RGR Sport’s Ricardo Gonzalez has been building for this moment all season.
If it wasn’t enough to be just be team owner and co-driver of the team’s No. 43 Ligier JS P2 Nissan, in a car with Filipe Albuquerque and Bruno Senna, he has also taken on the role of promoter for this weekend’s FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Mexico City.
The rare owner/driver/promoter trifecta isn’t something you see often, but this has been something Gonzalez and his team around him have been working on since announcing their program at the start of the year.
Gonzalez has been hard at work coordinating his responsibilities to ensure the race is a success for the team, championship, and the loyal Mexican fans; most of the grandstands are sold out.
A result for the trio would be icing on the cake - they won at Silverstone and have gone fourth, 10th and second in the three races since - but the bigger goal of the weekend is showcasing Mexico City once again to the sports car world at large at the redone Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
Formula 1 and Formula E have already held successful races here in the last year, and this is the third FIA championship - second World Championship - now joining the party in Mexico.
“Things are starting to get crazy in Mexico and the excitement level is really starting to build now!” Gonzalez said in the team’s advance release.
“It’s been a lot of work and still a lot to go, but everything is looking great and no doubt the WEC paddock and fans will be impressed with our event. As a team, it’s also our most important race. Being the home heroes puts a lot of pressure on us, but also gives us more motivation than ever to give our fellow Mexicans a win here!”
Sporting director Toni Calderon added, “For us as a team obviously this is a hugely important race, but on the operations side of things we approach the same as any other event, so nothing has changed on that side. On the marketing and PR side, things are quite busy but we will make sure that our drivers are focused and ready to win once they are at the race track!”