THERE’S AN ATMOSPHERE TO Estoril. Not an electric, dramatic one, more a semi-sleepy, half-forgotten one. The hotel close to the circuit’s gates that in a previous life would have been heaving with patrons during Portuguese Grand Prix weekends is abandoned. The track within the gates, half an hour’s drive from Lisbon, is faded but still smart; packed with history without feeling like a museum piece. I really like it here. F1 last visited in 1996; MotoGP in 2012. But it’s still an active circuit, and a well-maintained one, used nowadays for various racing events, car launches and testing.
Today is a bit of a blend of all three. In the pitlane is a contingent of engineers from Porsche Motorsport and two different, equally immaculate, racing 911s. It’s a timely moment to test both of them: this year the new LMGT3 racing class replaces the more costly GTE category in the World Endurance Championship, meaning GT3-spec racing cars will now race at Le Mans, in the hands of private teams. Among them will be a pair of Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, just like the stunning blue/lime-green car here.
The Porsche Supercup, meanwhile, has just celebrated its 30th birthday: the Formula 1 support race championship for identical race-spec 911s kicked off in 1993. The domestic Carrera Cup championships around the world, which use the same 911 GT3 Cup car, have been running for far longer, starting with the original Carrera Cup Germany series in the ’80s. On an average in-season weekend, at least five Carrera Cup championships are running around the world, with around 80 cars in action across multiple continents, including Europe, Asia, North
