Memo Gidley

Memo Gidley
Memo Gidley
	Mazda RX-8 driven by Memo Gidley in 2011
Nationality	Mexican; American
Born	September 29, 1970 (age 54); La Paz, Baja California Sur, Mexico
GT America Series career
Debut season	2023
Current team	TKO Motorsports with Flying Lizard
Racing licence	FIA Bronze
Car number	101
Starts	18
Championships	1
Wins	8
Podiums	15
Best finish	1st 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
2023	GT America Series (SRO3)
Awards
1995	Team 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.

Motorsports career results

American Open-Wheel racing results

(key)

Complete USF2000 National Championship results

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	MDO1 1	NHS 2	ATL1 6	ATL2 2	MDO1 7	2nd	196

Atlantic Championship

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	MDO 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	MDO 27	ROA 2	VAN 7	LS 22	HOU 5	3rd	134

CART/Champ Car World Series

Year	Team	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	Reynard 99i	Honda HRS V8 t	MIA	MOT	LBH	NZR	RIO	STL	MIL	POR 19	CLE 11	ROA 26	TOR 12	MIC										27th	4	^[7]
1999	Payton/Coyne Racing	Lola B99/00	Ford XD V8 t													DET 20	MDO 22	CHI	VAN 12	LS 13	HOU 14	SRF 14	FON		27th	4	^[7]
2000	Player's Forsythe Racing	Reynard 2Ki	Ford XF V8 t	MIA	LBH 21	RIO 8	MOT 18	NZR	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR												20th	20	^[8]
2000	Della Penna Motorsports	Reynard 2Ki	Toyota RV8E V8 t											MIC 10	CHI 10	MDO 12	ROA 6	VAN 16	LS 19	STL 22	HOU 21	SRF	FON 21		20th	20	^[8]
2001	Chip Ganassi Racing	Lola B01/00	Toyota RV8F V8 t	MTY	LBH	TXS	NZR	MOT	MIL	DET	POR 25	CLE 2*	TOR 17	MIC 14	CHI 5	MDO 11	ROA 20	VAN 10	LAU 14	ROC 18	HOU 3	LS 2	SRF 10	FON 14	17th	65	^[9]
2004	Rocketsports	Lola B02/00	Ford XFE V8 t	LBH	MTY	MIL	POR	CLE	TOR 16	VAN 11	ROA	DEN	MTL	LS	LVS	SRF	MXC								21st	15^	^[10]

^ New points system implemented in 2004

Indy Racing League

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

Indy 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	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

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

(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	^[14]
Source:^[15]

References

^ IRL at Sonoma: No place like home for Marin drivers
^ SCARY ROLEX 24 WRECK SENDS TWO DRIVERS TO DAYTONA HOSPITAL by John Dagys, Fox Sports, January 25, 2014.
^ Memo Gidley breaks back in crash at Rolex 24 at Daytona by Jeff Olsen, USA Today, January 26, 2014.
^ "Gidley making Daytona return in Prototype Challenge". RACER. 2022-01-10. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
^ "Memo-rable Journey Reaches Memo-rable Moment: Gidley's Return to Victory Lane".
^ "Memo Gidley Clinches GT America SRO3 Championship In Race 1". www.dailysportscar.com. Retrieved 2023-10-12.
^ "Memo Gidley – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Memo Gidley – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Memo Gidley – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Memo Gidley – 2004 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
^ "Memo Gidley – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
^ "Memo Gidley – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
^ "Memo Gidley – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
^ "Memo Gidley – 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 21 March 2024.
^ "Memo Gidley Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

External links

Memo Gidley career summary at DriverDB.com
http://memogidley.com/

[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.

[7] "Memo Gidley – 1999 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[8] "Memo Gidley – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[9] "Memo Gidley – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[10] "Memo Gidley – 2004 Champ Car World Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.

[11] "Memo Gidley – 2000 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.

[12] "Memo Gidley – 2001 Indy Racing Northern Lights Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.

[13] "Memo Gidley – 2002 Indy Racing League Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.

[14] "Memo Gidley – 2014 Tudor United SportsCar Championship Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

[15] "Memo Gidley Results". Motorsport Stats. Retrieved 21 March 2024.

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