Manuel Espírito Santo (born 13 August 2003) is a Portuguese racing driver who currently drives for

Cool Racing Cool Racing / CLX Motorsport, most commonly known as Cool Racing, is a French-based Swiss sports car racing team which currently competes in the European Le Mans Series, fielding entries in the LMP2 and LMP3 classes, as well as the Le Mans Cup. ...

in the

LMP3 A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were create ...

category of the

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 ...

Early career

Junior formulae

After starting his career at the comparatively late age of 14, Espírito Santo made his racing debut in

single-seater An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

machinery at the end of 2019, driving for Drivex School at Barcelona in the final round of the

F4 Spanish Championship The F4 Spanish Championship ( es, Campeonato de España de Fórmula 4) 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 promot ...

. He finished eighth in his maiden race. After a year of senior-level karting, the Portuguese returned to Spanish F4 in 2021. Despite starting out with multiple points-scoring weekends for MP Motorsport, Espírito Santo managed just two further points finishes in the season's second half, ending up 17th in the standings. He switched to Teo Martín Motorsport for the 2022 season, where he would fail to score points in the opening two events before moving to Campos Racing. The results swiftly improved, as Espírito Santo scored a pair of podiums at Valencia — his first weekend for the team. Further points followed at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...

, Aragón, and Barcelona, results which helped Espírito Santo to 12th place in the championship. At the end of the year, he represented Team Portugal in the Formula 4 Cup of the FIA Motorsport Games, where he qualified in fifth, placed second during the qualifying race, and ended up second overall in the main race.

Sportscar career

2023 saw Espírito Santo enter prototype racing, as he would drive in the

alongside gentleman drivers Michael Jensen and Nick Adcock, driving an

car for Team Virage. He managed to impress in his debut season, scoring pole positions at

and his home track in the Algarve. However, retirements at Aragón and the Algarve blighted the team's season, as Espírito Santo and his teammates ended up tenth in the teams' standings. Additionally, the Portuguese driver joined the team in the

Ultimate Cup Series Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...

that year. The team dominated, as Espírito Santo helped them towards three victories whilst scoring four fastest laps; he ended up second in the drivers' championship after missing one race. He also raced in the

Road to Le Mans The Road to Le Mans is a sports car race held annually at the Circuit de la Sarthe, in Le Mans, France. It serves as a support event for the main race, the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans. The race was first run in 2016, as a one-hour event, forming ...

, a preliminary event ahead of the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

. Espírito Santo took pole and crossed the finish line first during the opening race, though he and teammate Martin Rich were demoted to fourth after the Portuguese received a five-second penalty for overtaking under safety car conditions. At the start of 2024,

brought in Espírito Santo for the final two races of the Asian Le Mans Series at

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

. There, he helped the team towards the LMP3 class title by scoring two pole positions and two second-place finishes. This would prove to be preparation for Espírito Santo's main campaign, which he would contest with Cool in the

ELMS Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nor ...

alongside fellow silver-ranked driver Cédric Oltramare and Portuguese bronze Miguel Cristóvão. The opening round at Barcelona brought another pole position to the youngster, who later crossed the line in second.

Karting record

Karting career summary

Racing record

Racing career summary

^† As Espírito Santo was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score championship points. ^* Season still in progress.

Complete F4 Spanish Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^† As Espírito Santo was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.

Complete FIA Motorsport Games results

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Ultimate Cup Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) ^* Season still in progress.

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Espírito Santo, Manuel 2003 births Living people Portuguese racing drivers Spanish F4 Championship drivers MP Motorsport drivers Teo Martín Motorsport drivers Campos Racing drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Cool Racing drivers Asian Le Mans Series drivers Karting World Championship drivers FIA Motorsport Games drivers Le Mans Cup drivers Drivex drivers Team Virage drivers