Filipe Albuquerque - Career

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 onto 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 Roda Gianluca 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.