Jo Ramirez

Ramirez came from the same Mexican town as the Rodriguez brothers - Ricardo and his brother Pedro - and although he had similar racing ambitions he did not have the money to achieve what they were able to. He studied mechanical engineering at Mexico City University but dropped out to accompany his pal Ricardo Rodriguez to Europe in 1961, when the Mexican went to rent a factory Ferrari for the Italian GP at Monza in which he sensationally qualified on the front row of the grid. The race itself was a tragic affair with team leader Wolfgang von Trips crashing to his death on the first lap - in an accident that claimed the lives of several spectators. Rodriguez briefly ran in second place before retiring with mechanical failure.The pair returned in 1962 with Rodriguez showing his pace, finishing second at Pau and fourth in the Belgian GP. In practice for the Mexican GP in November he rented Rob Walker's Lotus 24 and crashed to his death. Ramirez decided to go back to Europe and went on to...