Albuquerque backs 'amazing' Algarve

The Team Portugal driver had a tour of the facility, which will hold his home round of the series in April next year and is due for completion this Autumn.

He predicts it will be a challenging circuit with plenty of overtaking opportunities.

"It looks amazing," he told the A1GP website. "You can see where the track will be, I went round it and realised how up and down hill it is, there are lots of elevation changes.

"It looks like it's going to be very wide, which will be good for overtaking. There are a few parts that look pretty nice to drive, too.

"After the main straight there's a big downhill drop and a right-hand turn, which looks like it will be amazing. It could be a real challenge to drive under braking. There's another corner where the track drops down before a fast left corner, which will be taken in fifth gear."

Albuquerque is likely to race for Portugal again in the coming season and is excited to have a race in his home country, the first A1GP round in Portugal since Estoril in the inaugural campaign three years ago.

"It's going to be great to see it when it's finally built and it will be very good for A1GP to have a race in Portugal," he added. "More and more people have been getting into the sport here because we've been getting the results.

"It's going to be great for me to have people cheering for me."