Andre Negrao leads the Eight Hours of Portimao for Alpine Elf Matmut, while rivals Glickenhaus have been forced into the garage after contact with a pair of slower cars.
The #36 Alpine A480-Gibson led from pole and built up a good gap thanks to a strong opening stint from Nicolas Lapierre, who has since handed over to Negrao.
The Brazilian holds a lead of some six seconds over the #8 Toyota GR010 Hybrid, currently driven by Brendon Hartley. The #7 Toyota, in the hands of Mike Conway, sits in third.
For Glickenhaus, an already difficult opening few hours have become worse as the team currently has the car in the garage. The #709 007 LMH made contact with Satoshi Hoshino and Christian Ried at the turn five hairpin, inflicting damage to the car.
![Alpine Managing Director Steve Nielsen [pictured with Executive Advisor Flavio Briatore] is stern in his belief Mercedes has acted correctly](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Alpine-Steve-Nielsen-Flavio-Briatore-120x86.webp)
In LMP2, Team WRT has clinched the lead of the race after two hours. Tom Blomqvist had started the race from pole position but was spun out on the opening lap by team-mate Antonio Felix da Costa.
This promoted the #29 Racing Team Nederland ORECA 07-Gibson of Giedo van der Garde to the lead, which was maintained until Frits van Eerd took the car over and the car started to fall down the order.
Ferdinand Habsburg has inherited the lead in the #31 Team WRT ORECA 07-Gibson, with Wayne Boyd second in the #22 United Autosports ORECA 07-Gibson and Louis Deletraz third in the #34 Inter Europol Competition ORECA 07-Gibson.
Ferrari leads GTE Pro from Porsche, with James Calado’s #51 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo leading ahead of the #92 Porsche 911 RSR-19 in the hands of Neel Jani.
After the Porsche had led the opening phase in the hands of Kevin Estre, Calado was able to take the lead by overtaking Jani on track.
Daniel Serra holds third in the #52 Ferrari 488 GTE Evo after the #91 Porsche 911 RSR-19, now driven by Fred Makowiecki, had to pit after a puncture.
Finally, Roberto Lacorte leads a lively GTE Am class in the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 488 GTE Evo from AF Corse’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Northwest AMR’s Augusto Farfus.
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