Red Ant Racing has strengthened its position at the top of the 992 Teams’ standings in this year’s 24H SERIES powered by Hankook, doing so with a second consecutive 1-2 finish in-class this season at the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO. 

Having finished 1st and 2nd in 992 one round earlier at Spa-Francorchamps, Red Ant Racing, the 992 Teams’ ‘Europe’ champion of 2022, finished an impressive 4th and 5th overall in Portimão and a similarly commanding 1-2 in-class. This mirrors the 1-2 finish the Belgian team took at the previous running of the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO in 2022.

With three back-to-back wins already in the bag so far this season, the #903 Porsche has now extended its standings lead to 32 points. Ahead, aptly, of the sister #904. 

The #903 Porsche 992 GT3 Cup, driven by Ayrton and Yannick Redant, a returning Kobe de Breucker and Lucas Van Eijndhoven, charged to victory in the Algarve. Though beaten to 992 pole by Red Camel-Jordans.nl – albeit by just over half a second – and led by the #909 Porsche for the opening four hours, the #903 Red Ant Racing Porsche managed to leapfrog its Dutch rival during the fifth hour, and thereafter was never led. After a fault-free race, the victorious #903 finished 11 laps clear of the rest of the 992 field.

“You rarely win a 24 Hour race in the opening hours,”  team owner Bert Redant explained. “We had a setup on both cars that would pay off throughout the entire race. We would benefit from it, especially during the cooler night hours.

“A bit of luck in the timing of a second Code 60 allowed us to move past the leaders of RedCamel. But afterwards we also drove away from it. When they had their technical problems,” – more on that in a second – “we were already two laps ahead.

“Our Porsches were the only ones of the ten 992s at the start that were able to complete the 24 hours without any problems. Our crew does a fantastic job, not only behind the wheel, but also in the garage and in the pit box, and I am quite proud of that.”

Red Ant’s #904 Porsche endured a more trying race in the opening stages. From 6th in-class on the grid, a fighting opening stint from Peter Guelinckx – who partnered Brent Verheyen, Michiel Haverans and Kris Cools in Portugal – was blighted by a spin during the opening hour, caused by contact with overall leader Herberth Motorsport, and on-going anti-lock brake issues. A 10-second time penalty for “not respecting the correct position in grid formation” didn’t help either.

Despite ending the opening hour 8th in-class, strategic use of several Code 60s at quarter-distance meant the #904 had bounced back to 3rd in-class after the fifth hour. The Belgian team was thus perfectly positioned to take 2nd from Red Camel-Jordans.nl early on Sunday morning, the latter having lost 35 minutes when a broken wheel stud on the front left ultimately led to a full wheel hub replacement. Though Red Ant also made several precautionary pit stops in the closing stages following a loose fuel valve and further brake issues during the night, the #904 Porsche nevertheless came home five laps clear of Red Camel to finish 2nd. 

The result similarly moves Red Ant Racing’s #904 Porsche 28 points in 2nd place in the 992 standings heading into the next round of the season – the Hankook 12H MISANO – on 5-6 July. 

“The car had previously been hit by a GT3 while doubling,” Redant continues. “They also incurred some penalties, but the boys continued to believe in it and went very deep to achieve a podium finish. They were deservedly rewarded for their efforts.”