Albuquerque Feted by Portuguese President for Racing Achievements - Speedway Digest

By Mark Robinson

IMSA Wire Service

Fresh off his Rolex 24 At Daytona victory, Filipe Albuquerque was bestowed one of the highest honors available in his homeland last week when presented with the Commander of the Order of Merit by Portugal President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The award is given to Portuguese citizens to “distinguish meritorious acts or services that reveal selflessness in favor of the community, practiced in the exercise of any functions, public or private.” The ceremony took place Thursday at the Belém Palace, the official residence of the nation’s president, where Albuquerque and his family met with Rebelo de Sousa.

Officially, the honor was to commemorate Albuquerque’s sensational 2020 season in international Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) competition. The 35-year-old was the class winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans and captured both the 2019-20 FIA World Endurance Championship and 2020 European Le Mans Series championships in LMP2.

But having the ceremony take place just four days after Albuquerque drove the No. 10 Konica Minolta Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi across the finish line for the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) and overall triumph in the season opener for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship made the honor even more special.

“I’m really honored,” Albuquerque said. “Last year, I had already received a call from the president congratulating me after my 24 Hours of Le Mans win. Then I received a message from his assistant that I would go to the Belém Palace to meet him and receive the award.

“I’m incredibly honored. I will never forget it and will have it at home with great pride. It means that I’m doing things right and the country is watching my results which is very good, especially when things are hard in Portugal due to COVID.”

The Rolex 24 win was Albuquerque’s third in the historic endurance event. He won in the GT class in 2013 and followed that with an overall and Prototype class victory in 2018. This year, he and Wayne Taylor Racing co-drivers Ricky Taylor, Alexander Rossi and Helio Castroneves succeeded against a stacked DPi field. The No. 10 Acura won by just 4.704 seconds following 24 intense hours of competition.

The WeatherTech Championship returns to action with another of its iconic endurance events, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts, March 17-20 at Sebring International Raceway in Central Florida. Tickets are available at SebringRaceway.com.

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Adam Sinclair

NHRA, IHRA, Motocross and other forms of motorsports Staff writer
About Me: Adam has been a race fan since the first time he went through the tunnel under the Daytona International Speedway almost 30 years ago. He has had the privilege of travelling to races all across the state of Florida (as well as one race in Ohio), watching nearly everything with a motor compete for fame and glory, as well as participating in various racing schools to get the feel of what racecar drivers go through every week. Adam has spent the last three years covering motorsports for Examiner.com., where he had the opportunity to see the racing world from behind the scenes as well as the grandstands. He invites everyone to follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus, and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for all things racing with the readers of SpeedwayDigest.com.Be sure to tune in for his weekly sports talk program, Thursday Night Thunder, where he discusses the latest in motorsports news with drivers, crew members, and fans. The show takes place every Thursday at 8:00 pm EST on the Speedway Digest Radio Network.