Filipe Albuquerque

Filipe Miguel Albuquerque

Albuquerque competing for A1 Team Portugal at the 2008–09 A1 Grand Prix of Nations, South Africa.
Nationality Portuguese
Born June 13, 1985 (1985-06-13) (age 26)
Coimbra (Portugal)
2012 Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Debut season 2009
Current team Audi Sport Team Rosberg
Car no. 18
Starts 10
Wins 0
Best finish 12th in 2011
Previous series
2009-2010
2007-08-2008-09
2007-2008
2007
2006
2005-06
2005
2005
Superstars Series
A1 Grand Prix
Formula Renault 3.5 Series
GP2 Series
Formula Renault NEC
Formula Renault Eurocup
Formula Renault Germany
Spanish F3 Championship
Championship titles
2006
2006
Formula Renault Eurocup
Formula Renault NEC
Awards
2006 Red Bull Junior of the Year

Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born June 13, 1985 in Coimbra) is a Portuguese race car driver, currently driving in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

Contents

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.[1] 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."[1] 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.[1] 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 years' 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 competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, driving a 2008-spec Audi A4.

Statistics

Motor racing record

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing
2005 Spanish F3 Racing Engineering 14 1 1 52 6th
Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Motopark Academy 14 3 0 63 5th
Formula Renault Germany Motopark Oschersleben 14 6 4 273 3rd
2006 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Motopark Academy 14 4 4 99 1st
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC Motopark Academy 14 2 4 312 1st
2007 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Epsilon Euskadi 13 0 1 63 4th
GP2 Series Racing Engineering 4 0 0 0 32nd
2007-08 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Portugal 8 0 0 54 11th
2008 Formula Renault 3.5 Series Epsilon Euskadi 4 0 0 12 21st
2008-09 A1 Grand Prix A1 Team Portugal 14 0 1 92 3rd
2009 Italian GT Championship (GT3) Audi Sport Italia 2 0 1 34 18th
Superstars Series Audi Sport Italia 2 0 0 30 13th
2010 Italian GT Championship (GT3) Audi Sport Italia 14 0 2 136 2nd
Superstars Series Audi Sport Italia 2 0 1 20 15th

Complete GP2 Series results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points
2007 Racing Engineering BHR
FEA
BHR
SPR
ESP
FEA
ESP
SPR
MON
FEA
FRA
FEA
FRA
SPR
GBR
FEA

15
GBR
SPR

14
EUR
FEA
EUR
SPR
HUN
FEA
HUN
SPR
TUR
FEA
TUR
SPR
ITA
FEA
ITA
SPR
BEL
FEA
BEL
SPR
VAL
FEA

10
VAL
SPR

10
32nd 0

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points
2007–08 A1 Team Portugal NED
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
11th 59
2008–09 NED
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
3rd 92

Complete DTM results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

 Year  Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10  Pos.   Points 
2011 Team Rosberg Audi A4 DTM 2008 HOC1
17
ZAN
Ret
SPL
12
LAU
8
NOR
16
NÜR
9
BRH
11
OSC
Ret
VAL
2
HOC2
10
12th 9

References

  1. ^ a b c Interview with Filipe Albuquerque. Autosport Magazine, Vol. 187, No. 11, pp. 55, Haymarket Publications. March 15, 2007.

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by
Kamui Kobayashi
Eurocup Formula Renault champion
2006
Succeeded by
Brendon Hartley
Preceded by
Pekka Saarinen
(German Championship)
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC
Drivers' Champion

2006
Succeeded by
Frank Kechele
Preceded by
Mattias Ekström
Race of Champions
Champion of Champions

2010
Succeeded by
Sébastien Ogier
Awards
Preceded by
?
Red Bull Junior of the Year
2006
Succeeded by
Incumbent