Algarve Pro Racing with Vautier and a former Formula E driver

Algarve Pro Racing has strong ambitions for the 2026 European season Le Mans Series: The Portuguese team aims to reclaim the continental title and unveiled on Friday, February 27th, the trio who will undertake this daunting task at the wheel of the #25. Liechtenstein driver Matthias Kaiser will be part of the team, joined by Frenchman Tristan Vautier, recently announced at Tower Motorsports. IMSA, as well as by the Briton Jake Hughes, three seasons of Formula E at the meter.

The Birmingham native (Great Britain) will make his debut in Endurance unlike his two teammates, who were already well-versed in the discipline. I've been knocking on the door and pushing to get into endurance racing ever since I left the junior formulas a few years ago, and I'm extremely proud to be joining Algarve Pro Racing for the 2026 European Le Mans Series. explains Hughes. It is very clear that APR is one of the leading teams on the world endurance stage and, even though the level of competition will be very high, the objective can only be to fully exploit our potential to aim for race wins and the title.

“The team, Matthias (Kaiser), Tristan (Vautier), and I worked very well together and found excellent team dynamics during the two days of testing in Abu Dhabi. Matthias is an impressive driver and competes at a very high level; I am proud and grateful to join him this season. Tristan, for his part, has won at the highest level of endurance racing and knows LMP2 cars perfectly. Together, I have no doubt that we will form a great team.” »

« I immediately felt at ease with the Oreca 07-Gibson, which suits my driving style: a powerful car with high downforce, close to a car, located somewhere between a F2 and total F3 in terms of performance and behavior. I'm going to give everything this season to show what I'm capable of. »

A particularly interesting career choice for someone who holds the role of test and simulator pilot for McLaren en F1The British team will indeed make its entry into Endurance racing in the Hypercar category. WEC in 2027. The Woking-based firm has so far officially announced only one driver for its LMDh prototype, namely the Dane Mikkel Jensen.

Due to his close ties with the team, Hughes could be among the drivers particularly closely monitored by Zak Brown's squad. ELMS, just like Richard Verschoor and Grégoire Saucy, both development drivers for McLaren and respectively committed to Duqueine and United Autosports for the 2026 ELMS season, the first race of which is scheduled for April 12 with the 4 Hours of Barcelona.

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