Mexico’s founding fathers of endurance racing: Pedro and Ricardo Rodriguez
The popularity of motorsport in Mexico owes much to the Rodriguez brothers, Pedro and Ricardo, in whose honour the 4.304 km circuit is named - Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
The fraternal duo put their proud nation firmly on the map with their standout performances in the 60s and early 70s. Born two years apart in 1940 and 1942, both brothers raced motorcycles with success before swapping two wheels for four and taking their talents to Europe.
Pedro, the eldest brother, was one of the finest wet-weather drivers of his generation and won two Grands Prix, but achieved most success in sportscar racing for Ferrari, Ford and Porsche.
After 9 retirements from 10 attempts, including three times paired with Ricardo, Pedro finally triumphed at Le Mans in 1968 driving a Ford GT40, becoming the first (and, so far, only) Mexican driver to win the event.
He won four times during the 1970 World Sportscar Championship season, including a famous victory by five clear laps at Brands Hatch, and added another four the following year at Daytona, Monza, Spa and Zeltweg to help Porsche clinch back-to-back manufacturers’ titles.
Rodriguez was operating at the height of his powers when he entered an Interseries race at the Norisring in 1971, but was tragically killed aged just 31 when his car crashed and caught fire.
Younger brother Ricardo impressed by finishing second at Le Mans in 1960 and earned his first appearance in Formula 1 with Ferrari at the 1961 Italian Grand Prix, where he qualified on the front row before mechanical troubles hampered his race.
Rodriguez won the 1962 Targa Florio and was tipped to go all the way to the very top, but very sadly lost his life practising for the non-championship 1962 Mexican Grand Prix when his privately-entered Lotus crashed at the high-speed Peraltada corner. He was 20 years old.
Today, the pair are still regarded today as national heroes and will forever be remembered as the founding fathers of Mexican motorsport in general and endurance racing in particular.
The FIA World Endurance Championship resumes after its summer break with the AT&T 6 Hours of Mexico presented by AT&T on Sunday 3rd September.