Filipe Albuquerque


Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque is a Portuguese professional racing driver, currently driving in the North American Endurance Championship within IMSA's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Whelen Engineering Racing, in the FIA World Endurance Championship and European Endurance Championship with United Autosports.

Career

Filipe Albuquerque started his motor racing career in karting in 1993, "I started karting as a joke, but it quickly became more and more serious" Albuquerque recalled, "It's really hard to get sponsorship to go racing. Without Red Bull I would probably be at home studying" he added. The young Portuguese driver went on to win two national karting titles before moving up to Spanish Formula Three with the help of Red Bull. But later, Albuquerque was moved up to the Formula Renault, "a driver was fired from Red Bull" The Portuguese commented, "and I was told I would do the Renault 2.0-litre race in Zolder." Albuquerque was the fastest driver for the team during the race and so became the permanent replacement and was also called into the Formula Renault German series.
Albuquerque finished sixth in the Spanish Formula Three championship, fifth in the Formula Renault Eurocup and third in the Formula Renault Germany series, finishing as a highest positioned rookie in all three championships. In 2006, Albuquerque raced in two championships, the Formula Renault Eurocup championship and the North European Formula Renault championship, where he won the Drivers' title in both series.
For 2007, Albuquerque entered the Formula Renault 3.5 Series championship with the Epsilon Euskadi team, and finished fourth in the drivers' championship. He was also chosen as replacement of Ernesto Viso in the Silverstone round of GP2 Series, following the Venezuelan's accident at Magny-Cours. Albuquerque remained in Formula Renault 3.5 for 2008, but only competed in four races, as he focussed on the A1 Grand Prix series.
Albuquerque made his A1 GP début in the 2007–08 season, replacing João Urbano at A1 Team Portugal mid-season. He finished every race he started in the points, including three podium finishes, and the team finished eleventh in that year's championship. He returned for the 2008–09 season as the team's sole driver, and finished third overall after a campaign which saw him take Portugal's first series win, in China. He was retained for the 2009–10 season, but the series ran into financial trouble and the new season was cancelled before it began.
With his single-seater career prospects looking bleak, Albuquerque moved to Italian GT racing when it became apparent that the A1 GP series had died. He moved to the Italian GT3 Championship for part of the 2009 season, driving an Audi R8 LMS. He also made an appearance at one of the race meetings for the 2009 Superstars Series season, a touring car championship, and finished second in both races, driving an Audi RS4. For 2010, he competed in the Italian GT3 Championship full-time, finishing as joint-runner up in the series with his Audi R8 LMS co-driver Marco Bonanomi, behind champion Gianluca Roda in a Porsche 997 GT3. He also made another Superstars guest appearance for Audi, winning one of the races at his home event, held at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
Albuquerque competed in the 2010 Race of Champions event at Düsseldorf. He was partnered with Portuguese countryman Álvaro Parente in the Cup of Nations, where they were knocked out in the group stage. In the individual Champion of Champions competition, however, Albuquerque scored a surprise victory, defeating Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel in the semi-final and multiple World Rally Champion Sébastien Loeb in the final.
In 2011, Albuquerque competed in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, driving a 2008-spec Audi A4, also entering the Blancpain Endurance Series in an Audi R8 entered by Belgian team WRT, which finished second overall on the final standings.
In 2013, Albuquerque made his debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona driving an Audi R8 Grand-Am for Alex Job Racing in the GT class. He won the class as part of an Audi 1-2 finish.
In 2014, Albuquerque was no longer racing in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. He raced in the European Le Mans Series in the LMP2 category and finished as runner up on the drivers' standings. He was also a part of Audi's official team for the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Albuquerque nearly won the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona, leading the final stages of the race before contact with Ricky Taylor caused him to spin out with seven minutes to go; Albuquerque subsequently ran down Taylor on the last lap of the race but was unable to make the pass, losing by 0.671 seconds.

Highlights

Career summary

† As Albuquerque was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points.
* Season still in progress.

Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results

YearEntrant1234567891011121314151617DCPoints
2007Epsilon EuskadiMNZ
1
4		MNZ
2
6		NÜR
1
5		NÜR
2
2		MON
1
11		HUN
1
1		HUN
2
8		SPA
1
12		SPA
2
4		DON
1
15		DON
2
6		MAG
1
Ret		MAG
2
25		EST
1
5		EST
2
5		CAT
1
13		CAT
2
5		4th81
2008Epsilon EuskadiMNZ
1		MNZ
2		SPA
1		SPA
2		MON
1		SIL
1		SIL
2		HUN
1		HUN
2		NÜR
1		NÜR
2		BUG
1		BUG
2		EST
1
10		EST
2
9		CAT
1
4		CAT
2
9		21st12

Complete GP2 Series results

YearEntrant123456789101112131415161718192021DCPoints
2007Racing EngineeringBHR
FEA		BHR
SPR		CAT
FEA		CAT
SPR		MON
FEA		MAG
FEA		MAG
SPR		SIL
FEA
15		SIL
SPR
14		NÜR
FEA		NÜR
SPR		HUN
FEA		HUN
SPR		IST
FEA		IST
SPR		MNZ
FEA		MNZ
SPR		SPA
FEA		SPA
SPR		32nd0
2007Arden InternationalVAL
FEA
10		VAL
SPR
10		32nd0

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

YearEntrant1234567891011121314151617181920DCPoints
2007–08A1 Team PortugalNED
SPR		NED
FEA		CZE
SPR		CZE
FEA		MYS
SPR		MYS
FEA		CHN
SPR		CHN
FEA		NZL
SPR		NZL
FEA		AUS
SPR		AUS
FEA		RSA
SPR
7		RSA
FEA
3		MEX
SPR
6		MEX
FEA
7		CHN
SPR
3		CHN
FEA
2		GBR
SPR
6		GBR
SPR
7		11th59
2008–09A1 Team PortugalNED
SPR
9		NED
FEA
Ret		CHN
SPR
6		CHN
FEA
1		MYS
SPR
4		MYS
FEA
2		NZL
SPR
6		NZL
FEA
3		RSA
SPR
2		RSA
FEA
5		POR
SPR
3		POR
FEA
2		GBR
SPR
5		GBR
SPR
5		3rd92

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results

YearTeamCar12345678910Pts
2011Team RosbergAudi A4 DTM 2008HOC
17		ZAN
Ret		SPL
12		LAU
8		NOR
16		NÜR
9		BRH
11		OSC
Ret		VAL
2		HOC
10		12th9
2012Team RosbergAudi A5 DTMHOC
10		LAU
9		BRH
10		SPL
8		NOR
11		NÜR
8		ZAN
15†		OSC
9		VAL
4		HOC
11		11th26
2013Team RosbergAudi RS5 DTMHOC
16		BRH
17		SPL
17		LAU
18		NOR
12		MSC
13		NÜR
11		OSC
4		ZAN
8		HOC
Ret		18th16

Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

* Season still in progress.

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

Complete WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

YearTeamClassMakeEngine1234567891011RankPoints
2014Flying Lizard MotorsportsGTDAudi R8 LMS ultraAudi 5.2L V10DAY
5		SEB
5		LGA
DET
WGL
MOS
IMS
ELK
VIRCOAPET42nd57
2015Starworks MotorsportPCOreca FLM09Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8DAY
6		SEBLGADETWGLMOSLIMELKCOAPET33rd27
2016Action Express RacingPCoyote Corvette DPChevrolet 5.5L V8DAY
4		SEB
3		LBHLGADETWGL
1		MOSELKCOAPET
5		18th88
2017Mustang Sampling RacingPCadillac DPi-V.RCadillac 6.2 L V8DAY
2		SEB
2		LBHCOADETWGL
1		MOSELKLGAPET
5		13th126
2018Mustang Sampling RacingPCadillac DPi-V.RCadillac 5.5 L V8DAY
1		SEB
10		LBH
1		MDO
4		DET
6		WGL
6		MOS
4		ELK
7		LGA
DNS		PET
4		6th249
2019Mustang Sampling RacingDPiCadillac DPi-V.RCadillac 5.5 L V8DAY
7		SEB
3		LBH
1		MDO
8		DET
6		WGL
6		MOS
10		ELK
6		LGA
5		PET
7		7th258
2020Whelen Engineering RacingDPiCadillac DPi-V.RCadillac 5.5 L V8DAY
7		DAYSEBELK
MDO
WGL
PET
LGA
SEB
18th*24*

* Season still in progress.

Complete European Le Mans Series results

‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.
* Season still in progress.