Miguel Maria de Sá Pais do Amaral

Miguel Maria de Sá Pais do Amaral

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	2006 -
Teams	Quifel ASM Team
Best finish	20th (2008, 2010)
Class wins	0

Miguel Maria de Sá Pais do Amaral, 2nd Count of Alferrarede, KHDSMOM (born Lisbon, 31 July 1954) is a Portuguese aristocrat, businessman and amateur race car driver.

Family

He is the only child and son of Manuel José Maria de Sá Pais do Amaral, 7th Count of Anadia (born in Lisbon on 15 January 1925 a descendant of the Marquess of Pombal, Pedro IV of Portugal, Friedrich Wilhelm I, Duke of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Beck, Isabella Margherita Farnese and Aurora Stjernvall's sister), and his wife (married in Carcavelos in September 1953) Dona Maria Mafalda de Figueiredo Cabral da Câmara, of the Counts of Belmonte (born in Lisbon on 7 February 1931 a descendant of Louis, comte de Narbonne-Lara and twice of the Duke of Loulé and Infanta Ana de Jesus Maria of Portugal).^[1][2]

Career

A Mechanical Engineer diplomed with a MBA from INSEAD,^[3] Amaral was the former majority owner of the Media Capital group, a conglomerate that owns the TVI TV channel and several radio stations, including Rádio Comercial and Rádio Clube Português in Portugal. He sold a majority stake in the group to PRISA in 2005.

His current business interests are concentrated in Quifel Holdings, and include the following activities: a) LEYA, the leading education and book publishing operator in Portugal, b) REDITUS, one of the leading IT companies in Portugal, c) TEG, a Real estate operator foccusing on retail, tourism and residential segments, d) QUIFEL NATURAL RESOURCES, a natural resources and renewable energies company, e) GRYPHON HOLDING, a financial services company based in London, d) COMPANHIA DAS QUINTAS, a wine production company based in Portugal,

An avid motorsports fan, he began racing in the Portuguese Cross-Country Rally Championship, as well as in the Portuguese Classic Touring Car Championship. In 2001 he teamed up with Pedro Couceiro to drive in the Spanish GT Championship before the two moved to the Portuguese ASM Team. In the last two years he teamed up with Miguel de Castro driving a Porsche 997 RSR, and in 2009 he won the Trofeu Iberico de GT.

In 2006 Amaral purchased the Lola B05/40 Le Mans prototype formerly run by Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsports in the Le Mans Series. After one win under the Chamberlain name, the team scored two more victories as ASM, but this prevented Amaral and his co-drivers Miguel Angel de Castro and Angel Burgueño from taking the class win. Amaral and ASM Team continue to ran their Lola in the Le Mans Series in 2007 and 2008. In 2009 Amaral and Olivier Pla raced a Zytek 09 and won the LMP2 championship. He's also a classic car lover, being the proud owner of a Porsche 917, which he first displayed at the Circuito da Boavista in 2007.

He is also the 1,335th Associate of the Second Tauromachic Club.

Amaral family has the title of Count of Anadia and owns Palácio Anadia in Mangualde, one of the most important baroque residences in the country, and Palácio Anadia in Amoreiras, Lisbon. He is also a Knight of Honour and Devotion of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. He was granted the title of 2nd Count of Alferrarede by Alvará of the Conselho de Nobreza, still in his father's lifetime, a title that was originally granted to his great-uncle Carlos de Sá Pais do Amaral Pereira de Menezes, 1st Count of Alferrarede, formerly 1st Viscount of Alferrarede.

Marriage and issue

He married at Estoril on 5 November 1983 Maria da Luz Lagos do Amaral Cabral, born on 19 October 1960, daughter of Joaquim Emílio do Amaral Cabral, a lawyer, and Maria Elisabeth da Silva Lagos, and has two daughters: Maria da Assunção de Sá Pais do Amaral, born at São Domingos de Benfica, Lisbon, on 29 December 1987; and Carolina Rita de Sá Pais do Amaral, born at São Domingos de Benfica, Lisbon, on 23 January 1991.

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year	Class	No	Tyres	Car	Team	Co-Drivers	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2006	LMP2	39	D	Lola B05/40 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4	Chamberlain-Synergy Motorsport ASM Team Racing for Portugal	Warren Hughes Miguel Ángel de Castro	196	DNF	DNF
2007	LMP2	40	D	Lola B05/40 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4	Quifel ASM Team Racing for Portugal	Warren Hughes Miguel Ángel de Castro	137	DNF	DNF
2008	LMP2	40	D	Lola B05/40 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4	Quifel ASM Team	Olivier Pla Guy Smith	325	20th	4th
2009	LMP2	40	D	Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8	Quifel ASM Team	Olivier Pla Guy Smith	46	DNF	DNF
2010	LMP2	40	D	Ginetta-Zytek GZ09S/2 Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8	Quifel ASM Team	Olivier Pla Warren Hughes	318	20th	7th
2011	LMP1	20	D	Zytek 09SC Zytek ZG348 3.4L V8	Quifel ASM Team	Olivier Pla Warren Hughes	48	DNF	DNF

References

1. ^ Miguel Maria de Sá Pais do Amaral Geneall.net Portuguese
2. ^ Miguel Maria de Sá Pais do Amaral Geneall.net English
3. ^ Anuário da Nobreza de Portugal, III, 1985, Tomo I, p. 223 and Tomo II, p. 145

Persondata
Name	Amaral
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Short description
Date of birth	31 July 1954
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death