Memo Rojas

Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. (born August 18, 1981) is a Mexican professional race car driver. Successful in American sports car racing, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the Rolex Sports Car Series, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, and a two-time European Le Mans Series champion. He is the first Mexican driver to win a major American racing championship.[1]

Memo Rojas
Nationality Mexican
Born (1981-08-18) August 18, 1981
Mexico City, Mexico
Related toMemo Rojas Sr.
United SportsCar Championship career
Debut season2007 (as Grand-Am)
Current teamDeltaWing
Car number0
Starts91
Wins28
Poles8
Best finish1st in 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012
Previous series
2004
2002–2003
2000–2001
1997–1998
Formula Renault
Barber Dodge Pro Series
Formula Ford 2000
Formula 3 Mexico
Championship titles
2008, 2010, 2011, 2012Rolex Sports Car Series

Personal life

Rojas was born in 1981 in Mexico City, Mexico.[1] He is son of the Mexican driver Guillermo Rojas Sr.

Career

Early career

Rojas began his racing career in 1993, racing karts; in 1996 he moved up to professional racing in the Mexican Formula Two series. Heading to the United States in 1997, he joined the Barber Dodge series, before returning to Mexico in 1998 to race for two years in the national Formula Three series.[2]

Returning to the United States in 2000, he spent two years racing in the American Formula Ford 2000 series, before moving up to the Barber Dodge Pro Series for the 2002 and 2003 seasons, claiming two wins during his time in the series, and finishing second in the series championship in 2003.[2] He then graduated to the European Formula Renault series with DAMS in 2004, scoring two top-five finishes over the course of the year.[2] In 2005 he returned to the United States, racing in the Toyota Atlantic championship series for a single race at the Fundidora park circuit in Monterrey.[2]

Grand-Am

2011 Grand-Am Daytona Prototype with Scott Pruett

Switching from open-wheel racing to sports cars in 2007, Rojas joined Chip Ganassi Racing to compete in the Grand American Road Racing Rolex Sports Car Series, as a teammate to Scott Pruett. Claiming his first win in the series in 2007,[1] Rojas won his first 24 Hours of Daytona endurance race the following year with co-drivers Pruett, Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti.[1][3] The victory propelled Rojas and Pruett to the Rolex Sports Car Series championship that year,[4] setting a series record for the most victories in a season with six wins over the course of the year.[1]

In 2009, Rojas would finish second in the Rolex Sports Car Series championship standings, only six points out of first place at the end of the year, before returning in 2010 to once again win the series championship partnered with Pruett.[1] Over the course of the year Rojas set another series record for most victories in a season with nine, and finished on the podium eleven times in twelve races.[1][5]

Rojas' 2011 season started with a co-victory, partnered with Pruett, Graham Rahal and Joey Hand, in the 24 Hours of Daytona, his second win in the event.[6]

On the 51st edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona on January 26–27, 2013 Memo Rojas got the first place, winning his third 24 Hours of Daytona, along with his co-drivers Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and Charlie Kimball.[7][8]

12 Hours of Sebring

On the 62nd edition of the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 15, 2014 Memo Rojas Jr., from Telmex Ganassi Riley Mk XXVI-Ford EcoBoost DP team won the second round of the new United SportsCar Championship by just under five seconds as nine cars in the Prototype class finished on the lead lap. Along with his co-drivers Scott Pruett and Marino Franchitti, Rojas Jr., become the first Mexican to achieve a victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring.[9][10][11]

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Barber Dodge Pro Series

Atlantic Championship

Rolex Sports Car Series (Grand-Am)

(key)

♯ Did not complete 30 minutes drive time. No driver's points awarded.

24 Hours of Daytona

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points
2014 Chip Ganassi Racing P Ford EcoBoost Riley DP Ford Ecoboost 3.5 L V6 Turbo DAY
11
SEB
1
LBH
1
LGA
3
DET
11
WGL
8
MOS
9
IMS
2
ELK
7
COA
1
PET
3
6th 285
2015 DeltaWing Racing Cars w/ Claro/TracFone P DeltaWing DWC13 Élan (Mazda) 1.9 L I4 Turbo DAY
15
SEB
12
LBH
9
LGA
8
DET WGL
8
MOS
8
ELK
6
COA
7
PET
8
8th 207

12 Hours of Sebring

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2016 Greaves Motorsport Nathanaël Berthon
Julien Canal
Ligier JS P2-Nissan LMP2 348 10th 6th
2017 G-Drive Racing Ryō Hirakawa
José Gutiérrez
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 327 39th 17th
2018 IDEC Sport Paul Lafargue
Paul-Loup Chatin
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 312 DNF DNF
2019 IDEC Sport Paul Lafargue
Paul-Loup Chatin
Oreca 07-Gibson LMP2 364 10th 5th

European Le Mans Series Results

Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 Rank Points
2016 Greaves Motorsport LMP2 Ligier JS P2 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL
8
IMO
8
RBR
6
LEC
6
SPA
4
EST
Ret
10th 36
2017 G-Drive Racing LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 SIL
2
MON
1
RBR
2
LEC
2
SPA
2
EST
4
1st 110
2018 IDEC Sport LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC
7
MNZ
3
RBR
4
SIL
3
SPA
4‡
ALG
6
4th 64
2019 IDEC Sport LMP2 Oreca 07 Gibson GK428 4.2 L V8 LEC
2
MNZ
2
'CAT
5
SIL
1
SPA
5
ALG
1
1st 105

Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

gollark: I ask heavpoot for more bees.
gollark: Troubling.
gollark: Oops.
gollark: Of course.
gollark: I ask heavpoot for his bee, d6.

References

  1. "Memo Rojas". Grand American Road Racing. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  2. "Memo Rojas joins field for Monterrey race". Motorsport.com. May 17, 2005. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  3. Garrow, Mark (February 15, 2008). "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: Daytona 500". ESPN. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  4. Grand-Am Communications (September 21, 2008). "GRAND-AM: Shank Team Claims Miller Finale". SPEED Channel. Archived from the original on March 14, 2012. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  5. Pruett, Marshall (September 20, 2010). "GRAND-AM: The Year Of Ganassi". SPEED Channel. Archived from the original on November 29, 2010. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
  6. Dagys, John (January 30, 2011). "ROLEX 24: Ganassi Goes Big With Rolex 1-2". SPEED Channel. Retrieved 2011-01-30.
  7. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-29. Retrieved 2013-01-28.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2013-01-27. Retrieved 2013-01-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112949
  10. http://espn.go.com/racing/story/_/id/10615657/ganassi-gets-1st-win-twelve-hours-sebring
  11. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-03-19. Retrieved 2014-03-18.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Jon Fogarty
Alex Gurney
Grand-Am Daytona Prototype
Champion

2008
With: Scott Pruett
Succeeded by
Jon Fogarty
Alex Gurney
Preceded by
Jon Fogarty
Alex Gurney
Grand-Am Daytona Prototype
Champion

2010, 2011, 2012
With: Scott Pruett
Succeeded by
Jordan Taylor
Max Angelelli
Preceded by
Simon Dolan
Harry Tincknell
Giedo van der Garde
European Le Mans Series
LMP2 Champion

2017
With: Léo Roussel
Succeeded by
Andrea Pizzitola
Roman Rusinov
Preceded by
Andrea Pizzitola
Roman Rusinov
European Le Mans Series
LMP2 Champion

2019
With: Paul-Loup Chatin
Succeeded by
Incumbent
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