From President Marcelo to Max Verstappen: tributes continued to be paid to Paulo Pinheiro, founder of the Algarve racetrack
Major figures from the Algarve, Portugal and the motorsports world continue to pay tribute to Paulo Pinheiro, the founder of the Algarve International Autodrome (AIA) who died on Wednesday after a battle against cancer.
Portugal’s President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, has lamented the “untimely death” of the 52-year-old entrepreneur in an official statement, saying that Pinheiro led the racetrack “with the same passion that he had for motorsports and motorcycling.”
Max Verstappen, the three-time F1 world champion, has also reacted to the tragic news, commenting ‘Rest in peace’ on the racetrack’s Instagram post about Pinheiro’s passing.
The list goes on, with Portugal’s MotoGP star Miguel Oliveira taking to his official Instagram page to post his tribute: “Today, a hero for all of us has departed. We, who love motorsports, cannot remain indifferent to Paulo’s legacy. His dream became a reality, and through it, we all were able to dream and create memories that will last forever. A man like you, Paulão, never truly dies; you live on through the work you leave behind and in our hearts forever. I lost a friend, but how lucky I am to have crossed paths with you, Paulinho”.
The municipal councils of Portimão and Lagos have also lamented Pinheiro’s death. The council of his home town described Paulo Pinheiro as a “son of Portimão” and as someone who “dared to dream and accomplish his dreams, allowing our city, region, and country to be internationally recognised as a premier motorsport destination.”
“Today, the people of Portimão are in mourning, holding with pride and immense admiration the memory of a determined man, an enthusiast who, with his eyes set on the future and ‘sleeves rolled up,’ always made things happen and helped make history,” the Portimão council stated.
Meanwhile, the municipal council of Lagos described Pinheiro as a “man who had the vision, courage, and audacity to dream of an infrastructure crucial for the competitiveness and promotion of the region”.
“He knew how to gather the necessary support to realise such a significant investment,” adding that he was a “motorsports enthusiast, an entrepreneur, a leader, and a person esteemed by all who had the privilege of crossing his path“.
Cristóvão Norte, president of PSD Algarve, also paid tribute to the entrepreneur while speaking this morning at the Economics Committee during a hearing with Portugal’s Economy Minister, stating that “the Algarve and the country have just lost a great entrepreneur, (…) a man who did extraordinary work for many years and who deserves the highest praise and deepest sense of loss from all of us.”
