Jo Ramírez | |
|---|---|
 Jo Ramírez (right) | |
| Born | Joaquín Ramírez Fernández (1941-08-20)August 20, 1941 (age 83) Mexico City, Mexico |
| Nationality |  Mexican |
| Other names | Jo |
| Education | UNAM |
| Occupation(s) | Formula Onemechanic, author |
| Known for | McLaren coordinator (1984–2001) |
| Spouse | Bea Ramírez |
| Children | 1 |
Joaquín Ramírez Fernández (born August 20, 1941) is a Mexican author and retired employee of severalsports car racing teams. From 1984 to 2001, Ramírez was coordinator of theMcLaren Formula One team, including during the infamousProst–Senna rivalry of the late-1980s.
The third of eight children, Ramírez was born inMexico City and studiedmechanical engineering at theNational Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Contrary to his father's desires he dropped out in 1960 to follow his friendRicardo Rodríguez to Europe. Ramírez worked as apprentice mechanic forScuderia Ferrari for two years. When Rodríguez died in a racing crash in the1962 Mexican Grand Prix, Ramírez first took a job atMaserati and later atLamborghini as amechanic of their new line of high-performance road cars. In 1964, he moved to England where he worked forFord on the GT40, before joiningDan Gurney'sAll American Racers team in 1966.
During the 1960s and 1970s, Ramírez worked for severalFormula One teams, includingDan Gurney'sEagle,Tyrrell, where founderKen Tyrrell advised him to keep a diary of his time in the sport, and forWilson andEmerson Fittipaldi in theirFittipaldi Copersucar team.[1]
In December 1983, Ramírez joined the front-runningMcLaren Formula One operation as Team Coordinator, becoming close friends with many top drivers includingAlain Prost,Ayrton Senna,David Coulthard, andMika Häkkinen. In 2001, after more than 40 years, Ramírez retired from the Great Circus and was advised by McLaren team managerRon Dennis not to write his life story as no one would be interested. Ramírez was left in little doubt that Dennis's true aim was to stop any undesirable details of the team's inner workings from becoming public. As a parting giftDavid Coulthard andMika Häkkinen gave him aHarley-Davidson Road King at the2001 Hungarian Grand Prix and his last race was the2001 United States Grand Prix.[2]
In 2005, Ramírez published his life story:Jo Ramirez: Memoirs of a racing man. Ramírez, who is fluent in Spanish, English, Italian, and Portuguese, has also written the foreword of some books likeLos Hermanos Rodríguez (2006),The Brothers Rodríguez (2009),[4] andLa Carrera Panamericana: "The World's Greatest Road Race!" (2008).[5]
During Formula One seasons, Ramírez has a column in the Mexican newspaperReforma. Ramírez was also a great supporter and inspiration to Mexican talents likeAdrián Fernández,Salvador Durán,Sergio Pérez, andEsteban Gutiérrez. He is a member of the Scuderia Rodríguez, Mexico's racing Legion of Honor, and was named to its Hall of Fame of Mexican Motorsport.
After his retirement from Formula One, Ramírez has participated in theCarrera Panamericana, including the fourth place in the A+ Historic category in 2010 in aVolvo.[6] In the 2012 edition, Ramírez and his co-driver Alberto "Beto" Cruz got the podium with a third place in the category of A+ Historic 2,000 cc. Ramírez drove his Volvo P-1800 ofEscuderia Telmex and concludes on the 50th overall with a time of 5h.55m.3.1s.[7][8][9]
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