Filipe Albuquerque: “I’m missing the IMSA title”

Filipe Albuquerque, Little Le Mans will be the last race in the DPi category, will it be a special moment for you?

I've been here since the beginning. I don't know how this will end, but I wish it had a title IMSA in the pocket. This is the one I miss. We came close last year. This is going to be the end of an era, which gave me two Daytonas (2018 with the Mustang Sampling Racing Cadillac DPi-VR and 2021 with the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05) and a few other victories (12 since 2016. Editor’s note). Everything has a beginning and an end. At present, these cars are fully developed, there is nothing more to be done. So it makes sense to move forward and move on to the next chapter. 

This is an all the more important meeting as you have never won this race in your career…

There has always been something between me and Petit Le Mans ! I led the race in the last twenty minutes four times (2017, 2018, 2019, 2021), but something always happened to me. In 2017, I took a penalty in the last quarter of an hour and Brendon Hartley ended up winning. The following year, I ran out of fuel on the last corner. It was a really aggressive strategy... The third time, in 2019, I was in the lead on the restart with twenty minutes to go and the left front disc exploded. The disk was totally disintegrated, I couldn't do anything. Last year Ricky Taylor was fighting for the win with Action Express Racing, but they had contact and I missed the win again.

Will you prioritize the IMSA title or victory at Petit Le Mans?

The title is more important of course, but I would like to win Petit Le Mans, it's always a crazy race. We'll see how it goes, but we're definitely going to attack. Brendon (Hartley) will be with us this time. It's a small change in the team, but I'm sure he'll do well.

ALSO READ > Filipe Albuquerque: “I created my own space”