Miguel Ramos

Miguel Ramos (full name Miguel Pedro Caetano Ramos) is a Portuguese racing driver whose career spans over 25 years in different racing disciplines.

He was the most successful in GT racing, winning several national championship titles in Italy and Spain. The most recently, he was a champion in the International GT Open in 2015.

Miguel Ramos

First championship title in the BMW Trophy

Born in September 1971 in Porto, Ramos started a racing career in autocross. After a few years and some success in national autocross competitions, he switched to touring car racing in 1993, entering the BMW Trophy Portugal in a BMW M3. In 1994, he expanded his activities also to the Portuguese Touring Car Championship, driving a Toyota Carina.

In 1996, he became the BMW Trophy champion, winning six of eleven races. He spent two more seasons in a BMW, participating in the 1997 Portuguese Touring Car Championship and 1998 Italian Superturismo Championship.

Miguel Ramos was a BMW Trophy champion in 1996

1999 – time to try open-wheel racing

In 1999, it was a time for something new. Ramos entered the Toyota Super Formula, what was his first open-wheel competition.

He spent three seasons in that series, finishing third in 2000 and 2001. In 2001 and 2002, he also participated in the Spanish Formula 3 but without some success.

Miguel Ramos left single-seater racing in 2002

Spanish GT champion in debut season

In 2002, Ramos again decided to add something new to his CV. He entered Spanish GT Championship, driving the #11 Saleen S7-R for Graham Nash Motorsport. He and Pedro Chaves managed to win four times in nine races, taking the championship title.

In June 2002, Ramos debuted at 24 hours of Le Mans, driving a Saleen for RML team. He, Pedro Chaves and Gavin Pickering finished 23rd overall and fifth in the GTS class.

Two seasons in the FIA GT Championship

With the Spanish GT trophy in his hands. Ramos made a step further in 2003, entering the FIA GT Championship with Graham Nash Motorsport's Saleen. His co-drivers were Pedro Chaves and Ni Amorim. Without wins or podiums, he finished 24th in the points.

He continued to drive RML Saleen in the 2004 FIA GT Championship, sharing a car with Chris Goodwin, but again without success. The team also hired Ramos to drive an MG EX257-Lola LMP1 prototype in the Le Mans Endurance Series.

Matteo Malucelli and Miguel Ramos - 2005 Italian GT champions

Italian GT champion in 2005

Having no success in international GT competition, Ramos returned to the national level and became the champion again. He drove for BMS Scuderia Italia, taking the Italian GT Championship title in a Ferrari 550 Maranello. His co-driver was Matteo Malucelli.

Ramos also joined the team in the GT1 class of the Le Mans Endurance Series, winning one race (Spa) to finish fourth in the points. In June, he returned to Le Mans, not finishing the race in a car which he was sharing with Fabrizio Gollin and Christian Pescatori.

Competing with Aston Martin and Maserati in 2006

In 2006, Ramos had a double program. He stayed with BMS Scuderia Italia in the FIA GT Championship, driving an Aston Martin DBR9 in the GT1 class. He was sharing a car with Matteo Malucelli, Christian Pescatori and Fabrizio Gollin. Without wins or podiums, Ramos finished 18th in the points.

He was more successful in the Italian GT Championship, in which he was driving a Maserati MC12 for Racing Box. With two wins on his account, he was 8th in the final standings. His co-drivers were Luca Cappellari.

Ramos was driving for Vitaphone Racing Team from 2007 to 2010

Four seasons with Vitaphone Racing Team

In 2007, Ramos joined Vitaphone Racing Team in the FIA GT Championship and stayed with the team for four seasons. His racing machine in those years was Maserati MC12 GT1. He finished fourth in the standings in 2007 and then third in 2008. In 2009, he finished sixth and then dropped to 21st place in 2010. While driving for Vitaphone, his full-time co-drivers were Christian Montanari (2007), Alexandre Negrao (2008), Alex Müller (2009) and Enrique Bernoldi (2010).

In 2009, Ramos also spent a season with Aston Martin Racing in the Le Mans Series, driving their LMP1 prototype in five races. He was on a podium once, finishing sixth in the final standings.

Miguel Ramos is one of themost experienced Portuguese racing drivers

International GT Open as main competition since 2011

For the 2011 season, Ramos joined Racing Team Edil Cris to drive their Ferrari F430 GTC and Ferrari 458 GTC in the International GT Open and Spanish GT Championship. He was sixth in the GT Open, sharing a car mostly with Raffaele Giammaria. In the Spanish championship, he and Joao Ramos finished fourth in the points.

In the 2012 GT Open season, Ramos was driving Ferrari for Black Team and Chevrolet Corvette C6R for V8 Racing, finishing fourth in the points. In the Spanish championship, he finished second in the Black Team's Ferrari.

Miguel Ramos spent two successful seasons driving a Corvette for V8 Racing

2013 Spanish Super GT champion with Corvette

In 2013, Ramos continued his double program with V8 Racing's Corvette. He was the Spanish Super GT champion and finished second in the International GT Open. His partner through a season was Dutch driver Nicky Pastorelli.

In 2014, Ramos and Pastorelli were the GT Open vice-champions for the second year in a row, after winning seven of sixteen races in the #2 V8 Racing Corvette.

Championship-winning celebration in 2015

2015 GT Open champion with McLaren

For the 2015 International GT Open season, Ramos joined Teo Martin Motorsport to drive a McLaren 650S GT3. He and Alvaro Parente became the ProAm class champions after winning three races. Ramos was also driving McLaren in some races of the Blancpain GT Series for Attempto Racing.

His third competition that year was the Renault Sport Trophy, in which he was driving for Team Verschuur, but without notable results.

One GT Open season with BMW

For the 2016 GT Open season, Ramos stayed with Teo Martin Motorsport but the team switched to a BMW M6 GT3. He finished fourth in the ProAm class points, sharing a car with Roldan Rodriguez and Pieter Schothorst.

Ramos also continued to compete in the Renault Sport Trophy for Team Verschuur, taking the third place in the Endurance cup.

Miguel Ramos and Mikkel Mac were teammates in 2017

Racing with Italian brands in 2017 and 2018

In 2017, Ramos returned to a cockpit of Ferrari, driving a Ferrari 488 GT3 for Spirit of Race in the International GT Open. He was sharing the #488 car with Danish driver Mikkel Mac.

In 2017, Ramos added one more manufacturer to the list of cars he was driving. He was driving Lamborghini Huracan GT3 for Barwell Motorsport in four events of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, including 24h Spa. He was sharing a car with Richard Abra and Leo Machitski.

In 2018, Ramos continues to race with Lamborghini only, driving for Daiko Lazarus Racing in the International GT Open and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. His co-driver in both competitions was Fabrizio Crestani.

In 2019, Ramos stayed with Lamborghini in the Blancpain GT Series, driving for Barwell Motorsport. In the International GT Open, he joined SPS Automotive Performance to drive a Mercedes-AMG GT3.

Miguel Ramos

Photos: Photospeedy/miguelramossport.com,