Rui Pinto de Andrade (born 23 September 1999) is an Angolan-

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

racing driver who is currently racing in the

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

for

TF Sport TF Sport is an auto racing team founded by Tom Ferrier and headquartered in Slinfold, West Sussex, England, United Kingdom. It competed in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship with a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, with support from Corv ...

Single-seater career

Spanish F4 Championship

Andrade's first experience in single-seaters came in 2018, where he competed for

Drivex Drivex is an auto racing team and school based in Spain. The team was founded by Pedro de la Rosa and Miguel Ángel de Castro in 2005 as a racing school. The racing team is run by Miguel Ángel de Castro. They compete in the F4 Spanish Championsh ...

in the

F4 Spanish Championship The F4 Spanish Championship () is an FIA Formula 4 racing series. The championship was planned to launch in 2015, though the inaugural season was cancelled and delayed until 2016. Koiranen GP was the promoter of the championship for the first tw ...

. He competed from the second round in

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

until the end of the season, finishing 12th in the standings, having achieved his best results at

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Navarra Navarre ( ; ; ), officially the Chartered Community of Navarre, is a landlocked foral autonomous community and province in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Autonomous Community, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and New Aquitaine in France. ...

where he finished 5th respectively.

Formula 4 UAE Championship

Andrade drove for Emirate team Dragon Racing in the

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Formula 4 UAE Championship The Formula 4 UAE Championship was an FIA-certified Formula 4 racing series. It was launched by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, and its national affiliate the Automobile & Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates, Automobile & Tour ...

. With 201 points Andrade attained 5th in the standings while standing on the podium 6 times, none of which were wins however two of them were second places. The two second places came at the first race at

Dubai Autodrome The Dubai Autodrome (دبي أوتودروم) is an FIA sanctioned motorsports circuit located in Dubailand, Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The architects of the project were Populous and the circuit was designed by Clive Bowen of Apex Circui ...

and second race at

Yas Marina Circuit The Yas Marina Circuit (Arabic: حلبة مرسى ياس) is a 5.281 km (3.281 mi) motorsport circuit situated on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The circuit was designed by Hermann Tilke. It has hosted the season-ending Formula One ...

Toyota Racing Series

At the

2020 Toyota Racing Series The 2020 Castrol Toyota Racing Series was the sixteenth running of the Toyota Racing Series, the premier open-wheel motorsport category held in New Zealand. The series consisted of fifteen races at five meetings. It began on 17 January at Highlan ...

Andrade raced for

M2 Competition M2 Competition are a motorsport team based in New Zealand and Belgium. History Founded in 2010, M2 Competition began partaking in the New Zealand-based single-seater championship the Castrol Toyota Racing Series in 2011, with Ivan Lukashevich ...

alongside the top two driver in the championship,

Igor Fraga Igor Omura Fraga (born September 26, 1998) is a Japanese people, Japanese-born Brazilians, Brazilian racing driver and esports player. He currently competes for Nakajima Racing in the 2025 Super Formula Championship and for Anest Iwata Racing in ...

and

Liam Lawson Liam Lawson (born 11 February 2002) is a New Zealand racing driver who competes in Formula One for Racing Bulls. Born in Hastings, New Zealand, Hastings and raised in Pukekohe, Lawson began competitive kart racing aged seven. Lawson—who is ...

. Andrade won 70 points over the course of the season meaning he finished 16th, 2 points behind French teammate Émilien Denner. Two 9th places were the Angolan's best results at the first 2 races at Pukekohe Park.

Euroformula Open Championship

Andrade's first season at the

Euroformula Open Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

was in

with Spanish outfit Drivex Racing. Andrade only finished in the points once and it was at the last round in

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, ultimately this contributed to a 22nd-place finish with 6 points. In

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Andrade switched to CryptoTower Racing, driving alongside

Yifei Ye Yifei Ye ( zh, s=叶一飞; born 16 June 2000) is a Chinese racing driver who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. He is the 2021 European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series champion and previously competed in s ...

. Whilst the Angolan improved compared to the previous year, scoring points in the majority of races, he ended up 14th in the standings.

Endurance racing

2021: ALMS, ELMS and Le Mans debut

For 2021, Andrade made the transition to sportscars, signing up to compete in the Asian and

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

with

G-Drive Racing G-Drive Racing is a Russian sports car racing team. It is named after the commercial fuel distributed by Gazprom Neft, a subsidiary of oil giant Gazprom. They made their debut in the LMP2 class of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship in a p ...

. The former championship would yield major success, as Andrade and his teammates,

John Falb John Falb (born December 13, 1971) is an American businessman and racing driver currently competing in the Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club d ...

and

Franco Colapinto Franco Alejandro Colapinto (; born 27 May 2003) is an Argentine racing driver who competes in Formula One for Alpine F1 Team, Alpine. Born and raised in Pilar, Buenos Aires, Colapinto began competitive kart racing aged nine, winning several reg ...

scored three podiums, leading the team to finish third in the standings. Meanwhile, their European efforts were just as successful, with six class podiums out of six race starts, including an overall podium at the

Red Bull Ring The Red Bull Ring is a motorsport race track in Spielberg, Austria, Spielberg, Styria, Austria. The race circuit was founded as Österreichring (translation: Austrian Circuit) and hosted the Austrian Grand Prix for 18 consecutive years, from t ...

. and won the Pro-Am title alongside Falb. That year, Andrade also took part at the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans () is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the city of Le Mans, France. It is widely considered to be one of the world's most prestigious races, and is one of the races—along with ...

, where he retired following a nighttime accident.

2022: WEC and first victory

The following season, the Angolan competed in the World Endurance Championship on a full-time basis, partnering Ferdinand Habsburg and

Norman Nato Norman Jean Claude Nato (born 8 July 1992) is a French Auto racing, racing driver. He races in the Formula E, Formula E World Championship for the Nismo, Nissan Formula E Team, and in the 2024 FIA World Endurance Championship, FIA World Endurance ...

at RealTeam by WRT. Having taken two podiums in the opening two races, the outfit experienced a disappointing

Le Mans Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...

, finishing 17th in class. That result was quickly forgotten, with Andrade and his teammates taking victory at the

6 Hours of Monza The 6 Hours of Monza (formerly the 1,000 Kilometres of Monza and known after 1966 as the Trofeo Filippo Caracciolo) is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race, mainly for sports car racing, sports cars, which is held at the Mo ...

, thus making Andrade the first Angolan to win an FIA-sanctioned World Championship race. A pair of top-five finishes ended their season, with the team ending up fourth in the championship. In addition, Andrade raced in the Michelin Endurance Cup races of the

IMSA SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (I ...

, where he took three class podiums including a victory at

Petit Le Mans Petit Le Mans (French language, French for ''Little Le Mans'') is a sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, United States. The race has been held for a durat ...

for Tower Motorsport alongside

Louis Delétraz Louis Charles Hubert Delétraz (born 22 April 1997) is a Swiss people, Swiss racing driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing and in the European Le Mans Series for AO Racin ...

and

John Farano John Farano (born 8 December 1959) is a Canadian businessman and racing driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Tower Motorsports Capone Motorsports is an American auto racing team that currently competes in the ...

2023: Return to WRT and WEC Title

Andrade returned to

Team WRT W Racing Team (known as Team WRT) is a Belgium, Belgian auto racing team founded in 2009 by engineer and former head of Volkswagen Motorsport René Verbist, racing driver Vincent Vosse, and entrepreneur Yves Weerts. Between 2010 and 2022 the team ...

for the 2023 WEC season, where he would be driving alongside 2022

Prema Prema may refer to: Film * ''Prema'' (1952 film), an Indian Telugu-language film * ''Prema'' (1989 film), an Indian Telugu-language film, starring Venkatesh and Revathi * ''Prema'' (2002 film), an Indian Kannada-language film Music * ''Prema'' (a ...

teammates

and

Robert Kubica Robert Józef Kubica (; born 7 December 1984) is a Polish racing driver, racing and rally driver, who competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for AF Corse. Kubica competed in Formula One between and , and the World Rally Championship ...

. Andrade also took on a full-season effort in the

with

Inter Europol Competition Inter Europol Competition is a Polish auto racing team that competes in Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing. The team contests the 2025 24 Hours of Le Mans, 24 Hours of Le Mans, 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship, IMSA SportsCar Champi ...

, where he joined

Olli Caldwell Oliver "Olli" Caldwell (born 11 June 2002) is a British people, British racing driver who currently competes in the LMP2 class of the 2024 European Le Mans Series, European Le Mans Series with Algarve Pro Racing. He is a race winner in the FIA ...

and

Jonathan Aberdein Jonathan Aberdein (born 14 February 1998) is a South African Auto racing, racing driver. He previously competed in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship with Motopark Academy, Motopark. He has also raced in the ADAC Formula 4 in both 2016 ADA ...

. After starting the WEC campaign with a fifth-placed finish at Sebring, Andrade and his teammates began their title charge at

Portimão Portimão () is a city and a municipality in the district of Faro (district), Faro, in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. The population in 2022 was 63,079 in an area of 182.06 km2. It was formerly known as Vila Nova de Portimão. In ...

, scoring a podium as a result of a late-race overtake by Delétraz for third place. The

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. History The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races f ...

provided even more momentum, with the #41 taking their first victory of the season. At the

, Andrade, Kubica and Delétraz managed to finish second, missing out only to the #34 of

, before expanding their championship lead at

, where another third place would be added to their tally. Despite a collision with

Josh Pierson Joshua Pierson (born February 14, 2006) is an American racing driver. He competes in Indy NXT for HMD Motorsports, the FIA World Endurance Championship for United Autosports, United Autosport, and in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship f ...

during his opening stint, Andrade managed to help his squad to victory at the

6 Hours of Fuji The 6 Hours of Fuji (formerly the Fuji 1000 Kilometres) is a sports car race held at Fuji Speedway in Oyama, Shizuoka, Japan. The race was held for the first time in 1967, and in 1977 became part of the new Fuji Long Distance Series. In 1982 a se ...

, which put them in a near-championship-clinching position going into the season finale in

Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands and an additional 33 artificial islands, centered on Bahrain Island, which mak ...

. There, both WRTs ran at the front, and with an issue at the final pit stop throwing the sister #31 car to second, the #41 crew were able to cross the finish line first, thereby winning the final championship of the LMP2 class in the WEC.

2024: GT switch

Having made his GT racing debut at the start of 2024, driving for Dragon Racing in the AsLMS, Andrade embarked on a WEC campaign in the LMGT3 class. He would partner

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...

factory driver

Charlie Eastwood Charlie Eastwood (born 11 August 1995 in Belfast) is a racing driver from Northern Ireland who currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship for TF Sport. Having been an Aston Martin factory driver, Eastwood was signed by Corvette R ...

and bronze Tom van Rompuy at

, whilst also signing up to IMSA's GTD class with Lone Star Racing, driving in the endurance rounds.

Racing record

Career summary

^† As Andrade was a guest driver, he was ineligible for championship points.
^* Season still in progress.