Vítor Meira
Vítor Meira | |
|---|---|
| Born | March 27, 1977 Brasília, Brazil |
| Occupation | Auto racing competitor (retired) |
| Years active | 2002–2011 (IndyCar Series) |
| Known for | Two runner-up finishes at the Indianapolis 500 |
Vítor Meira (born March 27, 1977) is a retired Brazilian auto racing competitor who participated in the IndyCar Series, achieving two runner-up finishes at the Indianapolis 500.
2002
Following a test session with Panther Racing at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002, Meira made his series debut on August 11 with Team Menard at Kentucky Speedway. Within just over a month, he earned his inaugural pole position at Texas Motor Speedway after only four races and secured a third-place finish in that event.
2003
Meira's rookie Indianapolis 500 appearance in 2003 with Team Menard resulted in a 12th-place finish. He participated in seven events piloting the #2 Johns Manville-powered Dallara Chevrolet until a wrist injury sustained during practice at Kentucky Speedway forced him out for three rounds. After recuperating, he returned for the season's final two contests.
2004
Missing the initial two races of the 2004 season, Meira later obtained a race-by-race agreement with Rahal-Letterman Racing. After encountering a clutch failure and finishing 17th at the Indy Japan 300, he completed the remainder of the year driving the #17 Centrix Financial-backed Panoz G-Force. On July 25 at The Milwaukee Mile, Meira claimed his second career pole position.
2005
Rahal-Letterman Racing secured Meira under a three-year contract supported by Johns Manville and Menards. His season highlights included finishing second behind Dan Wheldon at the Indianapolis 500 and achieving Rahal-Letterman's best championship standing to date: seventh place, complemented by seven top-five and eleven top-ten finishes. Nevertheless, financial difficulties with funding for the #17 car resulted in Meira losing his seat to Paul Dana, who brought ethanol sponsorship.
2006
Although initially intending to compete in Brazil’s stock car circuit with Hélio Castroneves’ team, Meira ultimately signed with Panther Racing on February 10, 2006. This occurred despite Panther losing its long-term sponsor Pennzoil and engine provider Chevrolet. To sustain operations, Panther’s owners sold assets. Meira drove the #4 Honda-powered Dallara featuring sponsors such as Econova, Network Live, Harrah's, Lincoln Tech, and Revive Energy Mints. While he did not secure any wins in 2006, he achieved a career-best fifth place in the IndyCar points standings with seven top-five and twelve top-ten finishes, maintaining seven career second-place results over more than fifty starts.
2007
After agreeing to a three-year deal with Panther Racing starting in 2008, Meira gained sponsorship from veteran IndyCar participant Delphi Corporation, which entered into a two-year contract with the team.
In his personal life, Meira became engaged to longtime partner Adriana in March 2006 and they were married on March 22, 2008, at the Little White Wedding Chapel in Las Vegas.
2008
Meira returned to Panther Racing for the 2008 season with primary backing from the United States National Guard and secondary sponsorship from Delphi. The team reduced its effort to a single car after Aguri and their sponsor Mutoh transitioned to compete in the IndyCar Series with Andretti Green Racing rather than Panther.
At the 2008 Indianapolis 500, Meira matched his previous best result by finishing second. He mounted a strong challenge against winner Scott Dixon, closing to within four-tenths of a second before being slowed by traffic late in the race. His fastest lap was recorded on lap 195 of the 200-lap event.
2009
Driving the #14 car for A. J. Foyt Enterprises as a replacement for Darren Manning, Meira endured a pit fire during the 2009 Indianapolis 500. However, on lap 174, he was involved in a collision with Raphael Matos that resulted in two fractured vertebrae. Following treatment with a back brace, Meira was sidelined for the rest of the 2009 season.
2010
After recovering from his injury, Meira achieved his best finish of the season by placing third in Brazil, earning a podium spot. He concluded the 2010 IndyCar Series campaign ranked 12th in the overall standings.
2011
Continuing his tenure with A. J. Foyt Enterprises, piloting the #14 car sponsored by ABC Supply Company, Meira ended the season 15th overall, with his highest race result being fifth place in Toronto. He was also part of the tragic 15-car accident that claimed the life of Dan Wheldon at the 2011 IZOD IndyCar World Championship. Without a contract for the 2012 season, Meira departed from American open-wheel racing.
2015
Meira made an effort to return for the 2015 Indianapolis 500, but was unable to secure a driving position.
Business
Following his exit from American motorsports, Meira established a self-storage enterprise in Brazil and assumed control of his father's advertising firm.
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 |
Complete IndyCar Series results
(key)
| Year | Team | Chassis | No. | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Team Menard | Dallara | 2 | Chevrolet | PHX |FON |NZR |INDY |TXS |PPIR |RIR |KAN |NSH |MIS |style="background:#CFCFFF;" |KTY 15 |style="background:#CFEAFF;" |STL 9 |style="background:#CFEAFF;" |CHI 8 |style="background:#FFDF9F;" |TX2 3 |colspan=4 | |
25th !style="background:#CFCFFF;" |96 | | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2003 | 22 |
HMS |
PHX |
MOT |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" |INDY |
colspan=15 | |
22nd !rowspan=2 style="background:#CFCFFF;" |170 | | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 |
colspan=4 |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" |TXS |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" |PPIR |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |RIR |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |KAN |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |NSH |
style="background:#EFCFFF;" |MIS |
style="background:#CFEAFF;" |STL |
style="background:#FFFFFF;" |KTY |
NZR |
CHI |
style="background:#CFCFFF;" |FON |
style="background:#DFFFDF;" |TX2 |
| Years ! Teams ! Races ! Poles ! Wins ! Podiums (Non-win) ! Top 10s (Non-podium) ! Indianapolis 500 Wins ! Championships |
|---|
Indianapolis 500
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Dallara | Chevrolet | 26 | 12 | Menard |
| 2004 | G-Force | Honda | 7 | 6 | Rahal Letterman |
| 2005 | Panoz | 7 | 2 | Rahal Letterman | |
| 2006 | Dallara | 6 | 10 | Panther | |
| 2007 | Dallara | 19 | 10 | Panther | |
| 2008 | Dallara | 8 | 2 | Panther | |
| 2009 | Dallara | 14 | 21 | Foyt | |
| 2010 | Dallara | 30 | 27 | Foyt | |
| 2011 | Dallara | 11 | 15 | Foyt |
Complete Stock Car Brasil results
| Year | Team | Car | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | Officer ProGP | Chevrolet Sonic | INT 27 |
CTB 8 | ||||||||||
| Multiple retirements at VEL, RBP, SAL rounds affected overall standing. |
23rd |
45 |
| Year | Team | Car | Rank | Points |
|---|
| Year | Team | Car | Notes | Rank | Points |
|---|
† Not eligible for championship points.
External links
- Pages with script errors
- Articles with short description
- Articles with hCards
- No local image but image on Wikidata
- 1977 births
- Living people
- Brazilian racing drivers
- Stock Car Brasil drivers
- Sportspeople from Brasília
- British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
- A1 Team Brazil drivers
- Indianapolis 500 drivers
- IndyCar Series drivers
- Brazilian IndyCar Series drivers
- Auto GP drivers
- Formula 3 Sudamericana drivers
- Formula Ford drivers
- American Le Mans Series drivers
- Highcroft Racing drivers
- Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing drivers
- Panther Racing drivers
- A. J. Foyt Enterprises drivers
- Vision Racing drivers
- A1 Grand Prix drivers
- Charouz Racing System drivers