Juan Pablo Montoya

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Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán, ODB (Bogotá, Colombia, September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver. He was champion of the CART series in 1999 and achieved ten victories in two seasons with Ganassi, after which he went on to race in Formula 1. He was third in 2002 and 2003 with Williams, and fourth in 2005 with McLaren, accumulating a total of seven victories and 30 podiums.

Juan Pablo Montoya has won 2 of the 3 races that make up the triple crown, the only thing missing is the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He has experience in this type of endurance racing, having won the 24 Hours of Daytona in 2007, 2008 and 2013. On the other hand, Montoya returned to the United States in 2006 to compete in the NASCAR Cup for Ganassi, where he was the first foreigner to qualifying for the Chase for the Cup in 2009. He also won the 2007, 2008 and 2013 Daytona 24 Hours, and finished second in 2009 and 2011, also for Ganassi. Since 2014 he has competed in the IndyCar Series for the Penske team with which he obtained runner-up in 2015 and fourth place in 2014; in that category, he won the Indianapolis 500 in 2000 and 2015. He went to IMSA with the Penske team, running the last race of 2017, achieving the pole position and reaching the podium in third place, having a contract for the entire 2018 season and being champion of this series in 2019.

Trajectory

Beginnings

Son of Pablo Montoya, who stood out as a driver in Colombian motorsports in the 1980s and 1990s, has been his best friend, partner and adviser on car matters both in Colombia and abroad. His mother, Libia Roldán, has always given him that maternal, moral and psychological support at every moment of his life. He studied at the Colegio San Tarsicio in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. At nine years old he was already winning his first National Children's Kart Championship. In 1986 he won the junior category in go-karts. For the next three years he won different national and international titles in the Komet Kart category. He participated in the Junior Kart World Championships in 1990 and 1991 where the results did not reflect his quick adaptation and speed. In his first participation in a World Championship in Lonato, Italy, Juan Pablo set the fastest lap and track record in the first free practices of the event.

In 1992, Juan Pablo Montoya continued in the Formula Renault Cup in Colombia. That same year he participated in the American Barber Pro Series.

For 1993 he entered the Swift GTI Championship, which he almost completely dominated by winning 7 of 8 races.

1994 was a very busy year for Juan Pablo Montoya, as he competed in 3 different categories: Sudam 125 Karting Championship, Barber Pro Series (where he placed third) and the Mexican Formula N (in which he won the title), In addition, this year he graduated from his school.

For the next three years he continued to participate in different categories, always achieving good results. In 1995 he took third place in the British Formula Vauxhall and won the Bogotá Six Hours setting a new track record.

In 1996 he competed in the British Formula 3 Championship and placed third in the final table and due to his great participation he achieved a position to run in Formula 3000. He also participated in the Formula 3 Masters, achieving a fourth place and repeated another victory in the Six Hours of Bogotá, the time he competed for Mercedes-Benz in the Silverstone race of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft.

International Formula 3000

1997

In 1997, he competed with the Marko team in International Formula 3000, finishing in second place. This same year, Montoya's agent, David Sears, pointed it out to Frank Williams, owner of the Williams F1 team, the which hired him as a test pilot. The Colombian showed his speed in the Jerez trials with times very close to those of Jacques Villeneuve (that year's champion), and in the rest of the tests in which he participated.

1998

In 1998, Juan Pablo Montoya competed again in the International Formula 3000, in which he was champion against Nick Heidfeld and Gonzalo Rodríguez, with four victories, nine podiums and seven pole positions in twelve races. He highlights his participation in the Pau Grand Prix, in which he masterfully prevailed, taking a lap ahead of the second classified.

CART

1999

In 1999, after Williams and Chip Ganassi, he moved to the other side of the Atlantic and participated in the CART series in the United States. In his first year he was brilliantly crowned champion in a tournament that was defined in the last race after a hard-fought season with the Scotsman Dario Franchitti, while Alex Zanardi was fighting in Formula 1 in a Williams that he could not perform. Montoya won seven races. The first three were won online starting with Long Beach, Nazareth and Brazil, after the victory in Cleveland followed another string of three victories with Mid-Ohio (where Roberto Guerrero, also Colombian, had won in 1987) and on the tracks in Chicago (owned by Ganassi) and Vancouver. He also achieved seven pole positions, and established himself as the youngest driver to win this category at 24 years of age and the best rookie in its history. On September 30, 1999, Juan Pablo Montoya received the Cruz de Boyacá from President Andrés Pastrana Arango due to his sporting achievements.

2000

During the year 2000, he remained in the same team, but the change of chassis (to Lola) and engine (to Toyota), produced appreciable changes in reliability, vehicle performance and team errors, which prevented him from at least achieve 5 victories that were almost assured such as Nazareth, Fontana, Laguna Seca, Road America. In this way, he is left out of the dispute for a new title, finishing ninth in the general classification by winning only 3 races, all on ovals: Milwaukee (the first that ended that year, and Toyota's first victory in the CART), the 500 miles of Michigan, considered one of the most spectacular and finally close finals in the category; and one last win at Gateway. Also, thanks to his unquestionable natural talent, he was able to achieve 7 pole positions (4 in a row) and 6 fastest laps. That same year he achieved his most illustrious conquest by winning the legendary Indianapolis 500 race in his first attempt, then the Indy Racing League (now IndyCar) date.

Montoya at the Canadian Grand Prix 2002 after obtaining the pole position

Formula 1

Juan Pablo Montoya managing the Williams FW26 during the 2004 United States Grand Prix. It was disqualified by jumping the security protocol, leaving for a reserve vehicle out of time.

Williams (2001-2004)

In 2001, after passing through the United States, Montoya returned to the Williams team, but this time not as a test driver, but as a starting driver. In his first season he was Rookie of the Year, obtaining a victory (Italian Grand Prix in Monza) and three pole positions.

During the 2002 and 2003 seasons, Juan Pablo revealed himself as a very fast and daring driver, establishing himself as a real alternative in the fight for the World Championship against the intractable Michael Schumacher, although he finished third in the final classification in both years.

The Colombian driver stayed with Williams-BMW until 2004, the year in which deficiencies in his vehicle made it impossible for him to fight for the championship, falling behind two new contenders, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso. Nonetheless, he took a brilliant victory at the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix.

His period with the Williams team resulted in 4 wins and 11 pole positions.

McLaren (2005-2006)

Juan Pablo Montoya during the 2005 United States Grand Prix. He was unable to participate in the race due to security problems in Michelin tires.

For 2005, Montoya joined the McLaren-Mercedes team for two seasons in the company of the Finn Kimi Räikkönen. After only two Grand Prix, he officially injured his shoulder playing tennis, which prevented his participation at both the Bahrain Grand Prix and the San Marino Grand Prix; he being replaced by the test pilots Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz, respectively.

After some altercations, such as in practice for the 2005 Monaco Grand Prix, in which Montoya was penalized for causing an accident; and at the 2005 Canadian Grand Prix, in which he was disqualified from the race after coming out of the pits at a red light during the safety car period; Juan Pablo took his first victory with McLaren at the 2005 British Grand Prix after an intense fight with Fernando Alonso. He managed to win two more races that year (Italy and Brazil), although it should be noted that in Monza he obtained the record that is still valid for the highest speed reached in that circuit in its entire history (372.6 km/h), the problems of reliability and some errors meant that his team could not win either of the two titles.

In the 2006 season, neither Montoya nor the team achieved the expected results (only two podiums in 10 races, with a car less fast than its predecessor but equally fragile); and Juan Pablo did not finish the championship, leaving Formula 1 to emigrate to NASCAR with the Chip Ganassi Racing team. His replacement in the Formula 1 category would be Pedro de la Rosa. After his departure, his already ex Teammate Kimi Räikkönen also left the team, ushering in a new era at McLaren with Spanish champion Fernando Alonso and British newcomer Lewis Hamilton. Montoya's relationship with Ron Dennis (who discovered that Montoya had lied to him in an alleged tennis incident and the reality was that he had an accident on a motorcycle, which cost him to be out of the category for several races due to injury on the shoulder), the team and the category itself deteriorated so much that it caused his early departure, a fact that he would make clear later.

NASCAR

2006

Montoya Car During the 2007 NASCAR Cup at Texas Motor Speedway, Texas.

2006 was the year in which his career in Formula 1 ended, to give way to a new stage in his career, this time in the NASCAR category of the United States, forming part of the team of his former boss of CART, Chip Ganassi, taking command of the number 30 Dodge Charger. Later this year, he began his period of adjustment to NASCAR, starting in the Busch Series (the second largest in NASCAR behind the NASCAR Cup) in which competed three times (one withdrawal). Then, in that same year, 2006, he made one more appearance, but this time, in the NASCAR Cup, in which he failed to finish.

2007

The 2007 season found Juan Pablo Montoya back in the NASCAR arena, but this time he was hired for the entire championship by Chip Ganassi's team, always in command of the Dodge Charger. His arrival at the team as a full-time driver also marked his absolute debut, for which he was classified as & # 34; rookie & # 34; .

At the beginning of the season it was announced that he would join the team of drivers of the famous American resistance race 24 Hours of Daytona, something that was not expected, but in which he was victorious together with his teammates: Scott Pruett (American) and Salvador Durán (Mexican), with the number one car, from the Ganassi team. Later, on March 4, 2007, he obtained his first victory in the NASCAR Busch Series, in the circuit of Mexico City (Mexico), Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

On June 24, 2007, he became the first Latino to win a competition in the NASCAR Cup, in the mixed circuit of Infineon Raceway in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 and establishing a record by obtaining the victory starting from the position 32.

On November 18, 2007, he was established as the Rookie of the Year in the NASCAR Cup, after being the best rookie in the 36 competitions of the maximum NASCAR series, and ending the season in position number 20, with 3487 points.

After the race held at the Watkins Glen circuit, the Colombian had a heated argument with the American Kevin Harvick, who blamed Juan Pablo for taking him out of said competition.

Car 42 by Juan Pablo Montoya with the distinctives of his sponsor when he ran in the series CART in the Years 1999 and 2000, Target.

2009

Chip Ganassi's team wants to be more competitive, so it merges with Teresa Earnhardt's Dale Earnhardt Inc. and is renamed Earnhardt Ganassi Racing. The renewal of the team also meant a change of brand, for which Montoya went from competing with Dodge to doing so at the command of a Chevrolet Impala.

Montoya achieved his first NASCAR pole position on April 24, 2009, at the Talladega track by clocking 188.171 mph.

Until the twenty-first round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Juan Pablo Montoya is already in position no. 8, qualifying for the final round of the championship, known as the "Chase for the Sprint Cup". Montoya's 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup campaign has been his best since he arrived in this category, earning one top-5 finish, ten top-10 finishes, one pole, with a total of 2,631 points, 557 behind leader Tony Stewart.

One of his best races of late was at Indianapolis, where he led 106 laps. But due to a NASCAR penalty for exceeding the speed limit on the pit road, he finished the race in 11th place.

Statistically it goes down in history that Montoya is the only driver to have led laps in all three major auto races that have been held at the Indianapolis oval. He led the way to his victory in the 500 Mile in 2000, he led in 2001 in his Williams in the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix and on July 26, 2009 he scored 116 laps of the agreed 160.

On September 12, 2009, Montoya once again made history by qualifying the chase in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, thanks to which, with only 10 races to go, only 40 points separated him from the leader, for the first time in NASCAR a non-American driver finished ranks the Chase since it was implemented in 2004.

On September 18, 2009, the Colombian achieved his second pole position in NASCAR at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway track by clocking 133.431 mph and 28.545 seconds thus setting a new classification record.

In the first race of the chase, the Colombian achieved third place after starting first at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway track, where he led the greatest number of laps with 104 of the 300 agreed upon. At the same time, he manages to place himself in fourth position in the general table of the championship.

In the second race, Juan Pablo Montoya achieved a fourth place that allowed him to move up to third place in the general standings of the championship.

In the third race Juan Pablo Montoya achieved fourth place ahead of Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin, and cut points from them overall.

2010

Montoya began 2010 fighting to win the Daytona 24 Hours, leading by about 4 hours, but engine failure prevented a possible win. On August 9, he wins at Watkins Glen with a 4.7 second lead over American Kurt Busch.

2011

Despite starting with a 2nd place in the 24 Hours of Daytona, in 2011 it was worse than in 2010 because the team was not well updated, said Juan, and he did not win any race, with a 3 º position and a pole position as the most notable records.

2013

In the race at Richmond International Raceway, Montoya nearly scored his first NASCAR Cup win on an oval, but finished fourth due to a caution with three laps to go. He too came close to winning at Dover, but ended up being passed by Tony Stewart with three laps to go. At Sonoma, Montoya was running in second place, but ran out of fuel on the final lap and dropped 32 positions, finishing 34th. With a total of four top 5 finishes and eight top 10 finishes, the Colombian finished 21st in the points table.

On August 13, 2013, it was announced that Montoya's contract with Earnhardt Ganassi Racing would not be renewed for the 2014 season. Thus, he closed out the last of his eight years as a NASCAR Cup Series starter with two wins, 24 top 5 and nine pole positions.

2014

Montoya raced twice in 2014 for Team Penske between his IndyCar engagements, finishing 18th at Michigan and 23rd at Indianapolis.

IndyCar Series

On September 16, 2013, it is confirmed that the Colombian will return to the IndyCar Series, a category that he had not run since he competed on a calendar date in the year 2000, precisely the Indianapolis 500, of which he won the The only victory in the series and in the highest American single-seater competition at that time, and that he alternated that same year with the now-defunct CART World Series, and in which he competed with his now old team Chip Ganassi Racing. For the 2014 season, he will run with the Penske Racing team on a 1-year contract with an option to extend. It was also known that he could run some NASCAR races with this team.He made his first test with the team at the end of November.

In the second race of the year at Long Beach, he finished a remarkable fourth place. In his return to the Indianapolis 500 14 years later, Juan Pablo finished fifth. He scores his first podium finish in the series by finishing third at the Texas oval, and improves to second in the first race at Houston. On July 6, he achieved his first victory in the category since his return at the Pocono 500, after starting from pole position. After adding another podium finish in Milwaukee, Montoya finished the championship in fourth place, with a total of four podiums and eight top 5 finishes.

Montoya in Long Beach 2015.

He started 2015 in IndyCar in the best possible way, winning in St. Petersburg. Subsequently, he won the Indianapolis 500 again, despite the fact that a touch in the first laps had relegated him to the last positions. In total, he achieved five podium finishes and nine top 5 finishes, to finish tied in the points with Scott Dixon, but this time the man from Bogotá lost the title in the tiebreaker against the three victories of the New Zealander.

In 2016, Montoya kicked off the season again with victory in St. Petersburg. However, that was a mirage, since he would only get on the podium on two other occasions, both in 3rd position, and finished in a discreet 8th place overall.

Penske replaced Montoya with Josef Newgarden for the 2017 IndyCar season. The driver participated in the Indianapolis races with a fifth Penske car, finishing tenth in the Grand Prix and sixth in the 500 Miles. Meanwhile, he was a test pilot for the renewed Dallara that will compete in 2018.

Sports prototypes

During the weekend of January 27-28, 2007, Montoya was the overall winner in the Rolex Sports Car Series 24 Hours of Daytona, behind the wheel of a Chip Ganassi Racing Riley Lexus prototype with Felix Sabates driving, in addition to him, by Salvador Durán and Scott Pruett.

On January 27, 2008, Juan Pablo won the Daytona 24 Hours for the second time with Ganassi. His teammates were Scott Pruett, Dario Franchitti and Memo Rojas, completing a total of 695 laps, with an advantage of 2 laps over the shooting guard.

At the 2009 Daytona 24 Hours, Montoya finished second in a Ganassi Riley Lexus, again joined by Pruett and Rojas. At the 2010 24 Hours of Daytona he retired with a BMW engine failure. In the 2011 edition he finished second with Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti and Jamie McMurray.

Montoya contested two 2012 Rolex Sports Car Series races in a Ganassi Riley BMW prototype, finishing fourth in both the Daytona 24 Hours and the Indianapolis Grand Prix.

In the 51st edition of the 24 Hours of Daytona held January 26-27, 2013, Montoya won this motorsport classic for the third time again driving for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. His teammates were Memo Rojas, Scott Pruett and Charlie Kimball. The test, in which his team achieved pole position , achieved victory from end to end. Montoya had the honor of driving the last leg of the race.

Montoya in the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2018

Montoya competed in the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship season in an official Team Penske Oreca-Acura prototype, with Dane Cameron as his seatmate. He had four podium finishes in ten winless races, finishing ninth in the drivers' championship and fifth in the drivers' championship. That year, he entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time with United Autosports, in the LPM2 class. He finished third in the class.

For the year 2019, he repeats the duo again with Cameron. With a total of seven podium finishes, three of which were victories, they finished champions of the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

In 2020 and 2021, Montoya participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with DragonSpeed (LMP2). In the latter of these two, he finished 15th overall and won the LMP2 Pro-Am cup alongside Ben Hanley and Henrik Hedman.

Personal life

The driver appears for a few seconds in the film Funny Games U.S. (2008) in a scene in which a car race is broadcast on television. In it, they identify him with his photo and under the name Juan Montoya , ignoring his second given name as was the case in his youth. He also appears in the movie Driven where the races won by Beau Brandenburg (Til Schweiger) are actually Juan Pablo Montoya's victories in the 2000 season, just like the other races shown in the movie. film. At the end of the film, he is shown in the pits concentrating before starting the last race.

In the film Transformers: Dark of the Moon, Montoya's #42 Chevrolet appears along with Jimmie Johnson's #48 and Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s #88. The trio make up The Wreckers), a group of autobots who They help in the last instance as emergency ones, which have only appeared in Marvel comics. He also provided the voice for one of the characters in the movie Cars 2 in the Spanish version for Latin America.

The race track attached to the Tocancipá Race Track (Bogotá) was called «Kartódromo Juan Pablo Montoya».

On August 6, 2017, he achieved the speed record in a production car (Bugatti Chiron) where he managed to accelerate from 0-400 km/h (249 mph, 58 leagues per hour or 7975 Castilian varas per minute) and again bring it to 0 in 41.96 s, but was quickly overtaken by a Koenigsegg Agera RS.