Six drivers will split the race weekend across the World Endurance Championship and the GT World Challenge Europe because of a scheduling clash at Portimão.
Why the clash happened
The 3‑Portimão hour, the final round of the 2026 Endurance Cup, was moved to Saturday evening by SRO Motorsports Group so that key World Endurance Championship (WEC) entrants could travel between Spain and Portugal while title battles remained open. Teams were instructed to re‑stage the Barcelona circuit, prioritising LMGT3 over Hypercars. The decision forced a handful of drivers to double‑book their commitments late in the season.
The drivers in two cups
Mattia Drudi – listed with Aston Martin Racing in the WEC – will first defend the Heart of Racing colours in the #27 Vantage LMGT3 before switching to the #7 Vantage for the GT World Challenge, taking over from regular Marco Sorensen. He will be joined by Ross Gunn and Nicki Thiim.
Thomas Fleming and Benjamin Goethe, both with Garage 59, will drive the #10 and #58 McLaren 720S LMGT3s for WEC, then fly to Portugal to share the #58 Gold Cup car with Louis Prette. Marvin Kirchhofer will sit out at Algarve, replaced by Jack Hawksworth who will co‑pilot the #59 PRO CUP 720S alongside Dean Macdonald and Joseph Loake.
Darren Leung will toggle between WRT’s #32 M4 LMGT3 in the WEC and the #991 Bavarian GT3 of his Paradine Competition team in the Bronze Cup.
Peter Dempsey will drive the #34 TF Sport Coron™ in Spain and the #93 Tempesta Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in Portugal, where he secured the Sprint Bronze Cup title.
Rui Andrade, normally with Iron Lynx‑Mercedes in the WEC, has been called up by Motopark to drive the #19 AMG GT3 in the Silver Cup at Portimão.
Other reshuffles and implications
Max Verstappen will drive the #3 Mercedes into the WEC, joined by Ben Barnicoat and Chris Lulham. Iron Lynx‑Mercedes’ Maxime Martin will remain in the LMGT3 class, with Ralf Aron stepping into the GT World PRO car for GetSpeed Performance.
Ferrari and AF Corse have reallocated roles after dropping out of the GT World Pro title fight; Nicklas Nielsen and Alessio Rovera keep the 499P and 296 DMG, while Lorenzo Ferrari and Nicola Lacorte will cover the #51 296 Pro entry for Portimão. Sean Gelael will switch to the #50 car with Maranello, paving the way for Albert Costa to partner Lilou Wadoux and Arthur Leclerc.
Impact on the remaining roster
BMW’s Raffaele Marciello will maintain his spot in the #15 M Hybrid V8, while Dan Harper and Augusto Farfus handle WRT’s #69 and #32 M4s. Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann will sit in Rowe Racing’s #98 M4 backing Jake Dennis, and Neil Verhagen will helm the #46 M4 for Valentino Rossi and Max Hesse.
Antares Au and Riccardo Pera will stay in Spain with Garage 59 McLaren and Manthey Porsche, causing Rutronik Racing to omit the #97 911 from the Bronze Cup for the final endurance race.
The double‑booking phenomenon highlights the logistical tensions at a season’s climax, and forces teams to fine‑tune driver line‑ups across series without compromising performance.
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