One race now decides everything. Algarve Pro Racing won a rain-hit 4 Hours of Silverstone on 13 September, and all four class titles remain open going into the season finale, the 4 Hours of Portimão at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve on 9–10 October 2026. Finale tickets are on the European Le Mans Series page on webook.com from EUR 8, and under-16s enter free with a paying adult.
Who won the 2026 4 Hours of Silverstone?
Algarve Pro Racing. The team’s no. 25 crew of Matthias Kaiser, Jake Hughes and Ben Barnicoat won a race upended by heavy rain at half distance, taking the team’s first victory since Spa 2023 and becoming the fourth different overall winner of the 2026 season, per the organiser’s official race report.
The class results underline how open this championship is. TDS Racing’s no. 14, with Steven Thomas, Sami Meguetounif and Scott Huffaker, won LMP2 Pro/Am and finished second overall. R-ace GP’s no. 85 of Fabien Michal, Pierre-Alexandre Provost and Hugo Schwarze took the team’s first ELMS win in LMP3. And in LMGT3, the no. 62 Team Qatar by Iron Lynx Mercedes-AMG delivered the brand’s first ELMS LMGT3 victory, with Abdulla Ali Al-Khelaifi becoming the first Qatari driver to win in the series.
Repeated full-course-yellow periods and a strategy-scrambling downpour kept the result in doubt deep into the final hour. Silverstone had drawn a 47-car entry, which tells you the health of the grid this finale inherits.
How does the European Le Mans Series work?
It is a multi-class endurance championship: LMP2 and LMP2 Pro/Am prototypes, smaller LMP3 prototypes and production-based LMGT3 cars all race the same four hours on the same track, with professional and amateur drivers sharing each car. The series is run by the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, the club behind the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and class champions earn an automatic invitation to Le Mans itself.
What is at stake at the Portimão finale?
Every title. The organiser confirms that all four championships — LMP2, LMP2 Pro/Am, LMP3 and LMGT3 — reach the final round undecided. Going into Silverstone, LMP2 was tied at the top on 70 points between the no. 29 Forestier Racing by Panis entry and the no. 22 United Autosports car, with IDEC Sport’s no. 18 on 52. The post-Silverstone classification publishes on the series’ official site once results are confirmed, so treat the points table as live until then.
That Le Mans invitation is why the last four hours of a season tend to be raced as hard as the first. Nobody cruises to a title here; the wet Silverstone race just proved it.
When is the 4 Hours of Portimão 2026?
The finale weekend runs Friday 9 and Saturday 10 October 2026. Qualifying takes place on Friday, and the four-hour race starts on Saturday 10 October. Note the day: this is a Saturday race, not the Sunday most people assume for a season finale, so plan travel and hotel check-out around it. Exact session times appear on the organiser’s timetable closer to the weekend.
How much are ELMS Portimão tickets?
The organiser has published five ticket tiers for the finale, and its own ticket announcement routes buyers to webook.com. The prices below are the organiser’s published prices as of September 2026:
- Race Day — EUR 8: Saturday entry with grandstand and paddock access.
- Discovery — EUR 10: grandstand and paddock on both days, plus the Friday pit walk and main-straight walk.
- Premium — EUR 25: everything in Discovery, plus the driver autograph session.
- Platinum — EUR 30: everything in Premium, plus the pre-race grid walk.
- VIP Tower — EUR 75: a two-day Platinum pass with seating in the VIP Tower.
Under-16s enter free with a paying adult. At EUR 10 for two full days including the Friday pit walk, the Discovery ticket is the quiet bargain of Europe’s autumn motorsport calendar. All tiers are on the official European Le Mans Series page.
What do you actually get at the track?
Endurance racing keeps fans close to the machinery. Every ticket tier includes paddock access, so you can watch crews working on the cars between sessions. Discovery and above add the Friday pit walk and main-straight walk, Premium adds the driver autograph session, and Platinum puts you on the grid itself before the start. Four classes sharing one track means the overtaking never stops for long — and the under-16 policy makes it a cheap experiment in turning a child into a motorsport person.
Where is the circuit and how do you get there?
The Autódromo Internacional do Algarve sits at Sítio do Escampadinho, Mexilhoeira Grande, 8500-148 Portimão — the venue’s published address — in the hills behind Portugal’s Algarve coast. The circuit’s own race calendar lists the ELMS round on 9–10 October and points ticket buyers at the same webook.com page linked above, which is as clean a chain of custody as ticket buying gets.
Coming from outside Portugal, search flights on webook.com to the Algarve, and sort accommodation through hotels on webook.com — a base in Portimão puts the beach and the paddock in the same weekend. Everything else happening around the city is on webook.com’s Portimão browse page.
Turning it into a full Portuguese motorsport autumn? MotoGP returns to the same circuit on 20–22 November — the MotoGP Portugal 2026 guide covers that weekend — and the European sports trip guide strings these fixtures into one itinerary.
FAQ
How much are tickets for the 4 Hours of Portimão 2026?
Race-day entry starts from EUR 8 for Saturday 10 October, with grandstand and paddock access included. The EUR 10 Discovery ticket covers both days plus the Friday pit walk, while Premium at EUR 25, Platinum at EUR 30 and VIP Tower at EUR 75 add autograph, grid-walk and VIP seating benefits.
When is the 4 Hours of Portimão 2026?
The finale weekend runs 9 and 10 October 2026 at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve near Portimão. Qualifying is on Friday 9 October and the four-hour race starts on Saturday 10 October. Exact session times publish on the organiser’s timetable closer to the weekend, so check the listing before travelling.
Do children need a ticket for the ELMS finale?
No. Under-16s enter free when accompanied by a paying adult, under the organiser’s published ticket terms. Combined with paddock access on every ticket tier, that makes the Portimão finale one of the cheapest top-level motorsport days in Europe this autumn for families. Adult tickets are on webook.com.
Who won the 2026 4 Hours of Silverstone?
Algarve Pro Racing’s no. 25 crew of Matthias Kaiser, Jake Hughes and Ben Barnicoat won the rain-hit race on 13 September, the fourth different overall winner of 2026. Team Qatar by Iron Lynx took Mercedes-AMG’s first ELMS LMGT3 win, and all four titles now go to Portimão undecided.