ELMS - What format for the Portimão doubleheader?

The cancellation of the 2023 edition of the 4 Hours of Imola (see HERE) is due to renovation work that was started to accommodate the sacrosanct Formula 1 and which has unfortunately not been completed. "It's unfortunate but it happens," said LMEM director Frédéric Lequien in the Autódromo do Algarve paddock. "The safety commission was supposed to come by the day we arrived, and I don't want to play with that. It's not possible to take 1300 people there and tell them overnight that they won't race."

"We brought together our partners and the teams, and the solution came from them," he continued. "I absolutely wanted Imola to be held later in the season, but it turns out that none of our teams wanted a date that wasn't already on the calendar. And that's when the idea of a doubleheader came up, a solution that was once again validated by a vote that obtained 95% of the votes."

But in what format? Two four-hour races, that's a certainty, but when? "That is yet to be determined, but there will probably be a race on Friday and another on Sunday", he replied. With the first part being run at night? "We don't know yet, it's still a bit early. But yes, that's one of the questions we're asking ourselves."

Imola and ELMS are not angry, however, as the series will return next year, the contract having simply been postponed for a year, whereas it should have expired at the end of the current season.