According to his own website, Andrade began racing karts at the age of twelve, competing in the Angolan championship and a round of the Portuguese championship in 2017.
Andrade’s first experience in single-seaters came in 2018, competing for Drivex in the F4 Spanish Championship. He finished 12th in the standings, achieving his best results at Barcelona and Navarra where he finished fifth in each race. In 2019, he drove for Dragon Racing in the Formula 4 UAE Championship, attaining fifth place overall with 201 points and six podium finishes, including two second-place results at Dubai Autodrome and Yas Marina Circuit. He also competed in the Euroformula Open Championship with Drivex Racing in 2019, finishing 22nd with six points, and switched to CryptoTower Racing in 2020, improving to 14th in the standings. At the 2020 Toyota Racing Series, Andrade raced for M2 Competition, finishing 16th with 70 points.
In 2021, Andrade transitioned to sportscar racing, signing with G-Drive Racing to compete in the Asian and European Le Mans Series. He achieved three podiums in the Asian series, finishing third in the standings. His European campaign was equally successful, with six class podiums from six race starts, including an overall podium at the Red Bull Ring. At the final round, Andrade secured the Pro-Am title alongside John Falb. That year, he also debuted at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but retired following a nighttime accident near Dunlop bridge.
The following season, Andrade competed full-time in the World Endurance Championship with RealTeam by WRT, partnering Ferdinand Habsburg and Norman Nato. They secured two podiums in the opening two races before a 17th-place class finish at Le Mans. A victory at the 6 Hours of Monza followed, making Andrade the first Angolan to win an FIA-sanctioned World Championship race. He also raced in the IMSA SportsCar Championship’s Michelin Endurance Cup, achieving three class podiums including a victory at Petit Le Mans for Tower Motorsport alongside Louis Delétraz and John Farano.
In 2023, Andrade returned to Team WRT for the WEC season, driving alongside Louis Delétraz and Robert Kubica. Simultaneously, he competed in the European Le Mans Series with Inter Europol Competition, alongside Olli Caldwell and Jonathan Aberdein. After a fifth-place finish at Sebring, Andrade and his teammates scored a podium at Portimão. They then won at Spa-Francorchamps, and finished second at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Another third-place finish at Monza expanded their championship lead. Despite a collision with Josh Pierson at Fuji, Andrade helped his squad to victory, ultimately winning the final LMP2 championship in the WEC at Bahrain.
In 2024, Andrade began racing in GT cars, debuting with Dragon Racing in the AsLMS before embarking on a WEC campaign in the LMGT3 class with TF Sport, partnering Charlie Eastwood and Tom van Rompuy. He also signed up to IMSA's GTD class with Lone Star Racing for the endurance rounds, achieving a best finish of eighth at Daytona.
In 2025, Andrade continued with Corvette and TF Sport in the WEC, partnering Eastwood and van Rompuy, and Eastwood and Hiroshi Koizumi in the ELMS. The WEC season began with a retirement in Qatar due to a broken alternator shaft pulley. A third-place finish at São Paulo followed a sixth-place finish at Imola, before the Corvette crew finished 12th in Belgium. Despite complaints about the car's top speed before the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Andrade and his teammates secured a third-place finish. They then combined for back-to-back podiums at São Paulo, finishing second, before a 13th-place finish at Cota. A late time penalty for a leading Ferrari at Fuji earned Andrade and his teammates a victory.
In the ELMS, Andrade’s season began with sixth at Barcelona and a late retirement in Le Castellet. However, a win at Imola put the Corvette crew back into the title fight. After finishing eighth in Spa, Andrade returned to the podium with a third place at Silverstone. At the final round in Portimão, Koizumi took pole position, and Andrade was able to return the car to Eastwood in the lead despite an issue with the rearview camera during his stint. Eastwood then held on to win, earning TF Sport the LMGT3 title.
Andrade is managed by Bullet Sport Management. As part of Angola's 50th anniversary of national independence in 2025, Andrade was awarded the Peace and Development Medal by João Lourenço, the country's president, for his sporting achievements.
This article is based solely on the provided corpus: a Wikipedia article about Rui Andrade. No external sources, including motorsport databases or autobiographies, were consulted.
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