The Porsche 991 Cup will be representing the IDEC SPORT team at the Portimao 24-Hour Race on 7th and 8th July. The team will be welcoming two new drivers for this event: Florent Jimenez and Lionel Amrouche.
Only one of the two IDEC SPORT GTs will be attending the Portimao 24-Hour Race, the fourth meeting in the 2018 GT 24-Hour Series. The Porsche 75 will have the honour of racing around the 4.684 km track in Portugal. Two new drivers are joining the IDEC Sport team for this meeting: Florent Jimenez, who comes from the kart racing circuit and Lionel Amrouche, who usually races for a rival team that won’t be attending the event at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. They will be joining the usual three drivers who take the wheel of the IDEC Sport Porsche, Romain Vozniak, Stéphane Adler and David Abramczyk.
The latter is a little more nervous than usual before heading for the Algarve because of the results at the last two events. “We did our utmost to ensure the handovers were clean in the last two races, but we’re starting to understand the harsh law of car racing that it isn’t merely down to the driving but to whatever happens during the race. It’s got to stop at some point. That’s what I’m a bit apprehensive about, especially damage. We’ll be setting off with a new clutch, an engine that is almost brand new, so if we don’t do anything wrong, we should get to the end of the race,” stated David, who feels at home on this hilly circuit: “It’s great. It goes up and down and is very fast. It’s a combination of various types of circuit. The only drawback if that’s what you want to call it is the heat in the car. Depending on the weather, you can really suffer.”
David Abramczyk extremely excited
“I don’t sleep in any of the 24-hour races. The adrenaline keeps me going. I need to be there with the rest of the team. I prepare them psychologically and try to get them to feel relaxed, while motivating them. Sometimes, I talk to them over the radio so that what brings us together is not forgotten. We’re there to enjoy ourselves,” said the IDEC SPORT driver, who is happy to share the wheel with the two newcomers that aren’t strangers for him. “I met Florent (Jimenez) in go kart meetings with my son. He will be our fifth driver, as he has dreamt of racing in a GT. He is good at the wheel and I can’t wait to see what he does on the Portimao circuit. As for Lionel (Amrouche), he really loved our mindset and the friendliness in the team and the relationship with the drivers; He’s a good gentleman driver, with experience in the championship, is used to 24-hour races and drives cleanly.”
How the meeting is organised
The IDEC Sport team will begin the open trails at 1.30 in the afternoon on Friday 6th. Then, there will be the 30-minute qualifier (4.20 – 4.50 p.m.). The drivers will have a night session from 8.30 to 10. As at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race, the start is on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Porsche 991 Cup #75 will then have 24 hours to race around the sixteen bends on the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve as many times as possible.
