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Mexican and American racing driver (born 1970)
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Memo Gidley
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Mazda RX-8 driven by Memo Gidley in 2011
Nationality👁 Image
Mexican
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American
Born (1970-09-29) September 29, 1970 (age 55)
GT America Series career
Debut season2023
Current teamTKO Motorsports with Flying Lizard
Racing licence👁 Image
FIA Gold (until 2017)
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FIA Silver (2018–2019)
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FIA Bronze (2020–)[1]
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 (born September 29, 1970) is a Mexican and American racing driver, who competed in IndyCar from 1999 to 2004.

Gidley 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 - Ganassi later suggested that they keep Bruno Junqueira over him as the Brazilian was under contract.

Gidley 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.[2] 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.

During the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona, Gidley suffered serious injuries when his Corvette DP slammed into the back of a Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 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).[3] Gidley was taken by ambulance to Halifax Health Medical Center, where doctors diagnosed him with a broken back and leg and arm injuries.[4] Gidley underwent three surgeries before being released from the hospital eleven days after the accident.[5] After five further surgeries and three years of recovering from his injuries, Gidley made his return to racing in September 2017.[6][7]

Gidley made his come-back to racing full-time in 2022, in the IMSA Prototype Challenge, driving a Duqueine D-08 LMP3.[8] He won the second race of the season at Mid-Ohio,[9] and finished second in the championship overall. Gidley raced in GT America Series in 2023, and won the SRO3(GT3) championship,[10] with 8 wins.

Motorsports career results

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American Open-Wheel racing results

[edit]

(key)

Complete USF2000 National Championship results

[edit]
Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Points
1995 Cape Motorsports PIR1
46
PIR2
1
IRP
1
RIR
4
WGI
43
MOH1
1
NHS
2
ATL1
6
ATL2
2
MOH1
7
2nd 196

Atlantic Championship

[edit]
Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points
1997 Lynx Racing HMS
2
LBH
7
NAZ
26
MIL
3
MTL
3
CLE
9
TOR
1
TRR
5
MOH
4
ROA
5
VAN
1
LS
25
2nd 136
1998 Lynx Racing LBH
1
NAZ
4
GAT
1
MIL
1
MTL
32
CLE
26
TOR
6
TRR
4
MOH
27
ROA
2
VAN
7
LS
22
HOU
5
3rd 134

CART/Champ Car World Series

[edit]
Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points Ref
1999 Walker Racing 15 Reynard 99i Honda HRS V8t MIA MOT LBH NZR RIO STL MIL POR
19
CLE
11
ROA
26
TOR
12
MIC 27th 4 [11]
Payton/Coyne Racing 71 Lola B99/00 Ford XD V8t DET
20
MOH
22
CHI VAN
12
LS
13
HOU
14
SRF
14
FON
2000 Player's Forsythe Racing 32 Reynard 2Ki Ford XF V8t MIA LBH
21
RIO
8
MOT
18
NZR MIL DET POR CLE TOR 20th 20 [12]
Della Penna Motorsports 10 Toyota RV8E V8t MIC
10
CHI
10
MOH
12
ROA
6
VAN
16
LS
19
STL
22
HOU
21
SRF FON
21
2001 Chip Ganassi Racing 12 Lola B01/00 Toyota RV8F V8t MTY LBH TXS NZR MOT MIL DET POR
25
CLE
2*
TOR
17
MIC
14
CHI
5
MOH
11
ROA
20
VAN
10
LAU
14
ROC
18
HOU
3
LS
2
SRF
10
FON
14
17th 65 [13]
2004 Rocketsports 17 Lola B02/00 Ford XFE V8t LBH MTY MIL POR CLE TOR
16
VAN
11
ROA DEN MTL LS LVS SRF MXC 21st 15^ [14]
  • ^ New points system implemented in 2004

Indy Racing League

[edit]
Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Rank Points Ref
2000 Team Pelfrey 82 Dallara IR-00 Oldsmobile Aurora V8 WDW PHX LVS INDY
DNQ
TXS PPIR ATL KTY TX2 NC - [15]
2001 Brayton Racing 61 Dallara IR-01 PHX HMS ATL INDY
DNQ
TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH KTY STL CHI TX2 NC - [16]
2002 Dreyer & Reinbold Racing 24 G-Force GF05C Infiniti VRH35ADE V8 HMS PHX FON
21
NZR 46th 9 [17]
Duesenberg Brothers Racing 32 Dallara IR-02 Chevrolet Indy V8 INDY
DNQ
TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY STL CHI TX2

Indy 500 results

[edit]
Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2000 Dallara Oldsmobile DNQ Team Pelfrey
2001 Dallara Oldsmobile DNQ Brayton Racing
2002 Dallara Chevrolet DNQ Duesenberg Brothers Racing

Complete American Le Mans Series results

[edit]
Year Entrant Class Chassis Engine Tyres 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points
1999 Panoz Motor Sports LMP Panoz LMP-1 Roadster-S Ford (Élan-Yates) 6.0 L V8 M SEB ATL MOS SON POR PET
ovr:5
cls:5
MON LSV 63rd 15
2006 Highcroft Racing LMP1 MG-Lola EX257 AER P07 2.0L Turbo I4 D SEB TEX MID LIM UTA POR AME MOS PET
ovr:3
cls:3
MON 20th 19
2007 Team Cytosport LMP1 Lola B06/10 AER P32T 4.0L Turbo V8 D SEB STP LNB TEX UTA LIM MID AME MOS DET PET
ovr:14
cls:3
MON 20th 19
2010 Muscle Milk Team CytoSport LMP Porsche RS Spyder Evo Porsche MR6 3.4 L V8 M SEB LNB MON
ovr:2
cls:2
UTA LIM MID AME MOS PET NC -
2012 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing PC Oreca FLM09 Chevrolet LS3 6.2 L V8 M SEB
ovr:42
cls:5
LNB
ovr:4
cls:2
MON
ovr:6
cls:4
LIM MOS MID AME BAL VIR PET 12th 40
* Season still in progress.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship results

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(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)

Year Team Class Make Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Rank Points Ref
2014 GAINSCO/Bob Stallings Racing P Riley Corvette DP Chevrolet 5.5L V8 DAY
18
SEB
LBH LAG DET WGL
MOS IMS ROA COA PET
56th 14 [18]
Source:[19]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Goodwin, Graham (19 November 2019). "2020 FIA Driver Categorisation List Published". Dailysportscar. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  2. ^ Wilson, Derek (August 8, 2007). "IRL at Sonoma: No place like home for Marin drivers". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  3. ^ Dagys, John (January 25, 2014). "Scary Rolex 24 Wreck Sends Two Drivers to Daytona Hospital". Fox Sports. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014.
  4. ^ Olsen, Jeff (January 26, 2014). "Memo Gidley breaks back in crash at Rolex 24 at Daytona". USA Today.
  5. ^ "Memo Gidley, injured in Rolex 24, released from hospital". USA Today. February 6, 2014. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  6. ^ Coble, Don (January 27, 2017). "After horrific crash, Gidley ready to drive again". The Florida Times-Union. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  7. ^ "Driver Memo Gidley returning to IMSA race seat". Autoweek. September 7, 2017. Retrieved July 6, 2025.
  8. ^ "Gidley making Daytona return in Prototype Challenge". RACER. 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  9. ^ "Memo-rable Journey Reaches Memo-rable Moment: Gidley's Return to Victory Lane".
  10. ^ "Memo Gidley Clinches GT America SRO3 Championship In Race 1". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
  11. ^ "Memo Gidley – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  12. ^ "Memo Gidley – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  13. ^ "Memo Gidley – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  14. ^ "Memo Gidley – 2004 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  15. ^ "Memo Gidley – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  16. ^ "Memo Gidley – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  17. ^ "Memo Gidley – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
  18. ^ "Memo Gidley – 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Memo Gidley Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

External links

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