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Honda’s first IndyCar race winner Andre Ribeiro has died at the age of 55 after succumbing to cancer.
The Brazilian was a three-time victor in CART IndyCar’s heyday.
Ribeiro switched to the US scene for 1994 after three seasons in British Formula 3, and finished runner-up to Steve Robertson in Indy Lights at the first attempt.
He then stayed with his Tasman Motorsports team as it stepped up to CART for 1995, and became the first race winner for the Honda engine programme at New Hampshire that year with a commanding performance from pole.
Victory in CART’s first race in his Brazilian homeland at Rio early in Ribeiro’s second season was his career highlight, and was followed by another triumph in that year’s second Michigan race.
That turned out to be Ribeiro’s last CART win, with his final Tasman season compromised by chassis supplier Lola’s massive downturn in 1997. Ribeiro was still responsible for most of its best performances that year.
He then made a shock switch to Penske for 1998 following Paul Tracy’s sudden sacking, though his arrival at the legendary team coincided with one of its least competitive campaigns. Seventh place in Vancouver was as good as it got for Ribeiro, who was only 22nd in the championship.
But linking up with Roger Penske did open the door for Ribeiro to set up a network of car dealerships in Brazil in partnership with the man who now runs IndyCar itself, and he retired from racing at the age of 32 to focus on that as Penske scaled back to one full-time entry for 1999.
Ribeiro was not the most consistent driver in the mid-1990s CART pack and was involved in plenty of incidents during his four seasons in the series.
But he was also an extremely rapid presence during CART’s most competitive era, especially considering his and Tasman’s inexperience at the top level.
Though he never achieved the kind of success that the next wave of IndyCar Brazilians who followed him through Lights – Tony Kanaan, Helio Castroneves and Cristiano da Matta – would do, that New Hampshire win has a special place in Honda motorsport history and his hugely popular Rio triumph remains the only home victory for a Brazilian in IndyCar.
