David Martínez

David Martínez (born December 8, 1981, in Monterrey) is a Mexican racing driver. He holds the record for the best debut ever by a Mexican driver in a premiere open-wheel series (IndyCar, Champ Car World Series, F1) with his ninth place finish at the 2006 Gran Premio Telmex (a record he now shares with Patricio O'Ward, who also finished 9th on debut at the 2018 Indycar Grand Prix of Sonoma).

Racing career

Early career in Mexico Starting at the age of seven through his early twenties, Martínez raced in Mexico in karts, Mexican Formula 2/Formula 3000, Formula 3, and Formula Renault 2000 de America. At the age of fourteen, he won his first formula championship (Mexican Formula 2 Neon). In 1997, Martínez was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award in Mexican Marlboro Cup Formula 3000, and in 2002, he won the Mexican Formula Renault 2000. Martínez eventually expanded his racing territory, which included a year in the Barber Dodge Pro Series (2003) winning the first race he participated in (at Fundidora Park in Monterrey, Mexico).

Europe and Atlantic Championship (2004-2006) In 2004, Martínez migrated to Europe and produced five top-five results in the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup Series. The 25-year-old missed the first race of the year in the 2005 Champ Car Atlantic Championship but still managed to claim fifth in his rookie season. He finished third in his first race in Monterrey, Mexico, captured his first career pole and scored a total of four podiums and seven top-five finishes. Also during 2005, Martínez contested some rounds of the A1 Grand Prix Series.

In 2006, Martínez returned to Atlantics with the US RaceTronics Team, and repeated his fifth place in the championship despite a challenging season in which he switched teams halfway through the year, but still managed to continue his success on Mexican soil by finishing third at the Monterrey, Mexico event.

Champ Car and Indy Lights (2006-present) In 2006, Martínez joined Forsythe Championship Racing in Mexico City to pilot the Lola-Ford-Cosworth in his Champ Car debut. Initially announced to race a third car for the team, he ended up replacing an injured Paul Tracy and finished ninth, the best debut by a Mexican driver in a premiere open-wheel series. He was idle throughout most of 2007, but was announced as the driver of Forsythe's No. 7 car for the final two races of the season, including a return to Mexico City. Martínez started tenth and ran as high as fifth in the race, but during a routine pit stop on lap 45, his gearbox prevented him from returning to the race. The crew managed to repair it, but the job took several minutes and he finished six laps down in fourteenth. Martínez's last Champ Car race came in the series' final race, the 2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach where he finished a career-best eighth as one of three Forsythe/Petit entries.

In 2009, Martínez only professional outing was in the 24 Hours of Daytona driving Beyer Racing's Riley-Pontiac to a tenth place DP-class finish. In 2010, he re-entered American open-wheel racing by making two starts for Genoa Racing in Firestone Indy Lights with a best finish of eighth at Infineon Raceway.

Racing record

Atlantic Championship Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 2002 Condor Motorsports-Ariba MTY LBH MIL LGA POR CHI TOR CLE TRR ROA MTL DEN 31st 1 2005 US RaceTronics LBH MTY POR1 POR2 CLE1 CLE2 TOR EDM SJO DEN ROA MTL 5th 238 2006 US RaceTronics LBH HOU MTY POR CLE1 CLE2 TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL ROA 5th 179 2008 Forsythe Racing LBH LGA MTT EDM1 EDM2 ROA1 ROA2 TRR NJ UTA ATL 16th 74

Champ Car Year Team No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Rank Points Ref 2006 Forsythe Championship Racing 3 LBH HOU MTY MIL POR CLE TOR EDM SJO DEN MTL ROA SRF MXC 22nd 13 2007 7 LVG LBH HOU POR CLE MTT TOR EDM SJO ROA ZOL ASN SRF MXC 20th 18

IndyCar Series Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points Ref 2008 Forsythe/Pettit Racing Panoz 37 CosworthHMSSTPMOT1 LBH1KANINDYMILTXSIOWRIRWGLNSHMOHEDMKTYSNMDETCHISRF 41st 0

1 Run on same day.

Indy Lights Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Rank Points Ref 2010 Genoa Racing STP ALA LBH INDY IOW WGL TOR EDM MOH SNM CHI KTY HMS 25th 40

Complete A1 Grand Prix results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 DC Points Ref 2005–06 Mexico GBRSPR GBRFEA GERSPR GERFEA PORSPR PORFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA UAESPR UAEFEA RSASPR RSAFEA IDNSPR IDNFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA USASPR USAFEA CHNSPR CHNFEA 10th 59 2007–08 NEDSPR NEDFEA CZESPR CZEFEA MYSSPR MYSFEA ZHUSPR ZHUFEA NZLSPR NZLFEA AUSSPR AUSFEA RSASPR RSAFEA MEXSPR MEXFEA SHASPR SHAFEA GBRSPR GBRSPR 16th 22