Brazilian racing driver
Andre Negrao
(born 17 June 1992, Campinas, Sao Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian driver in the World Endurance Championship (WEC),
[1]
world champion in the WEC's superseason 2018/2019 and twice winner in the 24 Hours of Le Mans (2018 and 2019) in the LMP2 class.
[2]
Andre is in the
LMH Class
in the
FIA World Endurance Championship
, driving with Alpine. He shares the
Alpine A480
with French drivers
Matthieu Vaxiviere
and
Nicolas Lapierre
.
[3]
Negrao has driven with the team since 2017,
[4]
when the team was named "Signatech Alpine Matmut" in the
LMP2 Class
, now named only "Alpine" ? with the same name as the
Formula One
team.
[5]
Early career
[
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]
Negrao was born in Campinas, in Sao Paulo state. He started his trajectory in motorsports when he was 12 years old, although his family has a tradition in Brazilian motorsports. Guto, his father, Xandy, his uncle, and Xandinho, his cousin, are race drivers too.
When Negrao accompanied his cousin at Granja Viana's 500 Miles Kart, in 2003, he started his career in motorsports.
[6]
After some seasons in karting, Negrao was Brazilian Kart's runner-up in 2006,
[7]
and started in European motorsports two years later, in Formula Renault 2.0. He also ran in the Formula Renault Winter Series in the same year, finishing 3rd.
[8]
One year later, Andre Negrao raced in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and the Italian and Swiss championships' division, as well as some South American Formula 3 rounds.
[2]
In 2010, he competed in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 and British Formula Renault, in addition to racing in Italian Formula Abarth and the Formula 3 Brazil Open.
[2]
Negrao stepped up to the World Series by Renault 3.5 in 2011,
[9]
remaining in 2012 and 2013, and then returning in 2015. In 2014 and 2015, he ran in GP2, the current Formula 2. One year later, Negrao raced in Indy Lights and received a test in IndyCar.
Sportscar career
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]
In 2017, Alpine invted the Brazilian to move to the WEC.
[2]
Negrao won twice the legendary 24 Hours of Le Mans, the main endurance race of the world, in the LMP2 class in 2018 and 2019, beside Nicolas Lapierre and Pierre Thiriet. They also won the 2018?19 WEC super-season in the same class.
[10]
In 2021, Negrao drove in Hypercar, WEC's new main class, with Alpine Elf Matmut. He shared the
Alpine A480
with French drivers
Matthieu Vaxiviere
and
Nicolas Lapierre
and finished third in the championship.
[3]
[4]
For the 2022 season, Negrao, Lapierre and Vaxiviere returned to
Alpine
to race in the
WEC
. The squad began the season well, winning the season opener in
Sebring
before finishing second at
Spa
.
[11]
Problems with the car meant that Negrao and his teammates would only take fourth place in the
24 Hours of Le Mans
,
[12]
although a victory in
Monza
put the team into the lead of the championship.
[13]
Despite finishing on the podium in the final two races, Alpine placed second behind the
Toyota
Nr. 7 car, with a power reduction as a result of the
BoP
system having played a part in the team's lack of pace at the end of the year.
[14]
[15]
Negrao and Alpine returned to the
LMP2
class in
2023
, as the Brazilian was partnered by experienced Mexican
Memo Rojas
and British rookie
Olli Caldwell
.
[16]
[17]
The trio struggled, finishing 11th and last in the teams' standings with a best race finish of eighth.
Racing record
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Career summary
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]
†
As Negrao was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
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]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position) (Races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position) (Races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Series results
[
edit
]
(
key
) (Races in
bold
indicate pole position) (Races in
italics
indicate fastest lap)
†
Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.
American open-wheel racing results
[
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]
Indy Lights
[
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]
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
[
edit
]
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
[
edit
]
Complete European Le Mans Series results
[
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]
References
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]
External links
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]