The third round of the Formula Le Mans Cup will take place on the spanking new Algarve circuit in Portugal. It is located near Portimao in the far south of the country, and the new motor sports complex will welcome prototypes for the first time in its history. It looks like being a very hot weekend from all points of view, as high temperatures are expected and out on the track the battle will be fiercer than ever. Nico Verdonck and Gavin Cronje emerged victorious in the first two rounds at Spa and on the big Le Mans circuit, but their rivals are determined to put an end to their winning streak in Portugal.

In the DAMS squad, the joint leaders in the overall classification will team up with Luca Moro and Wolfgang Kaufmann as well as two drivers from GP2 new to the Formula Le Mans Cup, Jérôme d’Ambrosio from Belgium and Italian, Samuele Buttarelli. The last two will provide serious opposition to the championship regulars in the third round.

Hope PoleVision Racing has decided to stick with the same drivers as at Le Mans: Mathias Beche‐Valle Makela and Christophe Pillon‐Natacha Gachnang. The Swiss woman driver, who finished on the podium on her first outing the Formula Le Mans Cup, is hoping to repeat this exploit in the Algarve, while Beche‐Makela will be out to score their first victory of the season after three rostrum finished on the trot.

The Boutsen Energy Racing team will also bring along three cars for its regular drivers and some newcomers. Gary Chalendon will team up with Dimitri Enjalbert and they will be hoping to repeat their Spa podium finish. Pascal Ballay will be absent for this race so Johan Boris Scheier will be backed up by German, Dominik Kraihamer. The third car will be driven by Thomas Duchêne and newcomer, Damien Chanard, who has raced in promotion formulas like the Clio Cup and the Peugeot 207 THP.

In the LD Autosport camp there are no changes in the driver line‐ups with one car for Damien Toulemonde‐David Zollinger, who are hoping to get the monkey of their backs once and for all, and the other for Philippe Haezebrouck‐Marc Faggionato.

The Portuguese round sees the arrival of a new team in the Formula Le Mans Cup, the Spanish Ecurie Española de Pilotos outfit. The Madrid‐based team will make its debut in the championship with a Greek driver, Kosta Kanaroglou, and a Spaniard, Olivier Campos‐Hull.

As at Le Mans, the Ibanez Racing Service squad will enter a single car for William Cavailhes and Frédéric da Rocha.

As the weekend schedule in the Algarve is rather different to the usual one with the Le Mans Series race at night, practice will take place on Thursday with qualifying on Friday and the two races on Saturday afternoon and on Sunday morning. For this event the drivers will have an extra half‐hour’s testing.

Source : Formula Le Mans