FEATHERS MOTOR SPORT BACK ON THE PODIUM AT PORTIMÃO

GT Cup championship-winning team Feathers Motor Sport (FMS) continued its extraordinary run of form with yet another podium finish, when it returned to action for the second time in 2026, competing in the Algarve Classic Festival at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portugal, on the 31 October-1 November weekend.

FMS, which is focusing on a partial campaign in the 2026 Iberian Historic Endurance, delivered a flawless run with its glorious, beautiful 4.7-litre V8-powered Ginetta G10 – meticulously prepared and run by Inspire Engineering – in Saturday’s opening 50-minute race for Pre-1976 sportscars, finishing third overall and third in the GTP & SP Class. 

This was the team’s best result of the year so far and means that every single time an FMS machine has taken the chequered flag it has done so in at least a class podium position since July 2023.

British sportscar driver Tom Canning, who claimed FMS’s first class podium of the year at Estoril last month en route to sixth place overall, was once again at the wheel for the 50-minute race on Saturday. Having qualified third on the grid, behind two super-fast Ford GT40s, Canning’s best hope was always to put the two Le Mans racers under pressure and hope for a slip up which never came to pass.

Having given chase early in the race to the two GT40s, Canning settled into a fast rhythm and pitted cleanly from third position. He momentarily dropped back to fifth place through the pitstop cycle, but moved back through the order as others stopped before running faultlessly to the flag.

As in Estoril, Canning delivered an inch-perfect performance, matched only by the precise preparation of the car, to finish 10 seconds behind the second-placed Ford GT40 – which, once the five-second pitstop penalty for a single-driver entry is factored in, only adds to the impressive performance of the 60-year-old car on a circuit that favoured its more aerodynamic rivals.

Canning looked set to achieve the same, if not more, in Sunday’s second race, and was putting one of the GT40s under some pressure early on before a gear linkage issue forced the team to retire on lap three.

“This was a great weekend,” said Canning. “We enjoyed our best qualifying performance with the car to date, qualifying third. I held on to that position throughout, which led to a podium finish. To be honest, that felt like a win, given that there was no realistic chance for us to catch those GT40s. We maximised everything and left nothing on the table. Race two started even better and we were in a fight for second place with really good pace, before I had to retire the car. We are still developing the Ginetta and these things happen in historic racing. Nevertheless, this weekend we made clear progress, and through until the retirement the car had three and a half hours of faultless running since we rebuilt the gearbox in Estoril. So to deliver another podium, and our first in Portimão, was great.”

Team principal Simon Rose added:

“We are very happy with the progress we are making with the Ginetta. To record our first overall podium of the season, and our second class podium of the season, is as much as we could possibly have asked for this weekend. The car is improving each weekend we race it, and there were signs in Sunday’s encounter that we might even be nibbling at the toes of those GT40s. Tom, as ever, delivered an outstanding performance, as did everyone at Feathers and Inspire Engineering. The issue we encountered in Race Two was small and easily resolved, and these things can happen with 60-year-old cars, so we can leave Portimão well satisfied with our weekend’s work.”

FMS’s final outing of the season will also take place in Portugal, for the 250KM Estoril race on 4-6 December.