Rojas Announces Retirement From Racing

Four-time Rolex Sports Car Series champion Memo Rojas has announced his retirement from racing.

The 42-year-old Mexican revealed the news via Instagram on Monday evening, effectively pulling down the curtain on a 17-year stint racing in top-level sports car racing both in North America and Europe.

On top of his four titles in Grand-Am, all of which came with Chip Ganassi Racing, Rojas was also LMP2 champion in the European Le Mans Series in 2017 and 2019 with G-Drive Racing and IDEC Sport respectively.

He also has three outright wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona and a victory in the Twelve Hours of Sebring to his credit.

“Throughout my 31 years of career I have been able to experience things and fulfil dreams I would never have imagined,” said Rojas.

“I won in America and Europe, but beyond the victories and championships we achieved, it has been incredible to meet and work with the most passionate, valuable and talented people in this sport.

“If you are wondering why I have decided to stop, the answer is very simple. Today I feel that I have reached one of the most important goals in my life and it is time to put an end to my time as a professional race car driver.

“I must confess, it has not been easy at all. I have taken a lot of time to think about it, to assimilate it and finally decide.

“It is time to make way for new generations, it is time to give back to motorsport a little bit of what it gave me, and above all it is time to focus on other parts of my life that have been on pause, because the energy, commitment and sacrifices needed to compete at the highest level are enormous.

“The road has been hard but the satisfactions have been much greater.”

Rojas climbed the single-seater ladder as high as the Formula Renault V6 Eurocup series with the backing of Mexican communications giant Telmex before switching his focus to sports car racing in 2007.

He became part of the Chip Ganassi Racing stable that year, and remained a fixture with the team until the merger between Grand-Am and the American Le Mans Series at the end of 2013.

Rojas spent a further two seasons in the unified WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, leaving Ganassi at the end of 2014 to spend a season racing the experimental DeltaWing, before moving to the ELMS starting in 2016.

That year he also made the first of eight starts in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, all of which came in the LMP2 class, yielding a best class finish of fifth in 2019.

Rojas entered a full season of the FIA World Endurance Championship for the first time in 2023, joining Alpine for its step down to LMP2 after two seasons racing a grandfathered LMP1 car.

He and teammates Olli Caldwell and Andre Negrao suffered a difficult season, achieving a best finish of eighth at Spa and Monza.