Canadian racer Roman De Angelis will partner Matthias Kaiser and Olli Caldwell to complete the #25 Algarve Pro Racing roster for the 2024 24 Hours of Le Mans (15-16 June).
De Angelis won multiple races to be Rookie of the Year in Canada’s F1600 Championship Series during his foundational 2016 season, which served as a springboard into a hugely successful GT racing career.
The Ontario driver joined the IMSA package the following year in 2017 and, at the age of 16, became the youngest ever Porsche GT3 Cup USA Gold Class Champion with a tally of eight wins.
He continued notching up successes in one-make Porsche categories on both sides of the US-Canadian border but later found a home in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GTD division.
Capturing the 2022 title is his crowning achievement to date, but he followed that up with runner-up finishes in both the IMSA GTD and GTD Sprint Cup Championships in 2023, while also dovetailing full Pirelli GT4 America Series and 24H Series campaigns.
Now, though, he’s getting set to live out his ultimate childhood dream of competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, as he will enter the 2024 edition of the French endurance classic as one third of Algarve Pro’s #25 line-up, made up of British racer Caldwell and Liechtenstein’s Kaiser.
“I’m lucky enough to have had the opportunity to test with Algarve Pro last month in Barcelona,” said De Angelis. “I’ve never raced an LMP2 prototype before, but the transition from GTs wasn’t bad, especially as I had the support of a great team and teammates.
“I grew up as an endurance racing fan. I would always choose to watch the 24 Hours of Le Mans over Formula 1 races and my ambition was to compete in all the big endurance events. I’ve been fortunate to hit a lot of my targets, among other things winning the Rolex 24 at Daytona and an IMSA title.”
De Angelis added: “To enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans – the greatest race of them all – in LMP2 when the class is at an all-time high is an honour. I’ll be sure to enjoy the whole experience, while focusing on keeping it clean and being competitive on the track. Of course we’re all going there to win. However, Le Mans often decides where you end up.”
Kaiser said: “The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a huge test of endurance and the 2024 race will be even more challenging than before. I was fortunate to participate in last year’s Centenary edition, but I’m expecting this year’s event to be bigger, especially with even more manufacturers in the Hypercar class.
“Algarve Pro Racing had a strong start to the European Le Mans Series in Barcelona and it’s nice knowing we will have the weapons to fight for the win. We will continue working hard in the coming weeks to ensure we’re ready for what is without question the most important event of the year. I’m looking forward to driving with Roman (De Angelis), as he made a good impression in testing at Barcelona and he knows what it takes to be successful in endurance races.”
Caldwell said: “I’m really looking forward to returning to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Algarve Pro Racing. I was lucky that my first experience was in last year’s Centenary edition. I was really pleased to finish the race and it’ll be useful to take all of that experience forward.
“It’s great to be teaming up with Matthias (Kaiser), who has experience and pace at Le Mans, and I have a lot of trust in Roman (De Angelis) after working with him. He’s a very professional and fast-adapting driver, so I’m sure he will be able to handle the challenges Le Mans provides. APR has had a lot of success there and we look forward to continuing that in 2024, following our strong start to the European Le Mans Series.”
Roman De Angelis joins Olli Caldwell and Matthias Kaiser to complete Algarve Pro Le Mans line-up
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