David Martínez (born December 8, 1981, in

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

) is a Mexican

racing driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

. He holds the record for the best debut ever by a Mexican driver in a premiere open-wheel series (IndyCar, Champ Car World Series, F1) with his 9th place finish at the

2006 Gran Premio Telmex The 2006 Gran Premio Telmex was the fourteenth and final round of the 2006 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season, held on November 12, 2006, on the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Mexico. The pol ...

(a record he now shares with

Patricio O'Ward Patricio "Pato" O'Ward Junco (born 6 May 1999) is a Mexican professional auto racing driver who competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren. He is the 2018 Indy Lights champion. He is signed to the Mc ...

, who also finished 9th on debut at the

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Indycar Grand Prix of Sonoma).

Racing career

Early career in Mexico

Starting at the age of seven through his early twenties, Martínez raced in Mexico in

karts Kart racing or karting is a motorsport discipline using open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on full-size moto ...

, Mexican Formula 2/Formula 3000,

Formula 3 Formula Three (F3) is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. History Formula Three (adop ...

, and

Formula Renault 2000 de America The Panam GP Series is the replacement of the Mexican Formula Three Championship. In 2002 began as Mexican Formula Renault, but in 2005 started an internationalization process in Central America and North of South America. In 2008, the series f ...

. At the age of 14 he won his first formula championship (Mexican Formula 2 Neon), in 1997 Martínez was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award in Mexican Marlboro Cup Formula 3000 and in 2002 won the Mexican Formula Renault 2000. Martínez eventually expanded his racing territory, which included a year in the

Barber Dodge Pro Series The Barber Dodge Pro Series was an American open-wheel auto racing series promoted by the Skip Barber Racing School from 1986 to 2003. It was one of the first professional spec series for open-wheel racecars in North America. The races were prima ...

(2003) winning the first race he participated in (at

Fundidora Park Fundidora Park (''Parque Fundidora'' in Spanish) is an urban park located in the Mexican city of Monterrey, built in what once were the grounds of the Monterrey Foundry, the first steel and iron foundry in Latin America, and, for many years, the ...

, Mexico).

Europe and Atlantic Championship (2004-2006)

In 2004 Martínez migrated to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

and produced five top-five results in the

Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Formula Renault V6 Eurocup is a former type of formula racing, active from 2003 to 2004, started by Renault as a support series in Eurosport's Super Racing Weekends ( ETCC and FIA GT Championship). It was a Formula Renault 3.5 that include also ...

Series. The 25-year-old missed the first race of the year in the

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Champ Car Atlantic Championship The Atlantic Championship Series is an American open-wheel racing series with races throughout North America. It has previously been called Champ Car Atlantics, Toyota Atlantics (after its then engine supplier for sponsorship reasons), or just ...

but still managed to claim fifth in his rookie season. He finished third in his first race in Monterrey, Mexico, captured his first career pole and scored a total of four podiums and seven top-five finishes. Also during

, Martínez contested some rounds of the

A1 Grand Prix A1 Grand Prix Operations Ltd. operated as A1 Grand Prix (A1GP) was a "single-make" open-wheel auto racing series that ran from 2005 until 2009. It was unique in its field in that competitors solely represented their nation as opposed to themse ...

Series. In

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

Martínez returned to Atlantics with the

US RaceTronics US RaceTronics (USRT) is an auto racing team based in Buttonwillow, California, that competes in the Atlantic Championship. It was founded by former Dorricott Racing Team Manager Shane Seneviratne. Seneviratne and the Dorricott Racing organizatio ...

Team, and repeated his fifth place in the championship despite a challenging season in which he switched teams halfway through the year, but still managed to continue his success on Mexican soil by finishing third at the Monterrey, Mexico event.

Champ Car and Indy Lights (2006-present)

In 2006, Martínez joined

Forsythe Championship Racing Forsythe Championship Racing was an American racing team that competed in the Champ Car World Series owned by Gerald Forsythe. The Champ Car effort ceased operations after the 2008 unification of North American open wheel racing. The team won th ...

Mexico City Mexico City is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Mexico, largest city of Mexico, as well as the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North America. It is one of the most important cultural and finan ...

to pilot the

Lola Lola may refer to: Places * Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama * Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States * Lola Prefecture, Guinea * Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture * Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands People * Lol ...

Ford-Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream automotive industries ...

in his

Champ Car Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing T ...

debut. Initially announced to race a third car for the team, he ended up replacing an injured

Paul Tracy Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian professional auto racing driver who participated in Champ Car World Series, the IndyCar Series, and the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART). He started kart racing at age five and quick ...

and finished 9th, the best debut by a Mexican driver in a premiere open-wheel series. He was idle throughout most of

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, but was announced as the driver of Forsythe's #7 car for the final two races of the season, including a return to

. David started 10th and ran as high as 5th in the race, but during a routine pit stop on lap 45, his gearbox prevented him from returning to the race. The crew managed to repair it, but the job took several minutes and he finished 6 laps down in 14th. Martínez's last Champ Car race came in the series' final race, the

2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach The 2008 Long Beach Grand Prix, Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach was the third round of the 2008 IndyCar Series, for teams who competed in the Champ Car World Series in 2007 Champ Car season, 2007. This was because the 2008 Indy Japan 300 occurre ...

where he finished a career-best eighth as one of three Forsythe/Petit entries. In 2009 his only professional outing was in the

24 Hours of Daytona The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car racing, sports car Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Flo ...

driving Beyer Racing's

Riley Riley may refer to: Businesses * Riley (brand), British sporting goods brand founded in 1878 * Riley Motor, British motorcar and bicycle manufacturera 1890–1969 * Riley Technologies, American auto racing constructor and team, founded by Bob ...

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

to a 10th place DP-class finish. In 2010 he re-entered American open-wheel racing by making two starts for Genoa Racing in

Firestone Indy Lights Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road ...

with a best finish of 8th at

Infineon Raceway Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...

Racing record

*(1) = Team standings.

American open-wheel racing results

( key)

Barber Dodge Pro Series

Atlantic Championship

Champ Car

IndyCar Series

: ''¹ Run on same day.''

Indy Lights

Complete A1 Grand Prix results

( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

External links

David Martínez Official Website

Career statistics
at Driver Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez, David 1981 births Living people Champ Car drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Indy Lights drivers Latin America Formula Renault 2000 drivers A1 Team Mexico drivers Racing drivers from Monterrey 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Barber Pro Series drivers A1 Grand Prix drivers IndyCar Series drivers US RaceTronics drivers Forsythe Racing drivers Formula Renault V6 Eurocup drivers Cram Competition drivers DAMS drivers NACAM F4 Championship drivers Mexican racing drivers