24h Le Mans
For the third season running, Pedro Lamy teamed up with Canadian Paul Dalla and Austrian Mathias Lauda in the LMGTE Am class. After chasing the title for three seasons, they finally took the World Endurance Championship crown this year. Also racing under Portuguese colours in 2017 were Filipe Albuquerque and the Algarve Pro Racing team, Asian Le Mans Series 2016-2017 winners.
Pedro Lamy, the record breaker - With a win at the 6 Hours of Bahrain, Pedro Lamy took his fourth LMGTE Am victory of the season and the WEC title. That amounted to a total 18 wins in all, making him the most successful driver ever across all classes of the World Endurance Championship. A well-deserved achievement for an incredibly experienced driver: in 18 appearances at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he has started in a GT car 11 times, culminating in a class victory in 2012 (LMGTE Am) with French team Larbre Compétition’s Corvette. Now aged 45, he is still very fast, having scored an amazing seven LMGTE Am pole positions in the nine rounds of the 2017 World Endurance Championship. His goal for 2018 is a second class victory at Le Mans; it would be his first with Aston Martin.
Filipe Albuquerque, the triumphant - Since Audi’s withdrawal from the LMP1 class, Filipe Albuquerque has become one of the high flyers on the LMP2 grid. In 2016, he took two World Endurance Championship wins with RGR Sport and finished second overall in the class with teammates Bruno Senna and Ricardo Gonzalez, also team owner. In 2017, he was runner-up in the same class in the European Le Mans Series, with American Will Owen and Swiss Hugo de Sadeleer. The United Autosports trio finished fifth overall at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. LMP2 team bosses value the technical prowess, consistency and speed of the former LMP1 drivers highly. And it’s fairly safe to say that we will be seeing Filipe Albuquerque at the forefront again next season.
Algarve Pro Racing, Asian champions - This team joined the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) mid-season in 2015. It took its first title (team, plus the drivers’ title for Andrea Roda) in the 2016-2017 Asian Le Mans Series. The Portuguese team has competed in – and more importantly – finished the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, with former Olympic track cycling champion Sir Chris Hoy on their driver roster in 2016. While it has yet to reach the top step of the podium in ELMS, the team is still a leading force in the LMP2 class.
Photo: Having competed at Le Mans 18 times in all (11 in GT), Pedro Lamy has made seven appearances at the wheel of an Aston Martin.
