Thisbiography of a living personneeds additionalcitations forverification. Please help by addingreliable sources.Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced orpoorly sourcedmust be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentiallylibelous. Find sources: "Adrián Fernández" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(June 2023) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Adrián Fernández
Fernández at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, Mexico City
Born	(1963-04-20)April 20, 1963 (age 62) Mexico City, Mexico
Previous series
1981–1983, 1984–1986, 1987–1989, 1990–1991, 1992, 1993–2003, 2004–2005, 2006, 2007–2011	Mexican Touring Car Racing, Formula Vee, Formula K, Benelux Formula Ford, British Formula Ford, Mexican Formula Three, Indy Lights, CART World Series, IndyCar Series, Rolex Sports Car Series, American Le Mans Series, Le Mans Series, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup
Championship titles
1983, 1991, 2009	Mexican Formula Vee Champion, Mexican Formula Three Champion, American Le Mans Series LMP2 Class Champion
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2007, 2010–2012
Teams	Barazi-Epsilon, Aston Martin Racing
Best finish	2nd (2007)
NASCARO'Reilly Auto Parts Series career
10 races run over 4 years
Best finish	74th (2005)
First race	2005 Telcel Motorola 200 (Mexico City)
Last race	2008 Corona Mexico 200 (Mexico City)
Wins Top tens Poles 2

Adrián Fernández Mier (born April 20, 1963) is a Mexican former professional race car driver and co-owner of theFernandez Racing team.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(January 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Fernández was born inMexico City and began his career in Mexico at the age of eight. He entered his first auto race in 1981 at the "24 Hours of Mexico" race in Mexico City. At the age of fifteen, he made the permanent transition to cars in 1982. From 1982 to 1984, Fernández competed in theFormula Vee Championship, winning the title in both 1983 and 1984. He also raced in the Formula K Series in 1984, continuing in that series until 1986, and finished in the top four in the standings all three years in Formula K.

In 1987, Fernández participated in the Benelux Formula Ford 1600 Championship, one race in the British RAC Formula Ford 1600 Championship, and competed in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. From 1988 to 1989, he took part in the British RAC and Esso Formula Ford 1600 Championship series before moving to the Mexican F3 Championship in 1990 and 1991, winning the title in 1991.

In 1992, Fernández moved to theUnited States to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship, now known as Indy NXT. He finished third in points, winning four races, a rookie record, setting a rookie record, and earned the honors of "Indy Lights Rookie of the Year," along with accumulating more than two million dollars in prize earnings.

In 1993, Fernández made the jump to theCART IndyCar World Series, competing in five races forGalles Racing International. He participated in his first full season in 1994, with Galles finishing 13th and capturing the "Marco Magaña" and "Luchador Olmeca" awards along with the "JAC" trophy for "Best Driver" outside Mexico.^{[citation needed]} Competing again with Galles in 1995, Fernández finished twelfth in the standings, placing with nine top-ten finishes.^{[citation needed]}

Fernández moved toTasman Motorsports in 1996. He had six top-ten finishes, including his first career CART victory atToronto. Unfortunately, his delight at taking his first win was dampened by the fatal accident suffered byJeff Krosnoff late in the race. The win in Toronto made him the first Mexican to win a CART event sinceHéctor Rebaque in 1982. Fernández went on to finish twelfth in the season's points tally. 1997 was a disappointing season for Fernández. The Tasman team ran aLola chassis, which failed to perform to expectations. Through force of will, determination, and talent, Fernández battled to three top-ten finishes and 18th place in the PPG Cup standings.^{[citation needed]}

Fernández joinedPatrick Racing for the 1998 season and proved his ability to challenge for the championship. He enjoyed 14 top-ten finishes with eight top-five placements and two victories,Japan andMid-Ohio, en route to a fourth place showing in the PPG Cup race during the 1998 FedEx Championship. He captured his first career pole atMichigan and led the championship race for the first time in his career. Unfortunately, Fernández was once again touched by tragedy — a crash at Michigan resulted in an errant wheel from his car flying into the stands and killing three spectators.^[1] However, it was his victory during theMiller Lite 200 that gave Patrick Racing one of its most memorable moments, when Fernández stood atop the podium next to his teammateScott Pruett. Fernández was also named the "Athlete of the Year" in Mexico.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999, Fernandez enjoyed his most successful season so far in the series. Fernández, behind the wheel of the No. 40 Tecate/Quaker State Reynard Ford-Cosworth, completed the year sixth in the championship battle. He led the points' series early in the season for the first time in his CART career. However, an accident atBelle Isle Park resulted in a fracture in one of his hands, forcing him to sit out for several races. Undeterred, he later won atMotegi,Japan at theFirestone Firehawk 500 and at theMarlboro 500 inFontana, California — a race marred by the death of good friendGreg Moore.^{[citation needed]}

Later in 1999, Fernández was selected to participate in theIROC series, where he competed against many top-tier drivers, includingNASCAR driversJeff Gordon,Terry Labonte, andDale Earnhardt. Fernández had 80 total starts in the series. Of those starts, he finished in the top-ten 41 times throughout his seven-year career.^{[citation needed]}

In 2000, Fernández had his best season in the CART series, coming close to winning the championship despite not starting on the front row all season. He scored points in seventeen of the twenty races, including two wins atRio de Janeiro,Brazil andAustralia, and three further podium results. He finished second toGil de Ferran in the championship.^{[citation needed]}

In 2001, Fernández founded his own team,Fernandez Racing, with formerGanassi manager Tom Anderson as his partner and ex-F1 driverShinji Nakano as his teammate. He finished third twice and took two poles that year, but his team's first victory came atPortland in 2003, the first win for an owner-driver sinceBobby Rahal achieved the feat in 1992. That year, he also ran anIndy Racing League (IRL) entry for Asian-AmericanRoger Yasukawa, in partnership withAguri Suzuki, and in 2004, he moved the whole team to the series. Despite taking three wins and finishing fourth overall in the 2004 IRL championship, he was unable to secure funding to race in 2005.Delphi was driverScott Sharp's personal sponsor, while engine suppliersHonda insisted on Japanese driverKosuke Matsuura in the second car.^{[citation needed]}

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(January 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In 2005, Fernández drove the No. 5Lowe's /HitachiChevrolet in Mexico forHendrick Motorsports in the firstNASCARBusch Series race held outside the United States. In this race (called theTelcel-Motorola 200), Fernández raced in a one-time race to help promote NASCAR racing to the local fans. He led several laps in the race before giving up the lead to eventual race winnerMartin Truex Jr. It was announced that he would run four more races in the Busch Series forHendrick Motorsports, but he did not run up front at any of those races. In 2006, he competed in two Busch races for Hendrick and competed full time in theGrand-Am series for his own team with Lowe's sponsorship.

This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(January 2026) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

In 2007, Fernández moved toAmerican Le Mans Series LMP2 class as anAcura factory team. His teammate was fellow Mexican and Grand-Am veteranLuis Díaz.

On October 10, 2009, Fernández and his co-driver Luis Díaz won at theMazda Raceway Laguna Seca inMonterey,California. With this victory, theLowe'sFernandez RacingAcura ARX-01B concludes the season with the drivers' championship and teams' championship of the American Le Mans Series in the LMP2 category.

In2007, Fernández made his debut with a second place in the LMP2 category in the famous race with the Barazi-Epsilon teamZytek aboard a 07S/2 3.4-liter V8 prototype. His teammates wereHaruki Kurosawa andRobbie Kerr. This was the firstpodium for a Mexican at theCircuit de la Sarthe in many years, to remember those achieved byRicardo andPedro Rodríguez in1962 and1968 respectively. The English-French team tookpole position on its category.^{[citation needed]}

After three years of absence, Fernández competed in2010, this time in LMP1 class withAston Martin Racing. He finished fifth in his category (sixth absolute) with aLola-Aston Martin B09/60 with co-driversHarold Primat andStefan Mücke.^{[citation needed]}

The luck did not favor Fernández in2011, when his team, theAston Martin Racing in LMP1 class, could barely afford two laps with theirAston Martin AMR-One and leave the test due to problems with the engine running at the 56th site.^{[citation needed]}

In the 80th edition of2012, Fernández and the Aston Martin Racing Team got third place in the GTE-Pro class, along with his co-drivers Stefan Mücke andDarren Turner, TheirAston Martin Vantage 4.5 L-V8 covered a total of 332 laps (2,811.65miles), on the Circuit de la Sarthe without failure or serious mechanical problems. Also, the team achieved thefastest lap of the category with 3 minutes and 54,928 seconds. Adrián had the honor to drive the last stage of the competition.^[2][3]

On September 12, 2012, Fernández announced that his participation in theFIA World Endurance Championship would conclude at the end of the season, as well his relationship with the Aston Martin Racing team that started in 2010. The Mexican driver will focus on competitions in the United States.^[4]

On September 28, 2012,Formula One driverSergio Pérez announced that Fernández would be his manager.^[5]

In September 2016,Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez honored Fernández when they named Turn 12 of the circuit after him.^[6]

In 2024, Fernández acquired the legendaryBRM P153/05 from a private collector. This Formula One car won the1970 Belgian Grand Prix under the command of Mexican idolPedro Rodríguez.^{[citation needed]}

This section needs to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(March 2019)

Fernández retired from motorsports in 2012. He has two children: Valentina and Niko Fernández, and he married longtime girlfriend, former beauty queen, author, and retired actressPriscila Perales on October 21, 2017. They got married^[7][8] on May 4, 2018, inMiami Beach, Florida. The couple announced their son, Adrián Fernández Jr. was born on October 29, 2020.^{[citation needed]}

(key)

Year	Team	Co-Drivers	Car	Class	Laps	Pos.	Class Pos.
2007	Barazi-Epsilon Zytek Engineering	Haruki Kurosawa Robbie Kerr	Zytek 07S/2	LMP2	301	27th	2nd
2010	Aston Martin Racing	Harold Primat Stefan Mücke	Lola-Aston Martin B09/60	LMP1	365	6th	5th
2011	Aston Martin Racing	Harold Primat Andy Meyrick	Aston Martin AMR-One	LMP1	2	DNF	DNF
2012	Aston Martin Racing	Stefan Mücke Darren Turner	Aston Martin Vantage GTE	GTE Pro	332	19th	3rd
Sources:[28][29]

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time.Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)

• CART Communications Staff (2002).CART FedEx Championship Series Media Guide. Championship Auto Racing Teams, Inc.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toAdrián Fernández.

• Official website
• Adrián Fernández driver statistics at Racing-Reference

• 1965 births
• 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
• American Le Mans Series drivers
• Champ Car drivers
• Rolex Sports Car Series drivers
• Indianapolis 500 drivers
• Indy Lights drivers
• IndyCar Series drivers
• IndyCar Series team owners
• International Race of Champions drivers
• European Le Mans Series drivers
• Living people
• Mexican expatriates in the United States
• Mexican people of Spanish descent
• Mexican racing drivers
• Mexican Indianapolis 500 drivers
• NASCAR drivers
• Racing drivers from Mexico City
• FIA World Endurance Championship drivers
• Hendrick Motorsports drivers
• Mexican Formula Three Championship drivers
• Aston Martin Racing drivers
• Tasman Motorsports drivers
• Mo Nunn Racing drivers
• JR Motorsports drivers
• Team Aguri drivers
• Intercontinental Le Mans Cup drivers
• 12 Hours of Sebring drivers

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• BLP articles lacking sources from June 2023
• All BLP articles lacking sources
• Articles needing additional references from January 2026
• All articles needing additional references
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from June 2023
• Articles with unsourced statements from January 2026
• Articles with unsourced statements from August 2025
• Wikipedia articles in need of updating from March 2019
• All Wikipedia articles in need of updating
• Commons category link from Wikidata