Antonio "Tony" Garcia (born September 14, 1945, in Havana, Cuba) is a Cuban American former racing driver. Over the course of his career, Garcia had raced more than eighty professional races. Garcia was also the first Hispanic driver, along with Alberto Vadia, to win 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 endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...

(GTO) in 1980.

Early life

Garcia was born on September 14, 1945, in Havana, Cuba. His father was an attorney, mostly working in real estate cases. When Garcia was 12 years old, he got his first motorcycle with the help of his sister, despite his mother being opposed to him racing. He was brought along to watch motorsport races in Cuba since he was 10 years old, by a family friend Juan Montalvo. In 1960, his family left the country when the

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

regime of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...

started to take full control of Cuba, and moved to Miami, Florida, and Garcia subsequently enrolled at St. Patrick's High School.

Career

He raced for IMSA GT Championship between 1971 and 1985. In 1975, he won his first professional race (GTU) in the 12 hour Sebring. In

1980 IMSA GT Championship The 1980 IMSA GT Series season was the 10th season of the IMSA GT Championship auto racing series. It was a series for GTX class Group 5 cars and GTO and GTU class grand tourer cars. It began February 2, 1980, and ended November 30, 1980, after ...

hi finish first in GTO at Daytona International Speedway, Riverside California Raceway and the 100 miles Laguna Seca in

Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bo ...

. In 1982, he raced in the

1982 World Sportscar Championship The 1982 World Sportscar Championship was the 30th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship racing. It featured the 1982 World Endurance Championship for Drivers, which was contested over an eight-round series, and the 1982 World Endurance Champi ...

at the 6 Hours of Silverstone finishing first in GTO and the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

, driving a

BMW M1 The BMW M1 (model code E26) is a mid-engined sports car produced by German automotive manufacturer BMW from 1978 until 1981. In the late 1970s, Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini entered into an agreement with BMW to build a production ...

. In the

1983 24 Hours of Le Mans The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning ...

, he finished 9thwith the

Sauber C7 The Sauber C7 was a Group C prototype race car built by Swiss manufacturer Sauber for competition in the World Sportscar Championship. Meant to replace Sauber's previous effort, the SHS C6, the C7 would continue Sauber's initial failed develo ...

, just behind eight Porsche 956s, breaking the perfect top 10 of the Porsche team.Porsche used that result to create the poster "Nobody’s perfect". He also drove in the Grand Prix of Miami in 1983, finishing 7th, and in 1985, finishing in 3rd position.

Trophies

Laguna Seca Monterrey Triple Crow GTO Winner 1980

Los Angeles Times - Toyota Grand Prix Of Endurance 1980 GTO Winner

References

External links

* Cuban diaspora in the United States IMSA GT Championship drivers World Sportscar Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia, Tony 1945 births Living people Sauber Motorsport drivers