iRacing Portimão 1000: Gustavo Ariel and Diogo Pinto win top split of historic Special Event

10 years ago, when iRacing first introduced driver swaps, the Honda HPD was the top Prototype car, often seen lapping the GT1 and GT2 machinery in long endurance races. The Portimão 1000km brought all that back this weekend with a historic special event, one which provided excellent racing.

In the top broadcasted split, Jake Denehan took his first-ever special event top split pole position for Grid and Go, while Redline drivers Gustavo Ariel and Diogo Pinto lined up behind under the Equipe de Corrida banner, not as a Redline entry.

As the race got underway, and the two teams broke clear, Denehan and Pinto had an extraordinary battle in the opening hour. 

With different downforce options selectable on the Honda, Denehan’s was faster in a straight line, while Pinto had an advantage through the corners, although it didn’t look like it when the Brit went around the outside of turns seven and eight to retake the lead on one occasion.

Eventually, though, Equipe de Corrida broke clear and, with Ariel driving in the second half of the race, started to do shorter stints of around 25 laps, as opposed to Grid and Go, who did at least 36 laps each stint. 

This gave the Brazilian two extra stops to make, meaning he’d have to catch and pass Sean Campbell, the finishing driver in #001, in the last 15 laps. Ariel caught with about 12 to go, and Campbell held on for nearly half that time, but eventually broke too late at turn five, as he had done in an earlier battle, letting Ariel and Pinto cruise through to victory. 

GT1 top split

The Corvette and Aston Martin did battle once again in GT1, and it came down to a battle of the manufacturers in the final hour. Torque Freak Racing’s Aston Martin came out just behind Soelpec Precision Racing’s Corvette, with the latter having made their final stop slightly later after fuel saving throughout the day. 

It turned out to be just enough for them, as despite a valiant chase, Soelpec got home to win by a single second. It was a stark contrast to the early stages of the race, where SimRC Legends, led by Jurgen Frank and Team Heusinkveld, were the ones battling for the win, ahead of a number of ‘retro’ teams that returned for this race. 

GT2 top split

There wasn’t much of a battle for the win in GT2, save for Treq skipping tyres in the first pitstop to get ahead of Pace Worx Esports briefly; it was an easy win for the latter. In a race with two close finishes, the smallest and slowest class was settled by an entire lap. 

It was a brilliant return to the HPD, GT1 and GT2 dynamic, historic racing showing once again to be excellent entertainment.

With the IMSA Vintage Road America 500 earlier in the year becoming a Special Event staple, you must wonder whether this race, with its numerous extraordinary on-track battles, has done enough to earn its permanent place on the calendar.