Adrián Fernández Mier (born April 20, 1963) is a Mexican former professional race car driver and co-owner of the
Fernandez Racing team.
Racing career
Early career
Fernández was born in
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 ...
and began his career in Mexico at the age of eight. He entered his first auto race in 1981 at the "24 Hours of Mexico" race in Mexico City. At the age of 15, he made the permanent transition to cars in 1982. From 1982 to 1984, Fernández competed in the
Formula Vee
Formula Vee (Formula Fau Vee in Germany) or Formula Volkswagen is a open wheel, single-seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford.
On the international stage, Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi ...
Championship, winning the title in both 1983 and 1984. He also raced in the Formula K Series in 1984, continuing in that series until 1986, and finished in the top four in the standings all three years in Formula K.
In 1987, he participated in the Benelux Formula Ford 1600 Championship, one race in the British RAC Formula Ford 1600 Championship, and competed in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. From 1988 to 1989, he took part in the British RAC and Esso Formula Ford 1600 Championship series before moving to the Mexican F3 Championship in 1990 and 1991, winning the title in 1991.
In 1992, Fernández moved to the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship, now known as Indy NXT. He finished third in points, winning four races, a rookie record, setting a rookie record, and earned the honors of "Indy Lights Rookie of the Year," along with accumulating more than two million dollars in prize earnings.
CART, IROC, and IRL (1993–2004)
In 1993, Fernández made the jump to the
CART IndyCar World Series, competing in five races for
Galles Racing International. He participated in his first full season in 1994, with Galles finishing 13th and capturing the "Marco Magaña" and "Luchador Olmeca" awards along with the "JAC" trophy for "Best Driver" outside Mexico. Competing again with Galles in 1995, Fernández finished 12th in the standings, placing with nine top-ten finishes.
Fernández moved to
Tasman Motorsports in 1996. He had six top-ten finishes, including his first career CART victory at
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
. Unfortunately, his delight at taking his first win was dampened by the fatal accident suffered by
Jeff Krosnoff late in the race. The win in Toronto made him the first Mexican to win a CART event since
Héctor Rebaque in 1982. Fernández went on to finish 12th in the season's points tally. 1997 was a disappointing season for Fernández. The Tasman team ran a
Lola chassis, which failed to perform to expectations. Through force of will, determination, and talent, Fernández battled to three top-ten finishes and 18th place in the PPG Cup standings.
Fernández joined
Patrick Racing
Patrick Racing was an auto racing team in United States Auto Club, USAC, Championship Auto Racing Teams, CART, Champ Car World Series, Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. Patrick Racing was started by Pat Patrick (auto racing), U.E. "Pat" Patri ...
for the 1998 season and proved his ability to challenge for the championship. He enjoyed 14 top-ten finishes with eight top-five placements and two victories,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and
Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington, Ohio, Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar Series, Indy ...
, en route to a 4th place showing in the PPG Cup race during the 1998 FedEx Championship. He captured his first career pole at
Michigan
Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...
and led the championship race for the first time in his career. Unfortunately, Fernández was once again touched by tragedy — a crash at Michigan resulted in an errant wheel from his car flying into the stands and killing three spectators. However, it was his victory during the
Miller Lite 200 that gave Patrick Racing one of its most memorable moments, when Fernández stood atop the podium next to his teammate
Scott Pruett. Fernández was also named the "Athlete of the Year" in Mexico.
In 1999, Fernandez enjoyed his most successful season so far in the series, Adrián Fernández, behind the wheel of the #40 Tecate/Quaker State Reynard Ford-Cosworth, completed the year sixth in the championship battle. He led the points' series early in the season for the first time in his CART career. However, an accident at
Belle Isle Park
Belle Isle Park, known simply as Belle Isle (), is a island park in Detroit, Michigan, developed in the late 19th century. It consists of Belle Isle, an island in the Detroit River, as well as several surrounding islets. The U.S.-Canada bor ...
resulted in a fracture in one of his hands, forcing him to sit out for several races. Undeterred, he later won at
Motegi,
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
at the
Firestone Firehawk 500 and at the
Marlboro 500 in
Fontana, California — a race marred by the death of good friend
Greg Moore.
Later in 1999, Fernández was selected to participate in the
IROC series, where he competed against many top-tier drivers, including
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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
drivers
Jeff Gordon
Jeffery Michael Gordon (born August 4, 1971) is an American stock car racing executive and former professional stock car racing driver who currently serves as the vice chairman of Hendrick Motorsports. He raced full-time from 1993 to 2015, d ...
,
Terry Labonte
Terrance Lee Labonte (born November 16, 1956), nicknamed "Texas Terry" or "the Iceman", is an American former stock car racing, stock car driver. He raced from 1978 to 2014 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup and Sprint Cup Series (now called the NAS ...
, and
Dale Earnhardt
Ralph Dale Earnhardt (; April 29, 1951February 18, 2001) was an American professional Stock car racing, stock car driver and racing team owner, who raced from 1975 to 2001 in the former NASCAR Winston Cup Series (now called the NASCAR Cup Serie ...
. Fernández had 80 total starts in the series. Of those starts, he finished in the top-ten 41 times throughout his seven-year career.
In 2000, Fernández had his best season in the CART series, coming close to winning the championship despite not starting on the front row all season. He scored points in 17 of the 20 races, including two wins at
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
,
Brazil
Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
, and three further podium results. He finished second to
Gil de Ferran in the championship.
In 2001, he founded
Fernandez Racing, with former
Ganassi manager Tom Anderson as his partner and ex-F1 driver
Shinji Nakano as his teammate. He finished 3rd twice and took two poles that year, but his team's first victory came at
Portland in 2003, the first win for an owner-driver since
Bobby Rahal
Robert Woodward Rahal ( ; born January 10, 1953) is an American racing driver and motorsports executive. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500. As co-owner of R ...
achieved the feat in 1992. That year he also ran an
Indy Racing League
IndyCar, LLC (stylized as INDYCAR), is an auto racing Governing body, sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The organization sanctions two Auto racing, racing series: the premier IndyCar Serie ...
(IRL) entry for Asian-American
Roger Yasukawa, in partnership with
Aguri Suzuki
is a Japanese former racing driver and motorsport executive, who competed in Formula One from to .
Suzuki entered 88 Formula One Grands Prix, achieving a best result of third at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix, becoming the first Asian driver t ...
, and in 2004, he moved the whole team to the series. Despite taking three wins and finishing 4th overall in the 2004 IRL championship, he was unable to secure funding to race in 2005.
Delphi
Delphi (; ), in legend previously called Pytho (Πυθώ), was an ancient sacred precinct and the seat of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the ancient Classical antiquity, classical world. The A ...
was driver
Scott Sharp
Scott Sharp (born February 14, 1968) is an American professional racing driver in the United SportsCar Championship. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing Leagu ...
's personal sponsor, while engine suppliers
Honda
commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.
Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...
insisted on Japanese driver
Kosuke Matsuura in the second car.
Busch Series (2005–06)
In 2005, he drove the No. 5
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...
/
Hitachi
() is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in 1910 and headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo. The company is active in various industries, including digital systems, power and renewable ener ...
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ) is an American automobile division of the manufacturer General Motors (GM). In North America, Chevrolet produces and sells a wide range of vehicles, from subcompact automobiles to medium-duty commercial trucks. Due to the promi ...
in Mexico for
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...
in the first
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. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...
Busch Series race held outside the United States. In this race (called the
Telcel-Motorola 200), Fernández raced in a one-time race to help promote NASCAR racing to the local fans. He led several laps in the race before giving up the lead to eventual race winner
Martin Truex Jr. It was announced that he would run four more races in the Busch Series for
Hendrick Motorsports
Hendrick Motorsports is an American professional auto racing organization that competes in the NASCAR Cup Series. The team was founded in 1984 as All-Star Racing by Rick Hendrick. Hendrick Motorsports has won a NASCAR-record 316 Cup Series ra ...
, but he did not run up front at any of those races. In 2006, he competed in two Busch races for Hendrick and competed full time in the
Grand-Am series for his own team with Lowe's sponsorship.
ALMS (2007–present)
In 2007, Fernández moved to
American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le M ...
LMP2 class as an
Acura
Acura is the luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. Acura sells cars in the United States, Canada, M ...
factory team. His teammate was fellow Mexican and Grand-Am veteran
Luis Díaz.
On October 10, 2009, Fernández and his co-driver Luis Díaz won at the
Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
Laguna Seca Raceway (branded as WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, and previously Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for sponsorship reasons) is a paved Racing track#Motorsport, road racing track in central California used for both auto racing and Motorcyc ...
in
Monterey
Monterey ( ; ) is a city situated on the southern edge of Monterey Bay, on the Central Coast of California. Located in Monterey County, the city occupies a land area of and recorded a population of 30,218 in the 2020 census.
The city was fou ...
,
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. With this victory, the
Lowe's
Lowe's Companies, Inc. ( ) is an American retail company specializing in home improvement. Headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, the company operates a chain of retail stores in the United States. As of October 28, 2022, Lowe's and i ...
Fernandez Racing Acura ARX-01B concludes the season with the drivers' championship and teams' championship of the American Le Mans Series in the LMP2 category.
24 Hours of Le Mans
In the
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 ...
Fernández made his debut with a second place in the LMP2 category in the famous race with the Barazi-Epsilon team
Zytek aboard a 07S/2 3.4-liter V8 prototype. His teammates were
Haruki Kurosawa and
Robbie Kerr. This was the first
podium
A podium (: podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used to raise people, for instance the conductor of a ...
for a Mexican at the
Circuit de la Sarthe
The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 H ...
in many years, to remember those achieved by
Ricardo and
Pedro Rodríguez in
1962
The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War.
Events January
* January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...
and
1968
Events January–February
* January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously.
* January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...
respectively. The English-French team took
pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the ra ...
on its category.

After three years of absence, Fernández is now competing in the
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
now competing in LMP1 class with
Aston Martin Racing finished fifth in his category (sixth absolute) with a
Lola-Aston Martin B09/60, his co-drivers were
Harold Primat and
Stefan Mücke.
The luck did not favor Adrian in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
, when his team, the
Aston Martin Racing in LMP1 class, could barely afford 2 laps with their
Aston Martin AMR-One and leave the test due to problems with the engine running at the 56th site.
In the 80th edition of
2012
2012 was designated as:
*International Year of Cooperatives
*International Year of Sustainable Energy for All
Events January
*January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins.
* January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...
, Fernández and the Aston Martin Racing Team got third place in the GTE-Pro class, along with his co-drivers Stefan Mücke and
Darren Turner, Their
Aston Martin Vantage 4.5 L-V8 covered a total of 332 laps (2,811.65
miles), on the Circuit de la Sarthe without failure or serious mechanical problems. Also, the team achieved the
fastest lap of the category with 3 minutes and 54,928 seconds. Adrián had the honor to drive the last stage of the competition.
On September 12, 2012, Fernández announced that his participation in the
FIA World Endurance Championship
The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...
would conclude at the end of the season, as well his relationship with the Aston Martin Racing team that started in 2010. The Mexican driver will focus on competitions in the United States.
Sergio Pérez's manager
On September 28, 2012
Formula One
Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...
driver
Sergio Pérez announced that Férnandez would be his manager.
Turn 12 Adrián Fernández
In September 2016,
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez honored Fernández when they named Turn 12 of the circuit after him.
BRM P153
In 2024, Fernández acquired the legendary
BRM P153/05 from a private collector. This Formula One car won the
1970 Belgian Grand Prix under the command of Mexican idol
Pedro Rodríguez.
Personal life
Fernández retired from motorsports in 2012. He has two children: Valentina and Niko Fernández, and he married longtime girlfriend, former beauty queen, author, and retired actress
Priscila Perales
Silvia Priscila Perales Elizondo is a Mexican model, actress and beauty pageant titleholder She was crowned Nuestra Belleza México 2005. She was a top 10 semifinalist in the Miss Universe 2006 pageant. The following year, she became the first ...
on October 21, 2017. They got married
Da Priscila el 'sí' a Adrián
/ref> on May 4, 2018, in Miami Beach, Florida
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States. It is part of the Miami metropolitan area of South Florida. The municipality is located on natural and human-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean ...
. The couple announced their son, Adrián Fernández Jr. was born on October 29, 2020.
Motorsports career results
American Open-Wheel
( key)
CART results
IndyCar Series results
Complete American Le Mans Series results
24 Hours of Le Mans results
NASCAR
( key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. ''Italics'' – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)
Nationwide Series
International Race of Champions
( key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
References
Bibliography
*
External links
Official website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernandez, Adrian
1965 births
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
American Le Mans Series drivers
Champ Car drivers
Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Indy Lights drivers
IndyCar Series drivers
IndyCar Series team owners
International Race of Champions drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
Living people
Mexican expatriates in the United States
Mexican people of Spanish descent
Mexican racing drivers
Mexican Indianapolis 500 drivers
NASCAR drivers
Racing drivers from Mexico City
FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
Hendrick Motorsports drivers
Mexican Formula Three Championship drivers
Aston Martin Racing drivers
Tasman Motorsports drivers
Mo Nunn Racing drivers
JR Motorsports drivers
Team Aguri drivers