A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
| Memo Gidley | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Mazda RX-8 driven by Memo Gidley in 2011 | |
| Nationality |  Mexican American |
| Born | September 29, 1970 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 V8t | MIA | MOT | LBH | NZR | RIO | STL | MIL | POR 19 |
CLE 11 |
ROA 26 |
TOR 12 |
MIC | 27th | 4 | [7] | |||||||||
| Payton/Coyne Racing | Lola B99/00 | Ford XD V8t | DET 20 |
MDO 22 |
CHI | VAN 12 |
LS 13 |
HOU 14 |
SRF 14 |
FON | |||||||||||||||||
| 2000 | Player's Forsythe Racing | Reynard 2Ki | Ford XF V8t | MIA | LBH 21 |
RIO 8 |
MOT 18 |
NZR | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | 20th | 20 | [8] | |||||||||||
| Della Penna Motorsports | Toyota RV8E V8t | MIC 10 |
CHI 10 |
MDO 12 |
ROA 6 |
VAN 16 |
LS 19 |
STL 22 |
HOU 21 |
SRF | FON 21 |
||||||||||||||||
| 2001 | Chip Ganassi Racing | Lola B01/00 | Toyota RV8F V8t | 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 V8t | 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