"The regularity allowed me to score points without closing the door to anyone"
In his second season and first full season of racing, Álvaro Ramos clearly stood out among the amateur drivers in the Iberian Supercars Endurance as he was in the discussion for the GTC category title until the last race at Autódromo do Estoril. Only a forced retirement (his teammate Leandro Martins was involved in an accident, leaving his car unrecoverable), at the beginning of the second race, left him without the championship's trophy something that at the beginning of the season was never in his plans).
“My expectations were not so high, considering that it was the first time I was going to race a championship from start to finish. So, I was focused, above all, on learning and getting to know the circuits. Then, I have a problem: I cannot train in the simulator because it makes me sick, and that represented an added difficulty. Besides being older than the other drivers and also heavier. I decided to participate in the Iberian Supercars Endurance and Campeonato de Portugal de Velocidade to have fun and enjoy myself, because I always loved cars, I never had any ambition to win anything. Before racing I used to take my sports cars to the track days and I even destroyed some of them there... I am in a consolidated phase of my life, unlike what happened when I was younger, but then I lacked the conditions to fulfil the dream of competing, only today I am not so young nor so daring at the wheel. That's what it is…,” explained the Araújo Competições driver.
Álvaro Ramos, who drove a McLaren 570S GT4 Trophy, doesn't hide the fact that the set of results accumulated this season is the sum of his track performance.
“My opponents are more professional and didn't avoid the 'skirmishes', always trying to gain a position at the first corner. I wanted to stay out of trouble and even in the rain, when visibility is reduced and the probability of an accident increases, I immediately reduced my pace. As I didn't have to win races, my regularity allowed me to add points without closing the door to anyone, but I noticed that there are very aggressive drivers on track. I did my course, in terms of learning, I fulfilled a dream and, of course, I'm happy to have been runner-up in the Iberian Supercars GTC category.”
With a two-year career in circuit racing under his belt, Álvaro Ramos is already making plans for 2023, but the decisions will not be made until later...
"The next step, after the season is over, is to meet with the team [Araújo Competição] and analyse everything. I really enjoyed competing in the two championships, but, I like the idea of doing longer races. I don't know, it will be a case to think about..."
