Porteiro contested the 2000 Formula Super Toyota Spain championship before moving to the Spanish Formula Three Championship in 2001. He finished fourth in the standings with one race win across a 12-race season with Escuela Lois Circuit. From 2002 he moved into the World Series by Nissan, spending four successive seasons in the category. His progression was gradual: nineteenth overall in 2002 with Vergani Racing, fourteenth in 2003 with KTR, seventh in 2004 as he split the season between Porfesa Competicion and Epsilon Euskadi (including a pole-position win at Catalunya with Epsilon), and fifth in 2005 when the series was rebranded Formula Renault 3.5. His 2005 campaign with Epsilon Euskadi yielded two wins — at Valencia and Estoril — four pole positions, and three podiums in 17 rounds. He also holds the Donington Park Formula Renault 3.5 lap record at 1:18.424, set during the 2005 round.
In 2006, Porteiro stepped up to the GP2 Series with Campos Racing. The season was largely unremarkable but included a notable controversy at Silverstone: Porteiro crossed the line second on the road but was disqualified for a steering rack irregularity, transforming what appeared to be a podium into nothing. He finished 22nd in the final standings with five points.
Late in 2006, Porteiro drove a BMW 320si for ROAL Motorsport at the European Touring Car Cup and finished fifth — a result good enough to secure him a full-time seat in ROAL's World Touring Car Championship entry, operating as BMW Team Italy-Spain, for 2007.
His first full WTCC season immediately produced results. Porteiro claimed a pole position and took his maiden victory at Brno in the Czech Republic round, adding a further podium at the Race of UK and finishing twelfth in the drivers' standings with 32 points. In 2008 he raised his game further: he took a fastest lap at Brno and his second race win at Oschersleben in Germany, backed by four podiums in 23 starts, to finish tenth in the championship with 51 points — his best overall standing in the series.
For 2009, ROAL Motorsport signed fellow Spaniard Sergio Hernández in Porteiro's seat. Porteiro moved to the independent Proteam Motorsport squad that Hernández had vacated, continuing with the BMW 320si. Without a full-factory car, results were harder to come by in outright terms, but Porteiro accumulated enough Independent-class points to finish second in the Independent's Trophy for the season. He ended 2009 fifteenth in the overall standings with 10 points. His WTCC career came to a close after that season: Hernández returned to Proteam following ROAL's departure from the championship, leaving Porteiro without a drive for 2010.
Porteiro subsequently moved away from top-level competition. He competed in the 2012 Spanish GT Championship GT Light class with his own Porteiro Motorsport entry, finishing fifth with three podiums in six races. His FIA driver classification was Platinum until 2014, was updated to Bronze in 2022, and was reclassified to Silver from 2023.
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