Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. (born August 18, 1981) is a Mexican professional

race car driver Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...

. Successful in American

sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing i ...

, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

, a three-time winner of 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 ...

, and a two-time

European Le Mans Series The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the fo ...

champion. He is the first Mexican driver to win a major American racing championship.

Personal life

Rojas was born in 1981 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 of ...

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 Guate ...

. He is son of the Mexican driver Guillermo Rojas Sr.

Career

Early career

Rojas began his racing career in 1993, racing

karts Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on kart circuit, scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are als ...

; in 1996 he moved up to professional racing in the Mexican

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 r ...

series. Heading to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

in 1997, he joined the Barber Dodge series, before returning to Mexico in 1998 to race for two years in the national

Formula Three Formula Three, also called Formula 3, abbreviated as F3, is a third-tier class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One dr ...

series. Returning to the United States in 2000, he spent two years racing in the American

Formula Ford 2000 Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers. Formula For ...

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. He then graduated to the European

Formula Renault Formula Renault are classes of formula racing popular in Europe and elsewhere. Regarded as an entry-level series to motor racing, it was founded in 1971, and was a respected series where drivers can learn advanced racecraft before moving on to hig ...

series with

DAMS A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...

in 2004, scoring two top-five finishes over the course of the year. In 2005 he returned to the United States, racing in the Toyota Atlantic championship series for a single race at the

Fundidora park Fundidora Park (''Parque Fundidora'' in Spanish) is an urban park located in the Mexican city of Monterrey, built in what once were the grounds of the Monterrey Foundry, the first steel and iron foundry in Latin America, and, for many years, th ...

circuit in

Monterrey Monterrey ( , ) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern state of Nuevo León, Mexico, and the third largest city in Mexico behind Guadalajara and Mexico City. Located at the foothills of the Sierra Madre Oriental, the city is ancho ...

Grand-Am

DP01 Scott Pruett Memo Rojas 2011 Road America

Switching from open-wheel racing to sports cars in 2007, Rojas joined

Chip Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, FIA World Endurance Championship ...

to compete in the

Grand American Road Racing Grand-Am Road Racing or Grand-Am was an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America. Its primary focus was the Rolex Sports Car Series, an endurance racing championship series. I ...

, as a teammate to

Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors. Pruett started racing go ...

. Claiming his first win in the series in 2007, Rojas won his first

endurance race the following year with co-drivers Pruett,

Juan Pablo Montoya Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...

and

Dario Franchitti George Dario Marino Franchitti, MBE (born 19 May 1973) is a British former racing driver and current motorsport commentator from Scotland. He is a four time IndyCar Series champion (2007, 2009, 2010, 2011), a three-time winner of the India ...

. The victory propelled Rojas and Pruett to the Rolex Sports Car Series championship that year, setting a series record for the most victories in a season with six wins over the course of the year. 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. Over the course of the year Rojas set another series record for most victories in a season with nine, and finished on the

podium A podium (plural podiums or podia) is a platform used to raise something to a short distance above its surroundings. It derives from the Greek ''πόδι'' (foot). In architecture a building can rest on a large podium. Podiums can also be used ...

eleven times in twelve races. Rojas' 2011 season started with a co-victory, partnered with Pruett,

Graham Rahal Graham Robert Rahal (born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently participates in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team partially owned by his father Bobby Rahal, the winne ...

and

Joey Hand Joseph F. Hand (born February 10, 1979) is an American professional racing driver who competes in sports car racing as a Ford factory driver. A former champion of the Star Mazda Series, Hand is the co-winner of the 2011 24 Hours of Daytona drivi ...

, in the

, his second win in the event. On the 51st edition of the

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 Charles Newton Kimball (born February 20, 1985) is an American race car driver currently competing in the IndyCar Series with A. J. Foyt Enterprises He has scored a win, six podiums, and 13 top 5s. His best season result was ninth in 2013 and 20 ...

12 Hours of Sebring

On the 62nd edition of the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second ro ...

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 The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

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

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)

12 Hours of Sebring

24 Hours of Le Mans results

European Le Mans Series Results

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

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rojas, Memo Living people 1981 births Racing drivers from Mexico City Mexican racing drivers 24 Hours of Daytona drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers Atlantic Championship drivers Formula Renault V6 Eurocup drivers Mexican Formula Three Championship drivers Formula Ford drivers Barber Pro Series drivers WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers U.S. F2000 National Championship drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Chip Ganassi Racing drivers DAMS drivers G-Drive Racing drivers DragonSpeed drivers Greaves Motorsport drivers