Miguel Pedro Caetano Ramos (born 26 September 1971 in

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropo ...

) is a Portuguese

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

. He is a former

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

and Italian GT champion, and has raced in the FIA GT1 World Championship and 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 race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active endurance racing event. Unlike fixed-distance races whose w ...

. In 2012 he races for V8 Racing, driving a Chevrolet Corvette C6.R in the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec ca ...

. In 2015 and 2016 he races for Teo Martín Motorsport in the

Early career

Ramos began his career in 1991, when he was only 18 years old, racing in the Autocross National Championship. During three years, he won several races and two national titles in Division II (2WD Touring Cars), in 1992 and in 1993, respectively. In 1994 he switched to

touring car racing Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States. While the cars do not mov ...

and took part in the Troféu

BMW M3 The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M GmbH. M3 models have been produced for every generation of 3 Series since the E30 M3 was introduced in 1986. The initial mo ...

/Mobil spec series, which at the time was the most powerful car in one-make series in Portugal. Ramos drove in the series for three years, finally taking the title in 1996 with six race wins. He then switched to the Portuguese Touring Car Championship in 1997, driving a BMW 320is with backing from the Portuguese BMW importer, taking third place overall. Winning one win in the final round of the series at the Ota Airport, he finished the championship in third position. He also took part in the Guia race of the

Macau Grand Prix The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...

Career in Italy and Spain

In 1998, Ramos became the first Portuguese driver to take part in the

Italian Superturismo Championship The Italian Superturismo Championship (Campionato Italiano Superturismo) is Italy's national motorsport series for touring cars. It was established in 1987 and its drivers' title has been held by such notable drivers as Le Mans winner Emanuele P ...

. With a lack of familiarity of the tracks and the competition, he ended the Privateer drivers classification in sixth position, with five podiums. In 1999, at 27 years old, Ramos entered the Toyota Super Formula, his debut with single seater racing, his best result a third place in 2000. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, Ramos moved up to the new Spanish Formula Three Championship, ending the season in 10th place overall. The year of 2002 was of consecration! In the difficult but spectacular and competitive world of

Grand Tourism Grand may refer to: People with the name * Grand (surname) * Grand L. Bush (born 1955), American actor * Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist * Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper Places * Grand, Oklahoma * Grand, Vosges, village and commu ...

cars, Miguel Ramos won the Spanish GT Championship with a Saleen, having as team colleague

Pedro Chaves Pedro António Matos Chaves (; born 27 February 1965) is a Portuguese racing driver. Chaves was the second Portuguese Formula Ford Champion, in 1986, starting an international career in 1987 in the British Formula Ford Championship. In 1990 ...

. Also in the year

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

he made his first participation in the

. With the team

Ray Mallock Ltd. Ray Mallock Ltd., also known as RML Group, is a motorsports and high performance engineering company, based in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom. Early history Ray Mallock began building racing cars, alongside his brother Richa ...

team he achieved the 5th position on the GTS class. The following seasons, in the years

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, was full of challenges. Having as adversaries some of the World's best drivers – some of them ex-Formula 1 drivers — Miguel Ramos participated in the prestigious and media-covered

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

. Various impediments prevented well-deserved ascensions to the podium, but seven classifications in the first best ten positions, prove his unequivocal value. Also in

he participated on the

Le Mans Endurance 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 ...

in a prototype with RML team driving a MG Lola prototype, getting for his team the 5th position on the championship. 2005 was and extremely competitive year for Miguel Ramos. The Italian GT Championship conflates the best of the Italian manufactures of GT, demonstrating a high level of the competitive pace. To traduce these, Miguel Ramos dispute until the last race the first position on the championship. With the same

Ferrari 550 Maranello The Ferrari 550 Maranello (''tipo'' F133) is a front-engine V12 2-seat grand tourer built by Ferrari from 1996 to 2001. The 550 Maranello marked Ferrari's return to a front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout for its 2-seater 12-cylinder model, ...

, the Portuguese driver defended the National Flag on the

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 f ...

in the category of GT1, he participated at 4 of the 5 races achieving one first place in 1000km of Spa and two second places at

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

and

Istanbul Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...

. In the 2006 season Miguel Ramos returned to the most competitive GT world championship, the

, with the

Aston Martin DBR9 The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-win ...

in the GT1 class. The Portuguese driver achieved the 12th classification helping the team

BMS Scuderia Italia BMS Scuderia Italia SpA (sometimes referred to as simply Scuderia Italia) is an Italian auto racing team founded by Italian steel magnate and motorsports enthusiast Giuseppe Lucchini in 1983. Initially named Brixia Motor Sport (BMS) the team br ...

to achieve the 2nd position in the GT1 Championship Teams. Also compete in a few races of the Italian GT Championship with the

Maserati MC12 The Maserati MC12 (''Tipo M144S'') is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. ...

achieving two victories and one second place accumulating 38 points.

Racing record

Complete GT1 World Championship results

24 Hours of Le Mans results

References

External links

Official website

Ramos career statistics
at Driver Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramos, Miguel 1971 births Living people Portuguese racing drivers FIA GT Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Euroformula Open Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers FIA GT1 World Championship drivers International GT Open drivers 24 Hours of Spa drivers Sportspeople from Porto FIA Motorsport Games drivers Aston Martin Racing drivers Charouz Racing System drivers Teo Martín Motorsport drivers De Villota Motorsport drivers Team Lazarus drivers Target Racing drivers AF Corse drivers