IMSA SportsCar Championship star Filipe Albuquerque will drop a division – but will still be in contention for the general win – at Mosport later this month.
Albuquerque, who normally drives for the Wayne Taylor Racing team with Andretti Acura, which is backed by the automaker, will likely be in Canada for a one-off IMSA LMP2 race with United Autosports on July 14.
The Portuguese motor racing ace, who has 13 wins in the highest IMSA class, might be relegated to the second tier as there are not any GTP races at Mosport this 12 months.
Albuquerque drove for United in last month's 24 Hours of Le Mans, sharing a seat with Ben Keating and Ben Hanley, however the automobile returned a disappointing 42andThe sister automobile won the event, within the hands of Oliver Jarvis, Nolan Siegel and Bijoy Garg.
Albuquerque will team up with Daniel Goldburg within the #22 United Autosports ORECA 07, replacing Paul di Resta who will fulfil his commitments to the Peugeot Sport’s year-round Hypercar race on the Six Hours of Sao Paolo of the Endurance World Championship.
“I’m really looking forward to racing at Mosport with United,” said Albuquerque. “We’ll be racing for the general win.
“I had already met Daniel and we had an important feeling. On top of that, I had a superb warm-up at Le Mans to get back to LMP2.
“We definitely want to fight for victory.”
#23 United Autosports Oreca 07: Gibson: Ben Keating, Filipe Albuquerque, Ben Hanley
Photo: Marc Fleury
Albuquerque has never won at Mosport but did come away with a win this 12 months after taking victory over Ricky Taylor in Detroit last month.
He previously won the WEC and European Le Mans Series LMP2 titles with United.
“I always enjoy racing with Filipe,” said United Autosports CEO Richard Dean. “So with Paul having fulfilled his commitments to Peugeot within the WEC, it was a straightforward alternative.
“Filipe is super fast, reliable and a improbable mentor to the opposite drivers… I’m sure Daniel will learn so much from him in Canada.
“Unfortunately, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours didn’t go as planned for Filipe and the United Autosports #23 LMP2 crew, so this is our opportunity to celebrate victory together in 2024.”
