Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega (18 January 1940 – 11 July 1971) was a Mexican
sports car
A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...
and
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing, a form of motorsport competition, has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as early as 1894. It quickly evolved from simple road races from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car an ...
driver. He was the older brother of
Ricardo Rodríguez. Both brothers started racing at an early age, first on motorbikes and then moving to cars. Following his brother's death in a racing accident in 1962, Pedro briefly considered retiring from racing, but decided to carry on.
In sports car racing his first major win was with his brother Ricardo in the 1961 Paris 1000km, driving a
Ferrari 250 GT
The Ferrari 250 is a series of sports cars and grand tourers built by Ferrari from 1952 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series includes many variants designed for road use or sports car racing. 250 series cars are chara ...
. He won the
1968 24 Hours of Le Mans in a
Ford GT40 and in 1970-71 he won eight races in a
Porsche 917.
He began his
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
career in 1963, and won the
1967 South African Grand Prix in a
Cooper
Cooper, Cooper's, Coopers and similar may refer to:
* Cooper (profession), a maker of wooden casks and other staved vessels
Arts and entertainment
* Cooper (producers), alias of Dutch producers Klubbheads
* Cooper (video game character), in ...
and the
1970 Belgian Grand Prix in a
BRM
British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...
.
He was killed at the
Norisring
The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...
in Nuremberg, West Germany, on 11 July 1971 driving a
Ferrari 512 M in an
Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series.
Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Härl ...
sports car race.
Personal life
Rodríguez was born in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
,
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, the second son of Pedro Natalio Rodríguez and Concepción De la Vega. He had an older sister, Conchita, and three younger brothers: Ricardo, Federico (died at two months of age) and Alejandro.
At 15, his father sent him to
Western Military Academy
Western Military Academy was a private military preparatory school located in Alton, Illinois, United States. It operated from 1879 to 1971. The campus is part of the National Register of Historic Places District (ID.78001167). The school motto wa ...
in
Alton, Illinois
Alton ( ) is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the ...
in order to learn English and to develop more discipline.
The Rodríguez brothers raced bicycles and motorcycles, becoming Mexican national motorcycle champions in 1953 and 1954. Pedro made his international debut in cars at
Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
in 1957 in a
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
.
He married Angelina (''née'' Dammy), in Mexico in 1961, although he had a girlfriend in England, Glenda Foreman, with whom he lived in
Bray on Thames in his later years, but left no children.
Rodríguez always traveled with a
Mexican flag
The national flag of Mexico ( es, Bandera de México) is a vertical tricolor of green, white, and red with the national coat of arms charged in the center of the white stripe. While the meaning of the colors has changed over time, these thre ...
and a
record of the national anthem because when he won the
1967 South African GP the organizers did not have the
Mexican anthem, and instead played the
Mexican hat dance
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous peopl ...
.
Jo Ramírez
Joaquín Ramírez Fernández (born August 20, 1941, Mexico City) is a Mexican author and retired employee of several sports car racing teams. From 1984 to 2001 Ramírez was coordinator of the McLaren Formula One team, including during the infa ...
was a very close friend to both Rodríguez as well as his younger brother Ricardo.
Career
Rodríguez began racing with bicycles at eight years old. He was a class winner in the Mexican Championship by 1950. He started racing a
Adler motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
, winning Mexico's national championship in 1952 and 1954.
[Kettlewell, p. 1915.] In 1952, he entered a rally in a Ford, but achieved little.
He returned to racing full-time in 1955, at 15, entering a
Jaguar XK120
The Jaguar XK120 is a sports car manufactured by Jaguar between 1948 and 1954. It was Jaguar's first sports car since SS 100 production ended in 1939.
The XK120 is a highly desirable model. In 2016, Bonhams sold a matching numbers left-hand- ...
or
Porsche 1600S in local contests.
At the end of 1957, Rodríguez (who had been driving a
Chevrolet Corvette
The Chevrolet Corvette is a two-door, two-passenger luxury sports car manufactured and marketed by Chevrolet since 1953. With eight design generations, noted sequentially from C1 to C8, the Corvette is noted for its performance and distinctiv ...
in Mexico) and his brother entered the Nassau Speed Week competition, where the wild-driving elder brother wrecked his
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
500 TR
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...
.
The 18-year-old Rodríguez shared a 500 TR at
Le Mans
Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...
, entered by U.S. importer
Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two m ...
, with
José Behra
José Behra (11 September 1924 – 16 November 1997) was a French racing driver and rally driver.
Racing career
José Behra was the younger brother of Jean Behra. Similarly to Jean, he began his career racing motorcycles; Jean prepared a Terro ...
, brother of
Jean Behra, as his co-driver; the car did not finish, after a radiator hose puncture.
Rodríguez came back every year to Le Mans, fourteen times in total, and won in
1968, co-driving with Belgian
Lucien Bianchi
Lucien Bianchi (10 November 1934 – 30 March 1969), born Luciano Bianchi, was an Italian-born Belgian racing driver who raced for the Cooper, ENB, UDT Laystall and Scuderia Centro Sud teams in Formula One. He entered a total of 19 Formula One ...
, sharing a
Ford GT40 for the
JW–
Gulf
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodie ...
team.
At the Rheims 12-hours in 1958, Rodríguez and Behra placed second in class (eighth overall) in their
Porsche Carrera Carrera (''Spanish'' for "race" and "career") is a brand of Porsche automobile. The name commemorates the company's success in the Carrera Panamericana race.
The following vehicles have been called ''Carrera'':
* Porsche 356
* Porsche 904
* Por ...
, while Rodríguez came second in a
Ferrari 250 TR
The Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa, or 250 TR, is a racing sports car built by Ferrari from 1957 to 1961. It was introduced at the end of the 1957 racing season in response to rule changes that enforced a maximum engine displacement of 3 litres for ...
at Nassau at the end of the season.
Rodríguez went to Europe to race starting in 1959, sharing a Porsche 1600 S with Leo Levine at the
Nurbürgring 1000 km, which came in second in class (thirteenth overall).
He shared a
O.S.C.A.
O.S.C.A. (Officine Specializzate Costruzione Automobili—Fratelli Maserati S.p.A.) was an Italian manufacturer of racing and sports cars established 1947 in San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, by the Maserati brothers, and closed down in 1967. The ...
with his brother for Le Mans, which broke.
At Cuba's 1960 Liberty ''Grand Prix'', Rodríguez's 250TR followed
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British Formula One racing driver. An inductee into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame, he won 212 of the 529 races he entered across several categories of comp ...
's winning
Maserati
Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914, in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...
''Tipo'' 61 home, in second.
At
Sebring, his
Dino 196 S failed to finish. Rodríguez claimed seventh at the 1960
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...
, again in the 196 S, which spent time off the pavement as well as on.
He retired from that year's Nürburgring 1000 km, and from Le Mans.
In 1961, Rodríguez entered
Formula Junior
Formula Junior is an open wheel formula racing class first adopted in October 1958 by the CSI (''International Sporting Commission'', the part of the FIA that then regulated motorsports). The class was intended to provide an entry level class ...
.
He returned also to Sebring, sharing a 250TR with his brother which suffered electrical trouble and came third.
The duo also failed to finish that year's Targa Florio or Nur 1000 km, but did win the Paris 1000 km.
An ongoing duel with the works Ferraris at Le Mans, which ultimately resulted in engine failure only two hours from the end, attracted the attention of
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...
, who offered them
Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
rides with
his team.
Pedro declined, having "a motor business in Mexico City to run".
Despite his refusal, Rodríguez kept racing, and in 1962 entered at Sebring, the Nurb, and Le Mans, but failed to finish each time.
He won at
Bridgehampton, in a
Ferrari 330 TRI/LM
The Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Spyder ( chassis number 0808) is a unique racing sports car purpose-built in 1962 by Ferrari to achieve victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was the last Ferrari racing sports car with a front-mounted engine and the la ...
, and shared a
250 GTO with his brother to win the Paris 1000 km, the second year in a row.
After Ferrari refused to enter the 1962
Mexican ''Grand Prix'', the first to be held in Mexico, Rodríguez and his younger brother both found rides of their own. After his brother was killed in a horrific accident in practice, Rodríguez withdrew.
He considered retiring from racing. However, in 1963 he won the
Daytona Daytona refers to the city of Daytona Beach, Florida, or things named after it.
Daytona may also refer to:
Locations
* Daytona Beach Shores, Florida
* South Daytona, Florida
* The Daytona Beach metropolitan area
* Halifax area, also known as Da ...
Continental
Continental may refer to:
Places
* Continent, the major landmasses of Earth
* Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US
* Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US
Arts and entertainment
* ''Continental'' ( ...
in a 250GTO entered by
North American Racing Team
The North American Racing Team (NART) is a motorsport racing team founded in 1958. It was created by businessman Luigi Chinetti to promote the Ferrari marque in United States through success in endurance racing.
It was created in 1958 when Chin ...
.
He came third at Sebring, sharing a 330TR/LM with
Graham Hill
Norman Graham Hill (15 February 1929 – 29 November 1975) was a British racing driver and team owner, who was the Formula One World Champion twice, winning in and as well as being runner up on three occasions (1963, 1964 and 1965). Despite ...
. He failed to qualify at
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
, in an
Aston Martin
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...
-powered
Cooper T54, but took part in his first
''Grands Prix'' in the
works Lotus at
Watkins Glen and
Magdalena Mixhuca
Magdalena may refer to:
* Magdalena (given name), a given name derived from Mary Magdalene (including a list of people with the name)
Entertainment
* Magdalena (comics), an American comic book superheroine
* ''Magdalena'' (film), a 1920 Czech ...
. Rodríguez failed to finish both times.
[Kettlewell, p. 1916.]
For 1964, he again won the Daytona Continental, as well as the sports car Canadian ''Grand Prix'', was second at the Paris 1000 km, and third in the Bahamas Tourist Trophy.
In single-seater racing, he recorded a sixth in the
Ferrari 156
The Ferrari 156 was a racing car made by Ferrari in 1961 to comply with then-new Formula One regulations that reduced engine displacement from 2.5- to 1.5-litres, similar to the pre-1961 Formula Two class for which Ferrari had developed a mid-eng ...
at
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
.
In 1965, his
Lotus 33
The Lotus 33 was a Formula One car designed by Colin Chapman and Len Terry and built by Team Lotus. A development of the successful Lotus 25, in the hands of Jim Clark it won five World Championship Grands Prix in 1965, taking Clark to his ...
-Climax was fourth at the ''
Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet i ...
''
Silverstone
Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...
Trophy, fifth at the
U.S. ''Grand Prix'' and seventh in the
Mexican ''Grand Prix'' in a Ferrari.
He won the Rheims 12-Hours in a
Ferrari 365 P2 he shared with
Jean Guichet
Jean Guichet (born 10 August 1927 in Marseille, France) is a French industrialist and former racing driver. He is best known for winning the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans with co-driver Nino Vaccarella, driving a Ferrari 275 P for Scuderia Ferrari.
...
, and scored a third at the Canadian Sports Car ''Grand Prix''.
He drove again for Lotus in four events in 1966, retiring on every occasion.
He also deputised for
Jim Clark in the
Formula Two
Formula Two (F2 or Formula 2) is a type of open-wheel formula racing category first codified in 1948. It was replaced in 1985 by Formula 3000, but revived by the FIA from 2009–2012 in the form of the FIA Formula Two Championship. The name retur ...
event at Rouen.
At the start of the
1967 season, Rodríguez won in only his ninth Grand Prix, at
Kyalami
Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit (from ''Khaya lami'', ''My home'' in Zulu) is a motor racing circuit located in Midrand, Gauteng, South Africa, just north of Johannesburg. The circuit has been used for Grand Prix and Formula One races and has ho ...
. Cooper manager
Roy Salvadori
Roy Francesco Salvadori (12 May 1922 – 3 June 2012) was a British racing driver and team manager. He was born in Dovercourt, Essex, to parents of Italian descent. He graduated to Formula One by 1952 and competed regularly until 1962 for a s ...
allowed Rodríguez to drive the practice car, over the objections of teammate
Jochen Rindt
Jochen is a given name. Notable people with the name include:
*Jochen Asche, East German luger, competed during the 1960s
*Jochen Böhler (born 1969), German historian, specializing in the history of World War II
*Jochen Babock (born 1953), East G ...
, who had demanded Rodríguez's car, with strong support from Rindt's close friend
Jackie Stewart
Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cha ...
. Rodríguez's smooth, consistent driving earned him victory after
Denny Hulme
Denis Clive Hulme (18 June 1936 – 4 October 1992), commonly known as Denny Hulme, was a New Zealand racing driver who won the Formula One World Drivers' Championship for the Brabham team. Between his debut at Monaco in 1965 and his ...
had had a lengthy
pit stop
In motorsports, a pit stop is a pause for refuelling, new tyres, repairs, mechanical adjustments, a driver change, as a penalty, or any combination of the above. These stops occur in an area called the pits, most commonly accessed via a pit lan ...
and local
privateer
A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
John Love's Tasman Cooper needed a late fuel stop. Rindt, by contrast, retired the other Cooper-Maserati after 38 laps. Rodríguez drove a controlled season in 1967 as No. 2 to Rindt. Though usually slower than his teammate, he built up experience in the older and heavier
T81, while Rindt was given the improved
T81B and later the brand new
T86. A mid-season accident in a
Protos
Protos means "first," derived from the ancient Greek .
Protos may also refer to:
* Protos (monastic office), a monastic office at the Eastern Orthodox monastic state of Mount Athos
* Protos (constructor), a former racing car constructor
* Protos ...
-Ford, at the Formula Two event at Enna, sidelined him for three ''Grands Prix''.
Rodríguez was only marginally slower than Rindt in the
Dutch Grand Prix
The Dutch Grand Prix ( nl, Grote Prijs van Nederland) is a Formula One motor racing event held at Circuit Zandvoort, North Holland, the Netherlands, from 1950 to 1985 and from 2021 onwards. It was a part of the World Championship from 1952, ...
, also the only other race in the season where the Coopers were competitive.
![Rodríguez at 1968 Dutch Grand Prix](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cb/Rodr%C3%ADguez_at_1968_Dutch_Grand_Prix.jpg)
His performance at
Zandvoort
Zandvoort () is a municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is one of the major beach resorts of the Netherlands; it has a long sandy beach. It is bordered by coastal dunes of Zuid-Kennemerland National Park and the Amsterdam ...
earned Rodríguez a better drive with,
BRM
British Racing Motors (BRM) was a British Formula One motor racing team. Founded in 1945 and based in the market town of Bourne in Lincolnshire, it participated from 1951 to 1977, competing in 197 grands prix and winning seventeen. BRM wo ...
in
1968. Rodríguez proved himself excellent in the wet at Zandvoort and
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...
where he got his only
fastest lap
In motorsport, the fastest lap is the quickest lap run during a race. Some racing series, like Formula One, Formula 2 and Formula E award championship points for a driver or team that set the fastest lap.
In Grand Prix motorcycle racing no point ...
in F1 during the
French GP. Lack of power meant he had to settle for second behind
Bruce McLaren
Bruce Leslie McLaren (30 August 1937 – 2 June 1970) was a New Zealand racing car designer, driver, engineer, and inventor.
His name lives on in the McLaren team which has been one of the most successful in Formula One championship history, ...
in
Belgian GP at
Spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
.
The
BRM P133
The BRM P133 was a Formula One racing car which raced in the 1968 and 1969 Formula One seasons.
Design
The P133 was the works built version of the Len Terry designed P126, the three examples of which had been built by Terry's Transatlantic ...
faded through the year from lack of testing time after the death of
Mike Spence
Michael Henderson Spence (30 December 1936 – 7 May 1968) was a British racing driver from England. He participated in 37 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 8 September 1963. He achieved one podium, and scored a total ...
, whom the team's owners favoured. Nevertheless, Rodríguez led the
Spanish Grand Prix
The Spanish Grand Prix ( es, Gran Premio de España, ca, Gran Premi d'Espanya) is a Formula One motor racing event currently held at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The race is one of the oldest in the world still contested, celebrating it ...
from
Chris Amon
Christopher Arthur Amon (20 July 1943 – 3 August 2016) was a New Zealand motor racing driver. He was active in Formula One racing in the 1960s and 1970s, and is widely regarded as one of the best F1 drivers never to win a championship Grand ...
for 28 laps until he made a mistake and spun off. At the end of the year, despite Rodríguez's good performances, BRM team manager
Louis Stanley
Louis Thomas Stanley (6 January 1912 – 8 January 2004) was the chair of the Formula One team BRM. He was married to Jean, the sister of Sir Alfred Owen. Owen was proprietor of the BRM team from the early 1950s to 1974.
Biography
Stanley studie ...
released Rodríguez to the
Parnell BRM privateer team.
The
Reg Parnell Racing
Reg Parnell Racing was a privateer Formula One team during the 1950s and 1960s. The team was founded by ex-Formula One driver Reg Parnell after he retired from racing. It raced as Yeoman Credit Racing in 1961 and as the Bowmaker Racing Team in ...
BRMs proved to have hopeless engines, and after
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
, Rodríguez left and signed for
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...
for the remainder of the
1969 Grand Prix and sports car series.
![Pedro_Rodriguez,_Bestanddeelnr_924-6667](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Pedro_Rodriguez%2C_Bestanddeelnr_924-6667.jpg)
Reentering F1 in the
British Grand Prix
The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor race organised in the United Kingdom by the Royal Automobile Club. First held in 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Ch ...
, Rodríguez matched teammate Amon's pace in practice and led Amon by a whisker in the race. The uncompetitive
312s ran midfield until Rodríguez's car broke and Amon's engine blew for the second race in a row. Given the hopelessness of the 312 V12, the frustration of his drivers, and the slow progress with getting the new flat-12 F1 car ready,
Enzo Ferrari
Enzo Anselmo Giuseppe Maria Ferrari (; 20 February 1898 – 14 August 1988) was an Italian motor racing driver and entrepreneur, the founder of the Scuderia Ferrari Grand Prix motor racing team, and subsequently of the Ferrari automobil ...
would rather have run two Italian drivers for the rest of the season, but the Brambilla brothers,
Vittorio
Vittorio is an Italian male given name which has roots from the Byzantine-Bulgarian name Victor.
People with the given name Vittorio include:
* Vittorio Emanuele, Prince of Naples, pretender to the former Kingdom of Italy
* Vittorio Adorni, pr ...
and
Ernesto Ernesto, form of the name Ernest in several Romance languages, may refer to:
* ''Ernesto'' (novel) (1953), an unfinished autobiographical novel by Umberto Saba, published posthumously in 1975
** ''Ernesto'' (film), a 1979 Italian drama loosely ba ...
, proved too slow. So, Ferrari ran Rodríguez in the last four races of the season, in NART American racing colours for the North American races, but still, effectively, as a Ferrari works team. In the underpowered car, Rodríguez managed a fourth in 1968; sixth in 1964, 1967 and 1970;
and seventh in 1965 and 1969;
places in his six home races in Mexico, but Ferrari didn't offer him a ride for 1970.
BRM only offered him a ride in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
after
John Surtees
John Surtees, (11 February 1934 – 10 March 2017) was a British Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver. On his way to become a seven-time Grand Prix motorcycle World Champion, he won his first title in 1956, and followed with ...
decided to leave to set up his own team at the last minute. For most of 1970, Stanley clearly favoured
Jackie Oliver
Keith Jack "Jackie" Oliver (born 14 August 1942 in Chadwell Heath, Essex) is a British former Formula One driver and team-owner from England. He became known as the founder of the Arrows team as well as a racing driver, although during his dr ...
as number one driver, perhaps partly in response to Stewart's opinion of Rodríguez and possibly because of his "old-boys' club" of Englishmen at the team. At
Spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
, Rodríguez won with his
BRM P153 over the new
March
March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. It is the second of seven months to have a length of 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of Marc ...
of Chris Amon by just 1.1 seconds and with an average speed of 149.94
mph (241.31
km/h
The kilometre per hour ( SI symbol: km/h; non-standard abbreviations: kph, km/hr) is a unit of speed, expressing the number of kilometres travelled in one hour.
History
Although the metre was formally defined in 1799, the term "kilometres per ho ...
), then the highest average speed in the history of F1,
Jean-Pierre Beltoise
Jean-Pierre Maurice Georges Beltoise (26 April 1937 – 5 January 2015) was a French Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver who raced for the Matra and BRM teams. He competed in 88 Grands Prix achieving a single victory, at th ...
got the third place in Matra.
The power of the V12 engines was particularly suited to the fast circuits with few really slow corners, such as Spa,
Monza
Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...
, and to a degree
Brands
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
and
Nürburgring
The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Formula One, Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around t ...
, and that was usually the case with the BRM,
Matra
Matra (an acronym for Mécanique Aviation Traction) was a French industrial conglomerate. During its years of operation, it was engaged in a wide range of business activities, primarily focused around automobiles, bicycles, aeronautics and w ...
, and
Weslake
Weslake & Co also known as Weslake Research and Development was founded by Harry Weslake, described as England's greatest expert on cylinder head design, with premises in Rye, East Sussex, England. Weslake is most famous for its work with Bentley, ...
engined cars. A strong drive at
St Jovite
St Jovite (11 March 1989 – 9 January 2016) was an American bred, Irish-trained Thoroughbred racehorse bred and owned by Virginia Kraft Payson. He was sired by Pleasant Colony, winner of the 1981 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. His dam ...
saw him finish 4th. Only the need to pit in the last laps for fuel robbed him of a victory at
Watkins Glen, the highest paying event of the year at the time, US$50,000. The winner was
Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
, who got the first victory of his career in F1.
After many years racing for Ferrari in the
World Championship of Makes
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance, and road racing events in Europe and North ...
for sports cars, he signed for JW-Gulf-
Porsche
Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...
in
1970
Events
January
* January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC.
* January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...
and over the next two years won eight races driving a
Porsche 917, contributing to Porsche winning in the World Sportscar Championship.
Rodríguez developed into one of the sport's great all-rounders, racing
CanAm,
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
,
rallies and even becoming North American
Ice Racing
Ice racing is a form of racing that uses cars, motorcycles, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, or other motorized vehicles. Ice racing takes place on frozen lakes or rivers, or on groomed frozen lots. As cold weather is a requirement for natural ...
champion in 1970, invited by the Alaska Sports Car Club from
Anchorage
Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
, the race was in
Sand Lake.
Rodríguez debuted in NASCAR at
Trenton Speedway
Trenton Speedway was a racing facility located near Trenton, New Jersey at the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Races for the United States' premier open-wheel and full-bodied racing series of the times were held at Trenton Speedway.
Racing histor ...
in 1959, finishing 6th. At the 1963
Firecracker 400
The Coke Zero Sugar 400 is an annual NASCAR Cup Series stock car race at Daytona International Speedway. First held in 1959, the event consists of 160 laps, , and is the second of two major stock car events held at Daytona on the Cup Series cir ...
he qualified 9th but retired after an engine failure. The Mexican finished 5th in the 1965
World 600
The Coca-Cola 600, originally the World 600, is an annual NASCAR Cup Series points race held at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in Concord, North Carolina, on a Sunday during Memorial Day weekend. The first race, held in 1960, was also the first on ...
, his best result. At the
1971 Daytona 500 he finished 13th. His last NASCAR race was
Miller High Life 500, where he retired early with electrical issues
Rodríguez drove a Ferrari 312 P Coupé in the CanAm round of
Bridgehampton in 1969, finishing 5th. In 1970 he finished 3rd at
Riverside
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...
and 5th at
Laguna Seca Raceway
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca) is a paved road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and motorcycle racing, built in 1957 near both Salinas and ...
with a factory
BRM P154.
The
1971 Formula One season could have seen him as a championship contender, with a
BRM P160
The BRM P160 was a Formula One racing car designed by Tony Southgate for the British Racing Motors team, which raced in the 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1974 Formula One seasons. It was powered by a 3.0-litre V12 engine.
Race history
1971
The P160 made ...
being prepared by
Tony Southgate
Tony Southgate (born 25 May 1940, Coventry, England) is a British engineer and former racing car designer. He designed many successful cars, including Jaguar's Le Mans-winning XJR-9, and cars for almost every type of circuit racing. He was res ...
, and for once BRM had consistently good engines. BRM, however, was overextended, trying to run three, and later four, cars. Rodríguez challenged
Jacky Ickx
Jacques Bernard "Jacky" Ickx (; born 1 January 1945) is a Belgian former racing driver who won the 24 Hours of Le Mans six times (second-highest of all time) and achieved eight wins and 25 podium finishes in Formula One. He greatly contributed ...
magnificently in the rain during the
Dutch Grand Prix
The Dutch Grand Prix ( nl, Grote Prijs van Nederland) is a Formula One motor racing event held at Circuit Zandvoort, North Holland, the Netherlands, from 1950 to 1985 and from 2021 onwards. It was a part of the World Championship from 1952, ...
, and only just failed to win.
Death
Rodríguez was killed in an
Interserie Interserie is the name of a European-based motorsport series started in 1970 that allows for a wide variety of racing cars from various eras and series to compete with less limited rules than in other series.
Created in 1970 by German Gerhard Härl ...
sports car race at
Norisring
The Norisring is a street circuit in Nuremberg, Bavaria, Germany. Originally established as a motorcycle racing venue in 1947 and named in a 1950 competition to win a light motorcycle, the track became known as a sports car racing venue in the ...
in
Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
, West Germany, on 11 July 1971. Rodríguez was at the wheel of a
Ferrari 512 M of
Herbert Müller Racing, his friend and teammate at the
Targa Florio
The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...
in 1971.
A contemporary source reported that trackside photographers noticed his right front tyre coming away from the rim under heavy braking for the sharp s-bend as early as the 10th lap. On lap 12, the tyre came off completely, sending the car into a wall before rebounding across the track and catching fire. He died shortly after he was extracted from the wreck.
Legacy
Rodríguez was considered the best driver of his era in the wet. Along with
Jo Siffert
Joseph Siffert (; 7 July 1936 – 24 October 1971) was a Swiss racing driver.
Affectionately known as "Seppi" to his family and friends, Siffert was born in Fribourg, Switzerland, the son of a dairy owner. He initially made his name in racing ...
, he was considered the bravest driver in motorsport, an example of this being the two touching through the then-very narrow and very dangerous Eau Rouge corner in the rain in their 917s at the start of the
1970 1000km of Spa-Francorchamps
The 1970 1000km of Spa-Francorchamps was an endurance race held at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium on May 17, 1970. It was the sixth round of the 1970 International Championship for Makes.LMP2
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is the type of sports prototype race car used in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were crea ...
class at the
2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, the first class victory for a Mexican driver since Rodríguez,
Ricardo González recognized Rodríguez as his hero.
Commemoration
![PedroRodriguez-a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/PedroRodriguez-a.jpg)
The first hairpin at
Daytona International Speedway
Daytona International Speedway is a race track in Daytona Beach, Florida, United States. Since opening in 1959, it has been the home of the Daytona 500, the most prestigious race in NASCAR as well as its season opening event. In addition to NA ...
(the right-hand
hairpin
A hairpin or hair pin is a long device used to hold a person's hair in place. It may be used simply to secure long hair out of the way for convenience or as part of an elaborate hairstyle or coiffure. The earliest evidence for dressing the hai ...
) is named the Pedro Rodríguez curve. In 1973 the Mexico City race track
Magdalena Mixuhca, where F1,
Champ Car
Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., or Champ Car, a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams ...
,
NASCAR
The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. The privately owned company was founded by Bill France Sr. in 1948, and hi ...
and other series race was renamed for him and Ricardo:
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 ...
(Rodríguez Brothers Autodrome).
In July 2006, a bronze plaque was placed at the site of his crash in Nuremberg, a joint effort by ''Scuderia Rodríguez'' (the friends foundation) and the city authorities. Its Secretary General, Carlos Jalife, published the Rodríguez brothers' biography in December 2006, with an English translation which won the Motor Press Guild Book of the Year award in 2009.
Sergio Pérez
Sergio Michel "Checo" Pérez Mendoza (; born 26 January 1990), is a Mexican Auto racing, racing driver who races in Formula One for Red Bull Racing, having previously driven for Sauber, McLaren, Force India, and Racing Point. He won his first ...
wore a specially-designed
crash helmet tributing Pedro Rodríguez for the
2022 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2022 FIA Formula One World Championship was a motor racing championship for Formula One cars which was the 73rd running of the Formula One World Championship. It is recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), th ...
in which he went on to claim his third win in Formula One. The helmet featured Rodríguez's helmet colours and, on the top, Rodríguez's and Perez's combined wins and podiums before Perez's victory in the 2022 Monaco Grand Prix, as the only two
Mexican Formula One drivers
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous peopl ...
to achieve race victories. Below the statistics was written "AND COUNTING" and the phrase "GRACIAS PEDRO" (thank you Pedro) below that.
Racing record
Formula One World Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Formula One Non-Championship results
(
key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
Pedro Rodríguez at Ferrari
Pedro Rodríguez at Porsche
Pedro Rodríguez in the 24 Hours of Le Mans
Notes
Sources
*Jalife-Villalón, Carlos Eduardo. ''The Brothers Rodríguez''. Phoenix: David Bull Publishing, 2009. (Translated and enlarged by the author from the 2006 Mexican edition)
*Kettlewell, Mike. "Rodriguez: The young lions of Mexico", in Ward, Ian, general editor. ''The World of Automobiles'', Volume 16, pp. 1915–17. London: Orbis, 1974.
External links
History of Norisring racesCareer stats, courtesy GrandPrixStats.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Pedro
Mexican racing drivers
Mexican Formula One drivers
Ferrari Formula One drivers
North American Racing Team Formula One drivers
Team Lotus Formula One drivers
Cooper Formula One drivers
BRM Formula One drivers
Reg Parnell Racing Formula One drivers
Formula One race winners
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
24 Hours of Le Mans winning drivers
12 Hours of Reims drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Tasman Series drivers
NASCAR drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
Sport deaths in Germany
Racing drivers from Mexico City
Mexican people of Spanish descent
Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Germany
1940 births
1971 deaths
Porsche Motorsports drivers