It was on two wheels, in motocross, that Adrián Fernández made his debut in motorsports before switching to four wheels in single-seaters promotional formulas, with an F3 Champion title in Mexico in 1991. He continued in Indy Light, the stepping stone to American single-seaters, where he made his mark by winning four races as a rookie.

His performance did not go unnoticed, and he moved on to CART, predecessor to Champ Car, the following year. After a modest start, Fernández won at Toronto in 1996, but would never manage to score more than two wins per season, insufficient to become champion. So he decided to create his own outfit, Fernández Racing, in 2001, but had to wait until 2003 to win again, the year he also entered into the IndyCar Series, the rival championship to Champ Car, which he joined full-time in 2004. Unfortunately, despite three victories late in the season, the Mexican was unable to secure financial backing to race in 2005 and had to relinquish his wheel to Scott Sharp, now co-owner of Extreme Speed Motorsports in the World Endurance Championship (WEC).

After a brief stint in NASCAR, Fernández launched his outfit in the American Le Mans Series in 2007 with an Acura LM P2 that would take it all the way to the title in 2009. In his first year in endurance, the Mexican driver took the start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Zytek of Barazi Epsilon with which he claimed the second step on the podium in the LM P2 class.

He returned to Le Mans in 2010, this time in LM P1 with Aston Martin Racing. A sixth place overall finish clinching the launch of the AMR One project, which would turn into a fiasco for the British marque in 2011. It was nonetheless with that car that he competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the fourth time in 2012 along with factory drivers Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner. The trio reached the third step on the podium in LM GTE Pro, the last podium finish for Fernández, who then retired.

Very well-known and well-liked in his country - he was named "athlete of the year" in 1998 in Mexico - yesterday Fernández, 53 years old, inaugurated the plaque at corner 12, curva 12 Adrián Fernández, at the Mexico circuit, with plenty of emotion.

El momento y reconocimiento más hermoso de mi carrera. Gracias ?? @mexicogp #MexicoGP #F1ESTA #F1EBRE ?? pic.twitter.com/NSzrCyNwZX

— Adrian Fernandez (@AdrianF007) 22 septembre 2016

Photo: Adrián Fernández participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with Aston Martin Racing in 2012, finishing third in the LM GTE Pro class.