Michel Jourdain Sr., Michel Jourdain Declercq (born August 25, 1947) is a Mexican former racing driver from

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

. Born in Belgium, Jourdain's family emigrated to Mexico when he was 4. Jourdain competed in a number of different Mexican racing series and competed in the CART's 1980 Primera Copa Indy 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in his hometown of Mexico City. He started 20th in an

Offy The Offenhauser Racing Engine, or Offy, is a racing engine design that dominated American open wheel racing for more than 50 years and is still popular among vintage sprint and midget car racers. History The Offenhauser engine, familiarly ...

powered

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, j ...

but was knocked out after 5 laps by an oil line failure. He entered the race two weeks later at Phoenix International Raceway but failed to qualify. He drove in the 1981 Mexico City race but was again knocked out by an oil line failure after 18 laps. He competed in the Baja 1000 in 2004 and 2005 alongside his son Michel Jr. and brother

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

who both also competed in CART. They won the Baja Challenge class for Celebrity Pro-Am teams in 2004 and placed third in 2005. Jourdain is also a motorsport promoter and track owner. In 1984 he founded the Mexican Fórmula K, later Formula 2 and Formula 3000. He became manager of the

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a motorsport race track in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the racing drivers Ricardo (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its name shortly after it opened when Ricardo Rodr ...

in the 1990s. In 1997 he founded the Copa Mustang. In 2004 he became manager of the Desafío Corona. In 2011 he created the Super Copa Telcel. He has been described as the " Bill France of Mexico", having said in 2003 to have founded 28 different racing series.Kirby, Gordon
Gordon Kirby's Inside Track: Why Champ Car World Series is so big in Mexico
, ChampCarWorldSeries.com, March 18, 2003

References

1947 births Champ Car drivers Mexican racing drivers Mexican people of Belgian descent Racing drivers from Mexico City Trans-Am Series drivers Living people Belgian emigrants to Mexico {{Mexico-autoracing-bio-stub