Filipe Albuquerque

Filipe Albuquerque is a Portuguese racing driver who started his racing career with cars in 2005. Since then, he competed in many different racing series with many different types of cars, including single-seaters, GT cars, super touring cars and most recently prototypes.

He scored two championship titles in the early phase of his career, in the Formula Renault 2.0 series. In 2010, he became Champion of Champions, after a surprise victory at Race of Champions in Düsseldorf. In 2013, he scored a class victory at 24 Hours of Daytona and then an overall victory at the same race in 2018.

Filipe Albuquerque

Filipe started to race at the age of 8

Filipe's full name is Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque. He was born on June 13, 1985, in Coimbra, Portugal. The 8-year-old Filipe entered the karting competition and he won two national karting titles before he switched to car racing in 2005.

He debuted in the 2005 Spanish Formula 3 Championship backed by Red Bull Junior program. He won one of twelve races, to finish sixth in the championship. In his debut season, Filipe was also competing in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup and Formula Renault 2.0 Germany. He won four races in the German FR2.0 and finished third in the points.

Two championship titles in 2006

In 2006, Albuquerque continued to race in the Formula Renault 2.0 with Motopark Academy team. He won both the FR2.0 Eurocup and FR2.0 Northern European Cup, with eight wins in 28 races. He was awarded Red Bull Junior of the Year for 2006 season.

In 2007, Filipe stepped up in the Formula Renault 3.5 Series, driving for the Epsilon Euskadi team. One victory in 17 races, at Hungaroring, was enough for 4th place in the final standings. During 2007, he also participated in two rounds of GP2 Series at Silverstone and Valencia.

Filipe Albuquerque represented Team Portugal in A1 Grand Prix two seasons in a row

Two seasons in the A1 Grand Prix

In 2008, Albuquerque joined Team Portugal in the A1 Grand Prix series, participating in eight races from February to May. Later in the season, he returned to the Formula Renault 3.5, but only in four races. In 2008-2009 season of the A1 Grand Prix, Filipe was the sole driver for Team Portugal. He scored one win, at Chengdu International Circuit in China, to finished third overall in the final standings.

Switch to GT and super touring cars

In 2009, Albuquerque changed the racing discipline and joined Audi Sport Italia to competed in selected races of the Italian GT Championship and Superstars Series. In GT championship, Filipe's car was Audi R8 LMS and he scored one victory, at Monza, sharing the car with Rinaldo Capello. In the Superstars Series, Filipe was driving Audi RS4 in two races, finished second both times.

In 2010, Filipe competed full season in the Italian GT3 Championship, sharing the #53 Audi R8 LMS with Marco Bonanomi. With two wins in 14 races, they finished second in the points, behind Gianluca Roda. Albuquerque had also a one-off appearance in the 2010 Superstars Series, in the Portuguese round in Portimao.

Filipe Albuquerque and Sebastien Loeb at 2010 Race of Champions

Filipe was the Champion of the Champions in 2010

He was also invited to participate in the 2010 Race of Champions in November at the Esprit Arena in Düsseldorf. His partner in the Team Portugal was Alvaro Parente. They were knocked out in the group stage. In the individual competition, Albuquerque scored a surprise victory, defeating F1 champion Sebastian Vettel in the semi-final and rally champion Sebastien Loeb in the final.

Albuquerque entered DTM in 2011

The new chapter in a career was opened in 2011 when Filipe joined Team Rosberg in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. In his debut DTM season, Filipe reached one podium, finishing second at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, to finish 12th in the points.

As Audi's driver Filipe participated in five races of the Blancpain Endurance Series, driving #32 R8 LMS for Belgian Audi Club. He was sharing the car with Bert Longin and Stephane Ortelli. The trio scored the second place three times, at Silverstone, Navarra and Monza. In the 24 hours of Spa, the #32 Audi finished fourth.

In 2012, Albuquerque remained with Team Rosberg in the DTM, driving the all-new Audi A5. His best result was fourth place in Valencia and he finished 11th in the points. In the 24 hours of Spa, Filipe joined Sainteloc Racing to drive #40 Audi R8 LMS alongside Gregory Guilvert and Dino Lunardi, but they didn't reach the finish. Filipe participated in one more race of the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series, driving Audi for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at 3 hours of Navarra. Albuquerque, Frank Stippler and Oliver Jarvis finished third at Navarra.

2013 Daytona 24h winners

Class victory in the Daytona 24h debut

In January 2013, Albuquerque made his debut in the 24 Hours of Daytona, driving the #24 Audi R8 Grand-Am for Alex Job Racing in the GT class. He clinched a GT class victory, sharing the car with Oliver Jarvis, Edoardo Mortara and Dion von Moltke.

In 2013, Filipe's main job was in the cockpit of Team Rosberg's #5 Audi RS5 DTM. His best result was fourth place at Oschersleben and he finished only 18th in the points. Parallel with DTM, Filipe participated in few other competitions with Audi customer teams, driving for Alex Job Racing in the Grand American Rolex Series, for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT in the International GT Open and FIA GT Series, and for Audi MTM in the GT Sprint International Series.

Albuquerque debuted at Le Mans with Audi

Albuquerque left DTM at the end of 2013 but remained with Audi. The season started with 24 hours of Daytona, where Filipe joined Flying Lizard Motorsports in the #35 Audi R8 Grand-Am. He finished 6th in the GTD class.

At 2014 24 hours of Le Mans, Filipe was a part of Audi factory team in the #3 Audi R18 e-tron quattro. He shared the car with Marco Bonanomi and Oliver Jarvis in the race which ended with an accident after only 25 laps. Filipe participated in one more FIA WEC race with Audi's prototype, at Spa, and finished 6th overall.

The #38 Jota Sport crew in the 2014 European Le Mans Series

Runner-up in the 2014 European Le Mans Series

Albuquerque was much more successful in the 2014 European Le Mans Series. He competed in the LMP2, driving the #38 Zytek Z11SN (Nissan) for Jota Sport, alongside Harry Tincknell and Simon Dolan. They won the race at Imola and scored two more podiums, to finish second in the final standings.

In 2015, Albuquerque had a similar program as the year before – two FIA WEC races with Audi (including Le Mans) and full ELMS season with Jota Sport. At 24 hours of Le Mans, Albuquerque was in the #9 Audi, together with Marco Bonanomi and Rene Rast. They finished in 7th place.

In the 2015 European Le Mans Series, the #38 Jota Sport's Gibson 015S prototype was victorious at Red Bull Ring. Albuquerque, Tincknell and Dolan scored three more podiums and finished third in the standings, just four points behind winning crew of Greaves Motorsport.

In 2016, Albuquerque's teammates are Ricardo Gonzalez and Bruno Senna

New team in the 2016 World Endurance Championship

For 2016 season, Filipe Albuquerque joined new team RGR Sport by Morand in the LMP2 class of the World Endurance Championship. Together with team owner Ricardo Gonzalez and former F1 driver Bruno Senna, Albuquerque scored the class victory in the season-opening race at Silverstone. He added one more win later in the season, at 6 hours of Mexico, finishing the championship in the second place of the LMP2 standings.

Other Filipe's driving duties in 2016 were in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, Blancpain GT Series and Italian GT Championship.

European Le Mans Series vice-champion in 2017

For the 2017 season, Filipe changed a team again. This time, he joined United Autosports to compete in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series. His teammates were William Owen and Hugo de Sadeleer. They finished second in the final championship standings.

On the other side of Atlantic, he was driving new Cadillac DPi prototype for Action Express Racing at 24h Daytona and 12h Sebring, finishing in the second place in both races.

Celebrating victory at 2018 Daytona 24 Hours

Daytona 24h victory in 2018

Albuquerque rejoined Action Express Racing in 2018 but now as a full-time driver in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. He started a season with an overall victory at Daytona 24 Hours, together with Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa in the #5 Cadillac DPi. Albuquerque and Barbosa scored one more win in the third round of the season at Long Beach, finishing sixth in the final championship standings.

Parallel to his IMSA commitments, Filipe continues to race with United Autosports in Europe, in the European Le Mans Series and Le Mans 24 Hours.

In 2019, Filipe stayed with Action Express Racing in the IMSA Championship, sharing the #5 Cadillac with Joao Barbosa again. They won at Long Beach for the second consecutive year and finished seventh in the final standings.