Memo Rojas

Guillermo Memo Rojas Jr is a Mexican racing driver and a four-time champion of the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series. He was a dominant driver in that competition between 2008 and 2013, capturing four championship titles (2008, 2010, 2011, 2012) and finishing as the runner-up two times (2009, 2013).

In recent years, he moved a career to Europe, becoming the European Le Mans Series champion two times, in 2017 and 2019.

Memo Rojas

Early career and unsuccessful try in Europe

Memo Rojas was born in August 1981 in Mexico City. His father is Guillermo Rojas Sr, one of the greatest Mexican racers, so it’s not surprising that Memo follows that footsteps. Rojas Jr began driving karting at the age of 12 and in 1995 he already was National Kart champion.

In the following year, Memo began to race in the open-wheelers. His progress was quick and twice was the national Formula 3 series runner-up, in 1997 and 1998, both time as a driver of Dynamic Motorsports. At the same time, Rojas competed in the Barber Dodge series in the US.

Memo Rojas, 2000 Formula Ford

From 2000 to 2003 talented Mexican driver raced in the various series in the US. The best result was 2nd place in the Barber Dodge Pro Series in 2003 after scoring two victories and other four podiums for Escuderia Telmex.

In 2004 Rojas went to try his luck in Europe. He signed with DAMS team to race in Formula Renault Eurocup Series. He failed to impress and scored only one podium finish (3rd place at Donington Park) before finishing 16th overall. Somewhat disappointed, Memo decided to return to the US.

Switch to sports cars racing

After being unable to find a proper engagement in single-seaters, Rojas in 2007 switched to sports cars racing. He joined Chip Ganassi Racing and debuted in Grand-Am Series, driving in Daytona Prototype class alongside Scott Pruett.

Memo Rojas, Chip Ganassi Racing, 2007

Debut at Daytona 24 Hours wasn’t glorious as he finished 21st but the rest of the campaign was really good. Rojas scored a maiden victory at Iowa Speedway, had other six podiums and finished 5th in the standings what was an excellent achievement for a rookie driver.

Rojas wins 2008 Rolex Sports Cars Series title

Rojas and Pruett continued their partnership in 2009 and dominated the series in 2008. The season started with a victory at Daytona, where they were teamed with Juan Pablo Montoya and Dario Franchitti. Later in the season, Memo also won the races at Homestead, Virginia, Watkins Glen, again at Daytona, and finally at Barber Motorsports Park. At the end of the season, Rojas and Pruett had an advantage of 30 points to runners-up Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty.

Chip Ganassi Racing's winning crew at 2008 Daytona 24 hours

In 2009 Rojas and Pruett lost their crown, losing to Gurney and Fogarty by only 8 points. That year Chip Ganassi Racing’s pair won the races at Watkins Glen and Mid-Ohio and had other five 2nd places, including Daytona 24 Hours.

Memo Rojas won three Grand-Am titles in a row

From 2010 to 2012 Rojas and Pruett dominated the Rolex Sports Car Series. During that period, they won 16 out of 37 races. In 2010 they were especially dominant as they won 9 out of 12 races, while in 2012 they scored only two victories.

In 2011 Rojas won Daytona 24 Hours for the second time in his career, this time sharing the seat of Riley MkXX-BMW with Pruett, Graham Rahal, and Joey Hand.

Pruett and Rojas dominated Sports Car Series in early 2010s

Their supremacy ended in 2013 when Wayne Taylor Racing’s pair Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli won the title, while Rojas was a runner-up, being 13 points short to the new champions. That year Memo triumphed at Daytona 24 Hours for the third time, driving alongside Pruett, Montoya, and Charlie Kimball.

Farewell to Chip Ganassi Racing

In 2014, Rolex Sports Car Series merged with the American Le Mans Series. Rojas stayed with Chip Ganassi Racing and drove most of the season with Pruett. However, that season wasn’t any near to the previous ones even after Rojas won 12 Hours of Sebring, as well as the races at Long Beach and Circuit of the Americas. At the end of the season, Mexican driver was 6th in the standings.

Memo Rojas, Chip Ganassi Racing, 2014 Petit Le Mans

After long and fruitful years, Rojas left Chip Ganassi Racing in 2015 and signed with DeltaWing Racing. Driving alongside Katherine Legge, Rojas retired from most of the races and scored Top 10 finishes only thrice before taking the 8th position in the Prototype class final standings.

Move to ELMS and Le Mans 24 hours debut

In 2016 left Prototype class and debuted in the GT Le Mans class driving for Scuderia Corsa in the season-opening race at Daytona. Driving a Ferrari 488 GTE alongside Daniel Serra, Alessandro Pier Guidi, and Alexandre Premat, Memo finished 4th in the class.

Despite being one of the best endurance drivers in the world, Rojas had a late debut in Le Mans 24h. As a member of Greaves Motorsport’s crew with Nathanael Berthon and Julien Canal, Mexican driver finished 10th overall and 6th in the LMP2 class with Ligier JS P2-Nissan. With the same team, Rojas competed full-time season in the European Le Mans Series and finished 14th in the final standings.

Memo Rojas in 2016 debuted in ELMS

European Le Mans Series champion in 2017

In the 2017 ELMS season, Rojas stayed in the LMP2 class but joined G-Drive Racing to drive the #22 Oreca 07 alongside Leo Roussel, Nicolas Minassian and Ryo Hirakawa.

They won the race at Monza in May. In June, at his second Le Mans 24 Hours attempt, Rojas and his team finished 17th in the LMP2 class. Monza's victory was the only one in the season, but four more podiums secure a championship title for Memo Rojas and Leo Roussel.

One more ELMS championship title with IDEC Sport

Memo Rojas was the ELMS champion in 2017

In 2018, Rojas stayed in the European Le Mans Series but moved to the French team IDEC Sport to drive the #28 Oreca, together with Paul-Loup Chatin and Paul Lafargue. Scoring two podiums, he finished sixth in the points.

In 2019, he stayed with IDEC Sport, sharing again the #28 Oreca with Chatin and Lafargue. They won at Silverstone and season's finale at Portimao, taking the championship title with just four-point advantage over the closest rivals.

Memo and his teammates are celebrating 2019 ELMS title

Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography, memorojas.com, autoracing1.com, theepochtimes.com, greavesmotorsport.com