Vítor Meira

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Vítor Meira
VitorMeiraJune2008.jpg
Meira in 2008
Nationality Brazil Brazilian
Born (1977-03-27) March 27, 1977 (age 47)
Brasília, Brazil
IRL IndyCar Series career
Debut season 2002
Current team A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Car no. 14
Former teams Panther Racing
Rahal Letterman Racing
Team Menard
Starts 112
Wins 0
Poles 2
Best finish 5th in 2006
Championship titles
2000 Formula Three Sudamericana
Awards
2008 Scott Brayton Trophy

Vítor Meira (born March 27, 1977) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He formerly competed in the IndyCar Series and has twice finished second in the Indianapolis 500.[1][2]

IndyCar Series

2002

After participating in an open test for Panther Racing at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002, Meira made his IndyCar debut with Team Menard on August 11, 2002 at Kentucky Speedway. A little over a month later, Vitor won his first career pole at Texas Motor Speedway after just four starts,[3] and finished in third place.[4]

2003

In 2003, Meira ran his first start of the year for Team Menard at the Indianapolis 500, where he finished 12th as a rookie.[1] Meira then ran the next seven races in the #2 Johns Manville powered Dallara Chevrolet, until a practice crash at Kentucky Speedway sidelined him for the next three races. After recovering from his wrist injury he suffered at Kentucky, Vitor ran the final two races of the season.

2004

In 2004, Meira missed the first two races of the season before a race-by-race deal was presented to Meira by Rahal-Letterman Racing. After Vitor's disappointing finish of 17th in Indy Japan 300, where he suffered a clutch problem, he ran the rest of the season in the #17 G-Force sponsored by Centrix Financial. At The Milwaukee Mile, on July 25, 2004, Meira earned his second career pole.[5]

2005

Rahal-Letterman Racing signed Meira to a three-year contract in 2005, with backing from longtime supporter, Johns Manville and Menards. One notable race finish during the year was a second place to Dan Wheldon at the Indianapolis 500.[1] Meira gave Rahal-Letterman Racing their best final point standing finish of seventh as well as recording seven top five and eleven top ten finishes for the team. After losing a majority of the funds for the #17 car, Rahal-Letterman needed a driver who had sponsorship with them. For Meira, that meant losing his ride to Paul Dana, who brought Ethanol sponsorship.

2006

Going in to 2006, Meira was looking to moving back to Brazil and run stock cars for fellow Brazilian and IndyCar competitor, Helio Castroneves' team. But just as he was getting ready to pack his bags for Brasília, he received a phone call from Panther Racing owner, John Barnes. Even though Panther had lost their longtime sponsor, Pennzoil, as well as engine supplier, Chevrolet, the owners (John Barnes, Mike Griffin, Jim Harbaugh, and Doug Boles), sold off old cars, parts, and equipment to keep the team running. After much speculation of the team closing its doors in Indianapolis, the news came on February 10, 2006 that Panther Racing and Meira signed a deal to run the famous #4 for the 2006 IndyCar season. Throughout 2006, Panther Racing and Meira had a plethora of sponsors on the side of their Honda powered Dallara. Econova, Network Live, Harrah's, Lincoln Tech, and Revive all adorned the sidepods of the brightly colored orange car during the 2006 season. Despite not winning a race in 2006, Meira finished a career best of fifth in the IndyCar point standings after finishing the season with seven top five and twelve top ten finishes. Even though he has not won a race in over 50 starts, he has finished second seven times in his career.

2007

After signing a three-year contract with Panther Racing in 2008, Meira was sponsored by longtime IndyCar participant, Delphi Corporation, who signed a two-year deal with the team.

Meira, who became engaged to longtime girlfriend, Adriana, in March 2006, was married at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas on March 22, 2008.

Meira testing at Barber Motorsports Park during the 2007-2008 off-season

2008

Meira returned to Panther Racing in 2008 where the United States National Guard became the car's primary sponsor and Delphi became a secondary one. However, the team again contracted to a single car in the IndyCar Series as the Aguri and their sponsorship took Mutoh to the IndyCar Series with Andretti Green Racing rather than Panther.

Meira finished second in the 2008 running of the Indianapolis 500 matching his second-place finish in 2005. Meira chased the eventual winner, Scott Dixon, closing the gap to as little as 0.4 seconds until losing ground due to late race traffic. Meira set his fastest lap on lap 195 of 200.[1]

2009

Meira drove the #14 for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in 2009, replacing Darren Manning. During the 2009 Indianapolis 500, Meira's car survived a spectactular fire in the pits and he later broke two vertebrae in his lower back during a crash involving Raphael Matos on lap 174. Meira did not need surgery and the fracture was treated with a back brace.[6] Meira was out for the rest of the 2009 season.[7]

2010

Meira drove to a podium finish in his first race back after his injury; a 3rd-place finish in his home country of Brazil. This would be his best finish of the year. Vitor drove to a 12th place overall finish in the points standings for the 2010 IndyCar Series season.

2011

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. Meira returned to A. J. Foyt Enterprises driving the #14 ABC Supply Company Indy Car.

Motorsports career results

Complete Euro Formula 3000 results

(key)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 DC Points
2001 ADM Motorsport VLL
Ret		 PER
Ret		 MOZ
DNS		 DON
Ret		 ZOL
2		 IMO
5		 NÜR
3		 VAL
3		 5th 16
2002 ADM Motorsport VLL
7		 PER
11		 MOZ
Ret		 SPA DON BRN DIJ JER CAG NC 0

American open–wheel racing results

(key)

IndyCar Series

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Rank Points
2002 Team Menard Dallara Chevrolet HMS PHX FON NZR INDY TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY
15		 STL
9		 CHI
8		 TX2
3		 25th 96
2003 HMS PHX MOT INDY
12		 TXS
12		 PPIR
16		 RIR
22		 KAN
20		 NSH
19		 MIS
21		 STL
9		 KTY
DNS		 NZR
Inj		 CHI
Inj		 FON
11		 TX2
4		 22nd 170
2004 Rahal Letterman Racing G-Force Honda HMS PHX MOT
17		 INDY
6		 TXS
6		 RIR
2		 KAN
2		 NSH
12		 MIL
5		 MIS
5		 KTY
7		 PPIR
7		 NZR
10		 CHI
5		 FON
21		 TX2
4		 8th 376
2005 Panoz HMS
4		 PHX
11		 STP
5		 MOT
15		 INDY
2		 TXS
9		 RIR
20		 KAN
3		 NSH
16		 MIL
9		 MIS
14		 KTY
2		 PPIR
5		 SNM
9		 CHI
7		 WGL
18		 FON
3		 7th 422
2006 Panther Racing Dallara Honda HMS
16		 STP
5		 MOT
10		 INDY
10		 WGL
2		 TXS
6		 RIR
2		 KAN
3		 NSH
3		 MIL
15		 MIS
2		 KTY
6		 SNM
3		 CHI
6		 5th 411
2007 HMS
4		 STP
16		 MOT
17		 KAN
8		 INDY
10		 MIL
5		 TXS
5		 IOW
9		 RIR
9		 WGL
17		 NSH
10		 MDO
17		 MIS
18		 KTY
10		 SNM
9		 DET
15		 CHI
18		 12th 334
2008 HMS
10		 STP
19		 MOT1
16		 LBH1
DNP		 KAN
22		 INDY
2		 MIL
22		 TXS
7		 IOW
15		 RIR
20		 WGL
22		 NSH
6		 MDO
6		 EDM
19		 KTY
4		 SNM
7		 DET
17		 CHI
27		 13th 324
A.J. Foyt Enterprises Dallara Honda SRF2
14
2009 STP
9		 LBH
14		 KAN
22		 INDY
21		 MIL
Inj		 TXS
Inj		 IOW
Inj		 RIR
Inj		 WGL
Inj		 TOR
Inj		 EDM
Inj		 KTY
Inj		 MDO
Inj		 SNM
Inj		 CHI
Inj		 MOT
Inj		 HMS
Inj		 28th 62
2010 SAO
3		 STP
15		 ALA
18		 LBH
11		 KAN
10		 INDY
27		 TXS
10		 IOW
7		 WGL
19		 TOR
11		 EDM
16		 MDO
15		 SNM
15		 CHI
9		 KTY
23		 MOT
17		 HMS
6		 12th 310
2011 STP
8		 ALA
12		 LBH
9		 SAO
17		 INDY
15		 TXS1
8		 TXS2
11		 MIL
24		 IOW
18		 TOR
5		 EDM
12		 MDO
10		 NHM
10		 SNM
22		 BAL
9		 MOT
25		 KTY
16		 LVS
C		 16th 287
1 Run on same day.
2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)		 Top 10s
(Non-podium)		 Indianapolis 500
Wins		 Championships
10 4 131 2 0 15 56 0 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team
2003 Dallara Chevrolet 26 12 Menard
2004 G-Force Honda 7 6 Rahal Letterman
2005 Panoz Honda 7 2 Rahal Letterman
2006 Dallara Honda 6 10 Panther
2007 Dallara Honda 19 10 Panther
2008 Dallara Honda 8 2 Panther
2009 Dallara Honda 14 21 Foyt
2010 Dallara Honda 30 27 Foyt
2011 Dallara Honda 11 15 Foyt

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points
2012 Officer ProGP Chevrolet Sonic INT
27		 CTB
8		 VEL
Ret		 RBP
Ret		 LON
24		 RIO
18		 SAL
Ret		 CGD
9		 TAR
20		 CTB
9		 BSB
17		 INT
28		 23rd 45
2014 Boettger Competições Peugeot 408 INT
1
Ret		 SCZ
1		 SCZ
2		 BRA
1		 BRA
2		 GOI
1		 GOI
2		 GOI
1		 CAS
1		 CAS
2		 CUR
1		 CUR
2		 VEL
1		 VEL
2		 SAL
1		 SAL
2		 TAR
1		 TAR
2		 RBP
1		 RBP
2		 CUR
1		 NC† 0†

† Ineligible for championship points.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Vítor Meira fala quem são os favoritos da Fórmula Indy
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-kanaan-hurting-meira-out-for-09/

External links

Sporting positions
Preceded by Formula Three Sudamericana Champion
2000		 Succeeded by
Juliano Moro
Awards
Preceded by Scott Brayton Award
2008		 Succeeded by
Sarah Fisher
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