In the late 1950s, two young lions roared out of Mexico and bounded onto the international racing stage. Handsome, brave and exceedingly talented, they exuded a Latin-hot passion for racing and flashed so brilliantly through the sport that their memory lingers to this day.
Pedro Rodriguez and his brother Ricardo, financed by their wealthy father, started their racing careers on motorcycles. Pedro, age 13, became champion of Mexico in 1953 and repeated that feat in 1954. Ricardo, two years Pedro’s junior, also claimed the Mexican Motorcycle championship by the time he turned 13.
Pedro Rodriguez was the first to transition to four wheels, racing and winning throughout Mexico in a Jaguar XK 120 and a Porsche 1660 owned by his father. Just as Pedro was getting his career in gear, though, a bout of malaria afflicted him, and his father sent him to Illinois to recover and rehabilitate.
Meanwhile, Ricardo Rodriguez transitioned to cars and in 1957, at age 15, made his international racing debut at California’s Riverside Int’l Raceway.
Today, kids in high-level racing are common. But in 1957, a 15-year-old competing against hardened veterans clad only in a T-shirt, slacks and a rudimentary helmet was startling. But Ricardo quieted the skeptics by thrashing some of the best sports car drivers in the nation to claim the victory.
With Pedro recovered from malaria, the boys’ father, Don Pedro Rodriguez, insisted they were ready to tackle European racing and provided them with a Ferrari to make that happen.
They entered Le Mans in 1958, but much to the fury of Don Pedro, officials rejected Ricardo because he was only 16. Pedro ran and showed well. Over the course of the next two years, the Rodriguez brothers competed in the world’s premier sports car events, including Sebring, Le Mans and the Targa Florio.
In 1960, they competed separately at Le Mans. Pedro fell out early, but 18-year-old Ricardo finished second. The next year, they teamed at Le Mans, fighting furiously with the Ferrari works team for the win until their engine failed with two hours remaining. Â
That caught Enzo Ferrari’s attention and he offered both brothers factory rides, including Formula 1. Ricardo jumped at the opportunity. Pedro, busy running his businesses in Mexico, declined.
Ricardo’s first drive for Ferrari was the season-ending Italian Grand Prix in 1961. There he shocked the Formula 1 world, falling just shy of teammate Wolfgang von Trips’ pole-winning time.
Because of his youth, Ferrari used Ricardo Rodriguez sparingly in 1962. Still, he impressed. He won the infamous Targa Florio. In Formula 1, he raced to fourth at Belgium, becoming the youngest driver to score Formula 1 points. It was a record that stood for 38 years. Â
The Rodriguez brothers’ popularity had escalated astronomically in Mexico and a Formula 1 race was organized there to celebrate it. Both were entered. All of Mexico was caught up in the excitement, and hopes ran red-hot that one of the brothers would win their home GP.
Ricardo seemed on pace to do just that. But while practicing on Nov. 1, something suddenly went wrong and he crashed heavily. Ricardo Rodriguez died at age 20.
Mexico’s president read his eulogy and marched in the funeral procession. Tens of thousands witnessed it. Pedro insisted he wouldn’t race again, but in February 1963 he returned to win the Daytona Continental.
Pedro Rodriguez evolved into one of the most versatile, talented drivers of his era. He competed in every major form of racing and excelled.
He won twice in Formula 1, with seven other podium finishes. In long-distance sports car racing, he captured the Rheims 12 hours and the Rolex 24 At Daytona.
Driving a fiendishly handling Porsche 917K that few could tame, he won the 1970 BOAC 1000 at Brands Hatch by five laps in a pouring rain. He won at Monza, Francorchamps and Watkins Glen, and triumphed at Le Mans in 1968, driving a Gulf-Ford GT40.
He won, of all things, the American Ice Race Championship. In 1964, Pedro appeared at Indy but couldn’t get his underpowered Aston Martin/Cooper up to speed. He even ran NASCAR, finishing fifth in the 1965 World 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
On July 11, 1971, while leading at the Norisring in West Germany, his Ferrari 512M mysteriously spun out of control and exploded against the guardrail. Pedro Rodriguez died from his injuries.
As abruptly as they had burst onto the racing scene, the Rodriguez brothers were gone.
THIS ARTICLE IS REPOSTED FROM THE APRIL 10th EDITION OF SPEED SPORT INSIDER
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