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

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 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 their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

machinery at the end of 2019, driving for Drivex School 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 ...

in the final round of the F4 Spanish Championship. 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 Campos Racing (formerly Adrián Campos Motorsport and Campos Grand Prix) is a Spanish motor racing team based in Alzira, Valencia, founded by former Formula One driver Adrián Campos in 1997. The team has been successful in Formula Three, GP2 S ...

. The results swiftly improved, as Espírito Santo scored a pair of podiums at

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 ...

— his first weekend for the team. Further points followed at

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

Aragón Aragon ( , ; Spanish and ; ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to south): Huesca, Zaragoza, a ...

, 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 The FIA Motorsport Games is a biennial motorsport event administered by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It includes competitions from multiple motorsport disciplines and is entered by national motorsport authorities under t ...

, where he qualified in fifth, placed second during the qualifying race, and ended up second overall in the main race.

Sportscar career

2023

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

alongside gentleman drivers Michael Jensen and Nick Adcock, driving an

LMP3 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 ...

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

and his home track in the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

. However, retirements at

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 The Ultimate Cup Series is an auto racing series formed in 2019. This endurance championship mainly takes place in France, with rounds elsewhere in Europe. The Ultimate Cup Series is a program comprising multiple endurance and sprint championshi ...

that year in the Proto P3 class. 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, a preliminary event ahead of 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 ...

. 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.

2024

At the start of 2024, Cool Racing brought in Espírito Santo for the final two races of the

Asian Le Mans Series The Asian Le Mans Series (ALMS) is an Asian sports car racing endurance series created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and based in Asia. It is the successor to the defunct Japan Le Mans Challenge which folded in 2007 after its second s ...

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

. 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 alongside fellow silver-ranked driver Cédric Oltramare and Portuguese bronze Miguel Cristóvão. The opening round at

brought another pole position to the youngster, who later crossed the line in second. After finishing 5th and 8th at Le Castellet and

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, the Portuguese was back on the podium at Spa-Francorchamps, where he came third place. At the penultimate round of the season at Mugello, he got his first pole position of the season but retired 68 laps in the race. In the final round of the season and at his home race of

, he got another pole position, which his team converted to their first win alongside a fastest lap. This was also his first ever win in endurance racing, barring his wins in the

. Espírito Santo finished 5th in the championship with one win, three pole positions, one fastest lap, three podiums and 75 points. Espírito Santo made a cameo in the second round of the 2024 Ultimate Cup Series in the Proto P3 class, at

Algarve International Circuit The Algarve International Circuit (), commonly referred to as Portimão Circuit, is a race circuit located in Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal. The development includes a karting track, off-road track, technology park, five-star hotel, sp ...

, his hometrack. He competed with Bretton Racing, partnering up with Bernardo Pinheiro, they achieved pole position but came 12th in the race.

2025

Cool Racing would be rebranded to CLX Motorsport from 2025, as the Portuguese would have a second season with the team in the 2025 European Le Mans Series, and he would also move up to the

class.

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) (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

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

Complete Ultimate Cup Series results

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

Complete Asian Le Mans Series results

( key) (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 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen