Estoril Circuit Presentation ELMS

The final round of the 2015 European Le Mans Series, the 4 Hours of Estoril, will take place in the fantastic seaside resort of Estoril (municipality of Cascais). Built in 1972, the Estoril circuit is situated close to the Atlantic coast, about 30 km from Lisbon and has undergone numerous transformations and changes since it was created.

A very technical circuit

The 4.182km track offers a unique configuration to the drivers with 13 corners (4 left and 9 right), and a long 985 metre straight, as well as some important elevation variations. The highly technical sequence of the corners, including the Turn 4 and Turn 6 hairpins, will force the teams to prepare a versatile car with good top speed and great agility through the bends.

History

In 1984, the Estoril race track was the scene of a historical moment in Formula 1 as Niki Lauda became the new F1 champion on his return after two years of retirement. However Estoril will also be remembered as the venue where Ayrton Senna scored his first Formula One victory in 1985, as well as the great overtaking move by Jacques Villeneuve on Michael Schumacher in 1996…

The first prototype endurance race on the Estoril circuit took place in 1972, the year the track was built, but the public had to wait until 1977 to see a “real” endurance race thanks to the ACP Grand Prix which was part of the World Sports Prototype Championship. In 2001, the Le Mans Series organised the 1000 km of Estoril, and in 2011 came the 6 Hours LMS. Finally in 2014, the European Le Mans Series brought the spirit of Le Mans back to Portugal with the 4 Hours of Estoril ELMS, which was the venue of the final round of the season. It was a fantastic finale which saw a fifth different team win during the five race season, in front of a passionate Portuguese crowd of 20,000.

European Le Mans Results (2014):

LMP2: Sebastien Loeb Racing – No.24 ORECA 03R Nissan – Capillaire/Eriksson

Fifth team to win an ELMS race out on five different circuits

LMGTE: SMP Racing – No72 Ferrari 458 Italia – Zlobin/Bertolini/Shaitar

GTC: BMW Sport Trophy Marc VDS – No.87 BMW Z4 GT3 – Leinders/Paltalla/Hassid

First participation of the team in a ELMS event