Hi all,

I’d like to honor the memory of a great driver that passed away in a race accident 34 years ago.

Pedro Rodriguez was born in Mexico city January 18 1940.
He raced motorcycles with his younger brother Ricardo. In 1953 and 1954 Pedro was Mexican champion. At 20 years old, the brothers were at Le Mans with a Ferrari. They would have won had their car lasted. In 1962, during practice, Ricardo died in a terrible accident, and Pedro considered retiring. But in 63 he won Daytona and started to race for Lotus in Mexico and the U.S. He won the South African grand prix in 1967 with a Cooper Maserati.
He drove also for BRM.

In 1968, Pedro, teamed with the Belgian pilot ,Lucien Bianchi, at Le Mans in a Ford GT40. For the first time in his career, he won the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
But he was really famous driving the Gulf Porsche 917. In Brands Hatch in 1970 he demonstrated an outstanding hability to handle the 917 in the rain.

At the time of his death, Pedro was racing anything and everything. And winning! On July 11, 1971, Pedro was driving a Ferrari 512 on an "off-racing" weekend since he had a commitment to BRM for F1 and Porsche for endurance racing. That weekend was suppose to be for fun with one of his long-time friends in the Nuremberg 200 Miles Interseries Championship for Group 7 cars

Mr Pedro Rodriguez died tragically doing what he loved: racing
I’d like to honor him by posting a few pictures.

 

JP, well done!

I remember Pedro well (and Ricardo, but less so). Thanks for reminding me.

 

Nice tribute, thanks for sharing. Pedro was one of many remarkable drivers lost during an era in which motor racing was a more about skill, courage, and cars, rather than business. While those drivers may be lost forever, many of us hold memories of them that can quickly be brought back to life with a few well chosen photographs.

 

I've always admired his skill, as well as Ricardo's. That last photo of Pedro and, if I remember correctly, Jo Siffert banging fenders at LeMans is a classic. Almost twenty years ago, Denise McCluggage wrote an absolutely wonderful article on the brothers' triumphs and tragedies.

Pedro (and Ricardo) Rodriguez

 

Hi Mark, hi all. Thanks for your posts!

The last photo is from "L'eau Rouge" in Francorchamps (Belgium) Pedro is car n° 25 and Jo Siffert n°24.

I don't remember Ricardo, I was 4 when he died, but I remember that I was shocked by the death of Pedro. I was 13, and the only car I could draw on my class books was the 917!

Here is the two brothers busto in Mexico track

 

JP,

Thanks for your clarification. I had a feeling the LeMans reference wasn't correct...

 

Nice JP. Those were the real days of racing that, sadly, will never be repeated. They actually manually shifted the cars back then, how bout that... no paddles. (said with a bit of sarcasm.)

 

JP: Thank you for such a thoughtful tribute. I grew up in Mexico City and the Rodriguez brothers, or as we called them "Los Hermanos Rodriguez", inspired me greatly to appreciate the automotive world, to follow my dreams, and to find pride in my heritage.

All the best!

 

wonderful tribute. Thank you.
Godspeed Pedro....

 

Great tribute - the Brands Hatch 500 km race was truly amazing; black flagged for a passing infringement under yellow he was allowed back out, chased, overtook the field and won by 5 laps in the poring rain. One of the classic sportscar drives of all time and in the magnificent 917.

PJC

 

Hi PJC,

do you know if there is any video available somewhere from that race?