Alvaro Partente has joined Ram Racing for the 2014 FIA World Endurance Championship.
The Portuguese, who raced for Sebastien Loeb Racing last season in the FIA GT Series, will partner Irishman Matt Griffin in the No.52 LMGTE Pro Ferrari 458 Italia, after being loaned from McLaren GT to Ram for the season.
The 29-year-old is a former British Formula 3 and World Series by Renault Champion, but made the switch from single-seater racing in 2012 when he was signed as a works driver for McLaren.
“This is a new and exciting challenge for me! The World Endurance Championship is a strong competition that is growing and where you can find strong teams and drivers,” said Parente.
“Ram Racing won the 2013 ELMS LMGTE championship and I can feel it’s an ambitious team with the will to succeed. Matt is a very good racing driver, so I think we have all the right ingredients to fight for good results during the season.
“As always, I’ll do my best and I hope to justify the confidence that Ram Racing showed in me. I also would like to thank McLaren GT for allowing me to tackle this new challenge”.
Dan Shufflebottom, Team Principle of Ram Racing, said: “We really chuffed to have come to an agreement with both Alvaro and McLaren. To have someone of his calibre alongside Matt, who we know can deliver the goods from his Championship-winning ELMS season last year, is a major boost to our chances of success.
“We are the only non-factory entry in the LMGTE Pro category but that’s not going to stop our ambitions for success in any way, shape or form. We think the Parente-Griffin partnership will be right up there alongside our competitors.”
Ram Racing also has an entry in LMGTE Am this season, with Jonny Mowlem, Ben Collins and Mark Patterson driving the No.53 entry.
