Your guide to iRacing’s Portimao 1000 special event

It’s nearly here – one of iRacing’s latest additions to its Special Event calendar, the Portimao 1000, presented by Simucube, is a tribute to endurance races of old, held at Portugal’s premier racing venue.

Best of luck to those taking part. Here’s the important information you need to know about the race.

What is the iRacing Portimao 1000 Special Event?

One of the more distinctive iRacing Special Events (mass multiplayer participation), the iRacing Portimao 1000 is new-for-2025, but replicates the old – specifically, a 1000km race around Portugal’s Algarve International Circuit like in the real-world 2009-10.

Consequently, it’s a multi-class team event using some of the older cars in the sim racing platform’s roster.

When is the iRacing Portimao 1000 Special Event?

In 2025, the iRacing Portimao 1000 will be held between the 15th and 17th August at these five time slots, each with multiple splits:

• iRacing Portimao 1000 timeslot #1 – Friday 15th August 22:00 GMT, 21:00 BST, 22:00 CEST, 16:00 PT, 13:00 ET
• iRacing Portimao 1000 timeslot #2 – Saturday 16th August 07:00 GMT, 08:00 BST, 09:00 CEST, 03:00 ET, 00:00 PT
• iRacing Portimao 1000 timeslot #3 – Saturday 16th August 12:00 GMT, 13:00 BST, 14:00 CEST, 08:00 PT, 05:00 ET
• iRacing Portimao 1000 timeslot #4 – Saturday 16th August 16:00 GMT, 17:00 BST, 18:00 CEST, 12:00 PT, 09:00 ET
• iRacing Portimao 1000 timeslot #5 – Sunday 17th August 00:00 GMT, 01:00 BST, 02:00 CEST, 20:00 16th PT, 17:00 16th ET

How long is the iRacing Portimao 1000 Special Event?

It’s 1000km, as the name suggests, which is 215 laps. Mind you, how long will that take? Well, allocate somewhere around or just under six hours.

iRacing Portimao 1000 accepted cars

The vehicles in use are harking back to when this was a real-world event, and also a good excuse to use some less-spotted machinery.

The classes are:

LMP2

• HPD ARX-01c

GT1

• Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
• Chevrolet Corvette C6.R GT1

GT2

• Ford GT GT2

iRacing Portimao 1000 entry requirements

To take part in the iRacing Portimao 1000 Special Event, you must be an active iRacing subscriber, have achieved the D 4.0 Road licence, own the Algarve International race track (which is $14.95 excluding sales tax) and own one of the applicable cars.

None of the accepted vehicles is included in the base content roster for subscribers; therefore, they cost $11.95 (excluding sales tax) each, apart from the LMP2 HPD Acura, which is $2.95 as it is marked as ‘legacy content’.

Key session information

Ahead of the 2.4-hour race, there will be a 30-minute warmup session, followed by an eight-minute, or two-lap, qualifying session to set the grid.

As ever, based on your past record, you will be placed into splits, decided by iRacing’s system. This should place you into a race with similarly skilled drivers.

This is a team event, so that means a minimum of two drivers par car must enter and take to the wheel – but also it could be up to 16. It will be a 60-car grid.

The in-sim race start time for each time and date slot will be at 10 am, and the weather and sky are set to ‘dynamic’ – so you never know, there could be precipitation. Within the iRacing user interface, pre-event, check the event’s forecast.

Top split live broadcast

On 16th August, starting at 13:00 BST / 14:00 CEST / 08:00 ET / 05:00 PT, the iRacing online channels will broadcast the top split of this special event.

Those not taking part, or who enter at one of the different times, can watch along and see how the very best drivers manage.

How to register

To enter the iRacing Portimao 1000, load iRacing before your desired time slot. Registration will open between 30 minutes and one hour before the aforementioned timeslot time (listed above).

If you match the entry conditions, the 215-lap team race will be listed on the main official racing events page, and simply click the ‘register button’.

If you complete one of the earlier time slots, you can complete the race again if you wish. For instance, you could complete it three times, once per category.

Further information and debate can be found on the iRacing forums.