André Negrão (born ) is a Brazilian
racing
In sports, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific g ...
driver. He most recently drove for
Alpine in the
Hypercar class of 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 ...
in 2023, and spent a total of seven seasons with the team during his tenure.
Negrão is a former
LMP2
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...
champion in the series, and is also a two-time LMP2 class winner 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 ...
, winning in 2018 and 2019.
Early career
Negrão was born in Campinas, in São 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 Negrão accompanied his cousin at Granja Viana's 500 Miles Kart, in 2003, he started his career in motorsports. After some seasons in karting, Negrão was Brazilian Kart's runner-up in 2006, 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.
One year later, André Negrão raced in the Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, and the Italian and Swiss championships' division, as well as some South American Formula 3 rounds.
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.
Negrão stepped up to the World Series by Renault 3.5 in 2011, 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, Negrão raced in Indy Lights and received a test in IndyCar.
Sportscar career
In 2017, Alpine invted the Brazilian to move to the WEC.
Negrão 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.
In 2021, Negrão drove in Hypercar, WEC's new main class, with Alpine Elf Matmut. He shared the
Alpine A480 with French drivers
Matthieu Vaxivière and
Nicolas Lapierre and finished third in the championship.
For the 2022 season, Negrão, Lapierre and Vaxivière 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. Problems with the car meant that Negrão and his teammates would only take fourth place in 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 ...
, although a victory in
Monza put the team into the lead of the championship. Despite finishing on the podium in the final two races, Alpine placed second behind the
Toyota
is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...
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.
Negrão and Alpine returned to the
LMP2
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series, and Asian Le M ...
class in
2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
, as the Brazilian was partnered by experienced Mexican
Memo Rojas and British rookie
Olli Caldwell.
The trio struggled, finishing 11th and last in the teams' standings with a best race finish of eighth.
Racing record
Career summary
† As Negrão was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete Formula Renault 2.0 NEC results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete Formula Renault 3.5 Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Complete GP2 Series results
(
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
Indy Lights
Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results
Complete European Le Mans Series results
References
External links
Andre Negrao Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Negrao, Andre
1992 births
Living people
Racing drivers from São Paulo
Portuguese Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Formula Renault 2.0 WEC drivers
Italian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Formula Renault 2.0 Alps drivers
Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers
Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
Formula Abarth drivers
World Series Formula V8 3.5 drivers
Formula Renault 2.0 NEC drivers
GP2 Series drivers
Brazilian GP2 Series drivers
Indy Lights drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
Draco Racing drivers
Arden International drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
Cram Competition drivers
Hitech Grand Prix drivers
Signature Team drivers
Brazilian racing drivers