Adrián Fernández

Adrián Fernández
Fernández at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans driver parade
Nationality	Mexican
Born	(1965-04-20) 20 April 1965 (age 51) Mexico City
Previous series
1981 1981–1983 1984–1986 1987 1987–1989 1990–1991 1992 1993–2003 2004–2005 2006 2007–2010 2010 2011	Mexican Touring Car Racing Mexican Formula Vee Mexican 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
1991 1983 2009	Mexican Formula Three Championship Mexican Formula Vee American Le Mans Series (LMP2 class)
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years	2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012
Teams	Barazi-Epsilon Aston Martin Racing
Best finish	2nd (2007)
NASCAR Xfinity 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 0 2 0

Adrián Fernández Mier (born April 20, 1965) is a Mexican retired racing driver and co-owner of the Fernandez Racing team.

Born in Mexico City, Fernández began his career by racing motocross at age eight. He entered his first auto race in 1981 at the "24 Hours of Mexico" and at the age of 15 he made the permanent move to cars in 1982. From 1982 to 1984 Fernández competed in the Formula Vee Championship taking the title in '83 and '84. He also raced in the Formula K Series in 1984, competing in that series through 1986. He finished in the top four in the standings all three years in Formula K.

In 1987, he ran one race in the Benelux Formula Ford 1600 Championship, one British RAC Formula Ford 1600 Championship race and competed in the Formula Ford Festival at Brands Hatch. From 1988-89 he ran the British RAC and Esso Formula Ford 1600 Championship series before moving to the Mexican F3 Championship for 1990 and 1991, winning the title in '91.

In 1992, Fernández came to the United States to compete in the Firestone Indy Lights Championship (now the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship). He finished third in the points winning four races, a rookie record, and took the "Indy Lights Rookie of the Year" honors and made more than two million dollars in prize earnings.

His talent apparent, Fernández made the jump to the CART IndyCar World Series in 1993, competing in five races for Galles Racing International. He ran his first full CART season in 1994 with Galles finishing 13th and capturing the "Marco Magaña" and "Luchador Olmeca" awards and the "JAC" trophy for "Best Driver" outside Mexico. Competing again with Galles in 1995, Fernández finished 12th in the standings placing in the top ten nine times.

Fernández moved to Tasman Motorsports in 1996. He had six top ten finishes, including his first career CART victory at Toronto. Unfortunately his delight at taking his first win was dampened by the fatal accident suffered by Jeff Krosnoff late in the race. The win in Toronto made him the first Mexican to win a CART event since Héctor Rebaque in 1982, and Fernández went on to finish 12th in the season points tally. However, 1997 was a disappointing season for Fernández. The Tasman team ran a Lola 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.

Fernández joined Patrick 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 and Mid-Ohio, en route to a fourth place showing in the PPG Cup race during the 1998 FedEx Championship. He captured his first career pole at Michigan and led the championship race for the first time in his career. Unfortunately once again Fernández was touched by tragedy — a crash at Michigan resulted in an errant wheel from his car flying into the stands and killing three spectators. However, it was his victory during the Miller Lite 200 that gave Patrick Racing one of its most memorable moments when Fernández stood atop the podium next to his teammate Scott Pruett. Fernández was also named the "Athlete of the Year" in Mexico.