Pedro Rodríguez (racing driver)

Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega (18 January 1940 – 11 July 1971) was a Mexican racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 1963 to 1971. Rodríguez won two Formula One Grands Prix across nine seasons. In endurance racing, Rodríguez won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1968 with Ford, and was a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona with Porsche.

Born and raised in Mexico City, Rodríguez was the older brother of racing driver Ricardo Rodríguez, who became the first Mexican driver to compete in Formula One in 1961. Both brothers started racing at an early age, first on motorbikes and then moving to cars. Following his brother's death in a racing accident in 1962, Pedro briefly considered retiring from racing, but decided to carry on. In sportscar racing his first major win was with his brother in the 1961 Paris 1000km, driving a Ferrari 250 GT. He began his Formula One career in 1963, won the 1967 South African Grand Prix in a Cooper and the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix in a BRM. He won the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40 and won eight races in the Porsche 917 across 1970 and 1971.

In July 1971, Rodríguez was killed at the Norisring in West Germany, driving a Ferrari 512 M in an Interserie sportscar race.

Personal life

Rodríguez was born in Mexico City, Mexico, the son of Pedro Natalio Rodríguez and Concepción De la Vega. He had an older sister, Conchita, and three younger brothers: Ricardo, Federico (died at two months of age) and Alejandro.

At 15, Rodríguez's father sent him to Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois, in order to learn English and to develop more discipline.

The Rodríguez brothers raced bicycles and motorcycles, becoming Mexican national motorcycle champions in 1953 and 1954. Pedro made his international debut in cars at Nassau in 1957 in a Ferrari.

Rodríguez married Angelina (née Damy), in Mexico in 1961, although he had a girlfriend in England, Glenda Foreman, with whom he lived in Bray on Thames in his later years, but left no children.

Rodríguez always traveled with a Mexican flag and a record of the national anthem because when he won the 1967 South African GP the organizers did not have the Mexican anthem, and instead played the Mexican hat dance.

Jo Ramírez was a very close friend to both Rodríguez and his younger brother, Ricardo.

Career

Rodríguez began racing with bicycles at eight years old. He was a class winner in the Mexican Championship by 1950. He started racing a 125 cc (7.6 cu in) Adler motorcycle, winning Mexico's national championship in 1952 and 1954. In 1952, he entered a rally in a Ford, but achieved little. He returned to racing full-time in 1955, at 15, entering a Jaguar XK120 or Porsche 1600S in local contests.

At the end of 1957, Rodríguez (who had been driving a Chevrolet Corvette in Mexico) and his brother entered the Nassau Speed Week competition, where the wild-driving elder brother wrecked his Ferrari 500 TR.

The 18-year-old Rodríguez shared a 500 TR at Le Mans, entered by U.S. importer Luigi Chinetti, with José Behra, brother of Jean Behra, as his co-driver; the car did not finish, after a radiator hose puncture. Rodríguez came back every year to Le Mans, fourteen times in total, and won in 1968, co-driving with Belgian Lucien Bianchi, sharing a Ford GT40 for the JW–Gulf team.

At the Reims 12-hours in 1958, Rodríguez and Behra placed second in class (eighth overall) in their Porsche Carrera, while Rodríguez came second in a Ferrari 250 TR at Nassau at the end of the season.

Rodríguez went to Europe to race starting in 1959, sharing a Porsche 1600 S with Leo Levine at the Nurbürgring 1000 km, which came in second in class (thirteenth overall). He shared a 750 cc (46 cu in) O.S.C.A. with his brother for Le Mans, which broke.

At Cuba's 1960 Liberty Grand Prix, Rodríguez's 250TR followed Stirling Moss's winning Maserati Tipo 61 home, in second. At Sebring, his Dino 196 S failed to finish. Rodríguez claimed seventh at the 1960 Targa Florio, again in the 196 S, which spent time off the pavement as well as on. He retired from that year's Nürburgring 1000 km, and from Le Mans.

In 1961, Rodríguez entered Formula Junior. He returned also to Sebring, sharing a 250TR with his brother which suffered electrical trouble and came third. The duo also failed to finish that year's Targa Florio or Nürburgring 1000 km, but did win the Paris 1000 km. An ongoing duel with the works Ferraris at Le Mans, which ultimately resulted in engine failure only two hours from the end, attracted the attention of Enzo Ferrari, who offered them Formula One rides with his team. Pedro declined, having "a motor business in Mexico City to run".

Despite his refusal, Rodríguez kept racing, and in 1962 entered at Sebring, the Nürburgring, and Le Mans, but failed to finish each time. He won at Bridgehampton, in a Ferrari 330 TRI/LM, and shared a 250 GTO with his brother to win the Paris 1000 km, the second year in a row.

After Ferrari refused to enter the 1962 Mexican Grand Prix, the first to be held in Mexico, Rodríguez and his younger brother both found rides of their own. After his brother was killed in a horrific accident in practice, Rodríguez withdrew. He considered retiring from racing. However, in 1963 he won the Daytona Continental in a 250GTO entered by North American Racing Team. He came third at Sebring, sharing a 330TR/LM with Graham Hill. He failed to qualify at Indianapolis, in an Aston Martin-powered Cooper T54, but took part in his first Grand Prix in the works Lotus at Watkins Glen and Magdalena Mixhuca. Rodríguez failed to finish both times.

Also in 1963, driving for Kjell Qvale Racing, he won his second USRRC ( FIA Group 7 cars) event in the Huffaker chassis#2 Mk8 GENIE/Chevrolet, then went on to win again in their chassis#3 Mk8 GENIE/Ford

For 1964, Rodríguez again won the Daytona Continental, as well as the sports car Canadian Grand Prix, was second at the Paris 1000 km, and third in the Bahamas Tourist Trophy. In single-seater racing, he recorded a sixth in the Ferrari 156 at Mexico.

In 1965, Rodríguez's Lotus 33-Climax was fourth at the Daily Express Silverstone Trophy, fifth at the U.S. Grand Prix and seventh in the Mexican Grand Prix in a Ferrari. He won the Reims 12-Hours in a Ferrari 365 P2 he shared with Jean Guichet, and scored a third at the Canadian Sports Car Grand Prix.

Rodríguez drove again for Lotus in four events in 1966, retiring on every occasion. He also deputised for Jim Clark in the Formula Two event at Rouen. At the start of the 1967 season, Rodríguez won for the first time in only his ninth Grand Prix, at Kyalami. This was the first ever Grand Prix win for a Mexican driver. Cooper manager Roy Salvadori allowed Rodríguez to drive the practice car, over the objections of teammate Jochen Rindt, who had demanded Rodríguez's car, with strong support from Rindt's close friend Jackie Stewart. Rodríguez's smooth, consistent driving earned him victory after Denny Hulme had had a lengthy pit stop and local privateer John Love's Tasman Cooper needed a late fuel stop. Rindt, by contrast, retired the other Cooper-Maserati after 38 laps. Rodríguez drove a controlled season in 1967 as No. 2 to Rindt. Though usually slower than his teammate, he built up experience in the older and heavier T81, while Rindt was given the improved T81B and later the brand new T86. A mid-season accident in a Protos-Ford, at the Formula Two event at Enna, sidelined him for three Grand Prix. Rodríguez was only marginally slower than Rindt in the Dutch Grand Prix, also the only other race in the season where the Coopers were competitive.

Rodríguez's performance at Zandvoort earned Rodríguez a better drive with BRM in 1968. Rodríguez proved himself excellent in the wet at Zandvoort and Rouen where he got his only fastest lap in F1 during the French GP. Lack of power meant he had to settle for second behind Bruce McLaren during the Belgian GP at Francorchamps.

The BRM P133 faded through the year from lack of testing time after the death of Mike Spence, whom the team's owners favoured. Nevertheless, Rodríguez led the Spanish Grand Prix from Chris Amon for 28 laps until he made a mistake and spun off. At the end of the year, despite Rodríguez's good performances, BRM team manager Louis Stanley released Rodríguez to the Parnell BRM privateer team.

The Reg Parnell Racing BRMs proved to have hopeless engines, and after Monaco, Rodríguez left and signed for Ferrari for the remainder of the 1969 Grand Prix and sports car series.

Reentering F1 in the British Grand Prix, Rodríguez matched teammate Amon's pace in practice and led Amon by a whisker in the race. The uncompetitive 312s ran midfield until Rodríguez's car broke and Amon's engine blew for the second race in a row. Given the hopelessness of the 312 V12, the frustration of his drivers, and the slow progress with getting the new flat-12 F1 car ready, Enzo Ferrari would rather have run two Italian drivers for the rest of the season, but the Brambilla brothers, Vittorio and Ernesto, proved too slow. So, Ferrari ran Rodríguez in the last four races of the season, in NART American racing colours for the North American races, but still, effectively, as a Ferrari works team. All in all, Rodríguez managed a fourth place in 1968; sixth in 1964, 1967 and 1970; and seventh in 1965 and 1969; while retiring in 1963 and 1966; in his eight home races in Mexico, but Ferrari didn't offer him a ride for 1970.