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This year there was another chance to experience the thrills provided by the Le Mans cars at the Algarve International Autodrome between 30th July and 2nd August

Almost 50 cars competed in the 1000km Le Mans Series race at the International Autodrome outside Portimao. The undulating circuit is an impressive venue up in the hills less than 10 miles from the Algarve coastline.

The main Le Mans Series race of over 200 laps started at 19:15 on 1st August and racing continued into the night for around 6 hours in total. This was the first time a night race has been held at the circuit and the first time the Le Mans Series has come to the track. Six other support races completed the busy race weekend schedule. The organisers were also providing other attractions over the weekend including a concert in the paddock for spectators.

The Algarve race circuit, which was built during 2008, is located 20 miles north of Lagos and 40 west of Faro airport. The Portuguese Grand Prix has been held on street circuits in Lisbon and Porto and more recently at the Estoril circuit, but several F1 teams have already used the Algarve circuit for testing and the new circuit has hopes of staging an F1 Grand Prix race at some stage in the future. Those ambitions took another step forward later in the year when the circuit hosted the final round of this year's GP2 series on 19th and 20th September and will host the final round of the World Superbike Championship at the end of October.