Manuel Espírito Santo (born 13 August 2003) is a Portuguese racing driver who currently drives for Rossa Racing by Virage in the LMP2 Pro-Am category of the European Le Mans Series.
Early career
Junior formulae
After starting his career at the comparatively late age of 14, Espírito Santo made his racing debut in single-seater machinery at the end of 2019, driving for Drivex School at Barcelona in the final round of the F4 Spanish Championship. He finished eighth in his maiden race.
After a year of senior-level karting, Espírito Santo 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, 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
2023 saw Espírito Santo enter prototype racing, as he would drive in the European Le Mans Series alongside gentleman drivers Michael Jensen and Nick Adcock, driving an LMP3 car for Team Virage. He managed to impress in his debut season, scoring pole positions at Spa 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, Espírito Santo joined the team in the Ultimate Cup Series 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. 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 at Abu Dhabi. 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 Barcelona brought another pole position to the youngster, who later crossed the line in second.
After finishing fifth and eighth at Le Castellet and Imola, Espírito Santo 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 Algarve, Espírito Santo 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 Ultimate Cup Series. Espírito Santo finished fifth 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, 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 Espírito Santo would have a second season with the team in the 2025 European Le Mans Series, and he would also move up to the LMP2 class.
After retiring from the first race at the 4 Hours of Barcelona, Espírito Santo came third in the second round at the 4 Hours of Le Castellet, achieving his first LMP2 podium. Espírito Santo missed the 2025 4 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps after an testing accident which caused injury. At Silverstone, he had a difficult race, coming in twelfth. He came sixth in the final round in his home track at Portimão and ended his campaign in tenth.
Espirito Santo competed in the third round of the 2025 IMSA SportsCar Championship, coming seventh in the main race and ending the championship in 49th.
2026
He partnered Pietro Fittipaldi and Chris Cummings in the LMP2 class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Pratt Miller Motorsports, where he contested all rounds but three. His best result came in the final round at Petit Le Mans, where the trio finished in fifth.
Espírito Santo also continued with his ELMS duties that year, switching to Rossa Racing by Virage and partnering John Falb and Rik Koen, but was downgraded to the LMP2 Pro-Am class. The trios best result of the year so far is a podium at Silverstone.
Personal life
Espírito Santo is a part of Skywalker Management.
Karting record Karting career summary
SeasonSeriesTeamPosition 2020 CIK-FIA European Championship - OK Cabo Junior Team ? CIK-FIA World Championship - OK ?
Racing record
Racing career summary Season Series Team Races Wins Poles F/Laps Podiums Points Position 2019 F4 Spanish Championship Drivex School300000NC† 2021 F4 Spanish Championship MP Motorsport2100003017th 2022 F4 Spanish ChampionshipTeo Martín Motorsport600005912thCampos Racing150002 FIA Motorsport Games Formula 4 Cup Team Portugal10001N/A2nd 2023 European Le Mans Series - LMP3 Team Virage602003011th Le Mans Cup - LMP3201000NC† Ultimate Cup Series - Proto P3535451332nd2023-24 Asian Le Mans Series - LMP3 Cool Racing20222387th 2024 European Le Mans Series - LMP3 Cool Racing61313755th Ultimate Cup Series - Proto P3 Bretton Racing101101036th 2025 European Le Mans Series - LMP2 CLX Motorsport50001310thIMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2Pratt Miller Motorsports1000026249th2026IMSA SportsCar Championship - LMP2Pratt Miller Motorsports50000122523rdEuropean Le Mans Series - LMP2 Pro-AmRossa Racing by Virage5000151*6th*
† 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) Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points 2019 Drivex School NAV1 NAV2 NAV3 LEC1 LEC2 LEC3 ARA1 ARA2 ARA3 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 JER1 JER2 JER3 ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 NC† 02021MP Motorsport SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 NAV1 NAV2 NAV3 ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 ARA1 ARA2 ARA3 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 JER1 JER2 JER3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3 17th 30 2022 Teo Martín Motorsport ALG1 ALG2 ALG3 JER1 JER2 JER3 12th 59Campos Racing CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 ARA1 ARA2 ARA3 NAV1 NAV2 NAV3 CAT1 CAT2 CAT3
† As Espírito Santo was a guest driver, he was ineligible to score points.
Complete FIA Motorsport Games results YearTeamCupQualifyingQuali RaceMain Race2022 Team PortugalFormula 45th2nd2nd
Complete European Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) YearEntrantClassChassisEngine123456RankPoints 2023 Team Virage LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 CAT LEC ARA SPA PRT ALG 11th 30 2024 Cool Racing LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA MUG ALG 5th 75 2025 CLX Motorsport LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMO SPA SIL ALG 10th 33 2026 Rossa Racing by Virage LMP2 Pro-Am Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 CAT LEC IMOSPASILALG 6th* 51*
Complete Ultimate Cup Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant Class Chassis 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points 2023 Team Virage LMP3 Ligier JS P320 LEC1 NAVHOC EST MAG LEC2 2nd 133 2024 Bretton Racing LMP3 Ligier JS P320 LEC1 ALG HOC MUG MAG LEC2 36th 10 * Season still in progress.
Complete Asian Le Mans Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) + Year Team Class Car Engine12345Pos.Points 2023–24 Cool Racing LMP3 Ligier JS P320 Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8 SEP1 SEP2 DUB ABU1 ABU2 7th 38
Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rank Points 2025 Pratt Miller Motorsports LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 49th 262 2026 Pratt Miller Motorsports LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 DAY SEB WGL MOS ELK IMS PET 23rd 1225
References
External links