Memo Gidley

Memo Gidley
Mazda RX-8 driven by Memo Gidley in 2011
Nationality Mexican
 American
Born (1970-09-29) September 29, 1970 (age 54)
La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
GT America Series career
Debut season2023
Current teamTKO Motorsports with Flying Lizard
Racing licence FIA Bronze
Car number101
Starts18
Championships1
Wins8
Podiums15
Best finish1st in 2023
Previous series
1999–2004
2000–2002
1999–2012
2014
2022
Champ Car
Indy Racing League
American Le Mans Series
IMSA SportsCar Championship
IMSA Prototype Challenge
Championship titles
2023GT America Series (SRO3)
Awards
1995Team USA Scholarship

José Guillermo "Memo" Gidley is a Mexican-born racing driver, of German and Canadian ancestry, born in La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico on September 29, 1970. He holds dual citizenship - American and Mexican.

In his early years, he sold his apartment to fund his career and spent 4 months homeless living in his car.[citation needed] He worked at the Jim Russell racing school as a mechanic to fund his career for some time, eventually getting a chance in Champ Car with Derrick Walker in 1999, although this was as a short-term replacement. He did the same task for Gerry Forsythe a year later, and Chip Ganassi in 2001, twice coming close to race victories. He nearly retained his drive for 2002 - Chip later suggested that they keep Bruno Junqueira over him as the Brazilian was under contract.

He has raced assorted sports cars since, although he made two Champ Car starts for Rocketsports in 2004, and briefly ran in the rival IRL series. After 2005 he competed full-time in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, co-driving with Michael McDowell to a victory in the Mexico City season finale. In 2006 he raced in the Team Playboy cars and in 2007 he partnered Max Angelelli in the SunTrust Racing team.[1] In 2010 Gidley co-drove Team CytoSport's Porsche RS Spyder with Germany's Klaus Graf and Sascha Maassen to second in class (and overall) at Laguna Seca, but he reportedly hadn't given up yet on a return to major open wheel racing.

In the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona, Gidley suffered serious injuries when his Corvette DP slammed into the back of a Ferrari being driven by Matteo Malucelli. Malucelli's car had lost power and had rolled to a near stop on the track, when Gidley hit him at approximately 120 miles per hour (190 km/h).[2] Gidley was taken by ambulance to Halifax Health Medical Center, where doctors diagnosed him with a broken back and leg and arm injuries.[3] Gidley had eight surgeries that took him three years to recover.

Gidley made his come-back to racing full-time in 2022, in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, driving a Duqueine D-08 LMP3.[4] He won the second race of the season at Mid-Ohio,[5] and finished second in the championship overall. Gidley raced in GT America Series in 2023, and won the SRO3(GT3) championship,[6] with 8 wins.

  1. ^ IRL at Sonoma: No place like home for Marin drivers
  2. ^ SCARY ROLEX 24 WRECK SENDS TWO DRIVERS TO DAYTONA HOSPITAL by John Dagys, Fox Sports, January 25, 2014.
  3. ^ Memo Gidley breaks back in crash at Rolex 24 at Daytona by Jeff Olsen, USA Today, January 26, 2014.
  4. ^ "Gidley making Daytona return in Prototype Challenge". RACER. 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  5. ^ "Memo-rable Journey Reaches Memo-rable Moment: Gidley's Return to Victory Lane".
  6. ^ "Memo Gidley Clinches GT America SRO3 Championship In Race 1". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.