Friday September 8, with the other two races on Saturday afternoon.