Vitor Meira

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Vitor Meira
Nationality Flag of Brazil Brazil
Date of Birth March 27, 1977 (1977-03-27) (age 31)
Place of Birth Brasília
2008 IRL IndyCar Series
Debut season 2002
Current team Panther Racing
Car No. 4
Former teams Team Menard
Rahal Letterman Racing
Starts 73
Wins 0
Poles 2
Best finish 5th in 2006
Championship titles
2000 Formula Three Sudamericana
Awards
2008 Scott Brayton Trophy

Vitor Meira (born March 27, 1977 in Brasília, Brazil) is an auto racing driver currently competing in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. He is best known for twice finishing second in the Indianapolis 500.

After participating in an open test for Panther Racing at Texas Motor Speedway in 2002, he made his Indy Racing League 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 just after four starts and finished a very respectable third.

Contents

[edit] IndyCar Series

[edit] 2003

In 2003, Meira ran his first start of the year for Team Menard at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway where he finished 12th as a rookie in the Indianapolis 500 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 2005

Rahal-Letterman Racing signed Meira to a three-year contract in 2005, with backing from longtime supporter, Johns Manville and Menards. His most notable race finish was second to Dan Wheldon at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Despite being cast aside in the media for fellow teammates, Buddy Rice and Danica Patrick, 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 the late Paul Dana, who brought Ethanol sponsorship.

[edit] 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 Brasilia, 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 hasn't won a race in over 50 starts, he has finished second seven times in his career.

[edit] 2007

After signing a three-year contract with Panther Racing in 2008, Meira will be sponsored by longtime IndyCar participant, Delphi Corporation, who signed a two-year deal with the team. Unlike 2006, Meira and Panther will go back to a two-car IndyCar effort in 2007 as well as bringing back a car into the Indy Pro Series. For 2007, Aguri Suzuki brought over driver, Kosuke Matsuura and main sponsor, Panasonic, from the defunct Fernandez Racing. The car will carry number 55, and will be badged run under the Super Aguri Panther Racing banner. With Suzuki's help, he brought the talent of Hideki Mutoh to the eyes of Panther Racing. Mutoh, was the lone Panther Racing entry in the Indy Pro Series.

Meira, who became engaged to longtime girlfriend, Adriana, in March 2006, were 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
Meira testing at Barber Motorsports Park during the 2007-2008 off-season

[edit] 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.

[edit] Motorsports Career Results

[edit] American Open-Wheel

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

[edit] IndyCar

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 Rank Points
2002 Menard HMS PHX CAL NZR IND TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MIS KTY
15		 STL
9		 CHI
8		 TX2
3		 25th 96
2003 Menard HMS PHX JPN IND
12		 TXS
12		 PPIR
16		 RIR
Ret		 KAN
Ret		 NSH
Ret		 MIS
Ret		 STL
9		 KTY
DNS		 NZR CHI CAL
11		 TX2
4		 22nd 170
2004 Rahal Letterman HMS PHX JPN
Ret		 IND
6		 TXS
6		 RIR
2		 KAN
2		 NSH
12		 MIL
5		 MIS
5		 KTY
7		 PPIR
7		 NZR
10		 CHI
5		 CAL
Ret		 TX2
4		 8th 376
2005 Rahal Letterman HMS
4		 PHX
11		 STP
5		 JPN
15		 IND
2		 TXS
9		 RIR
Ret		 KAN
3		 NSH
Ret		 MIL
9		 MIS
Ret		 KTY
2		 PPIR
5		 SNM
9		 CHI
7		 WGL
Ret		 CAL
3		 7th 422
2006 Panther HMS
Ret		 STP
5		 JPN
10		 IND
10		 WGL
2		 TXS
6		 RIR
2		 KAN
3		 NSH
3		 MIL
Ret		 MIS
2		 KTY
6		 SNM
3		 CHI
6		 5th 411
2007 Panther HMS
4		 STP
16		 JPN
Ret		 KAN
8		 IND
10		 MIL
5		 TXS
5		 IOW
Ret		 RIR
9		 WGL
17		 NSH
10		 MDO
Ret		 MIS
Ret		 KTY
10		 SNM
9		 DET
Ret		 CHI
Ret		 12th 334
2008 Panther HMS
10		 STP
Ret		 JPN
Ret		 LBH KAN
Ret		 IND
2		 MIL TXS IOW RIR WGL NSH MDO KTY SNM DET CHI 14th* 98*
* 2008 season in progress
Years Teams Races Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win)		 Top 10s
(Non-podium)		 Indianapolis 500
Wins		 Championships
3 (Complete), 7 (Total) 3 79 2 0 14 37 0 0

[edit] Indy 500 results

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish
2003 Dallara Chevrolet 26th 12th
2004 G-Force Honda 7th 6th
2005 Panoz Honda 7th 2nd
2006 Dallara Honda 6th 10th
2007 Dallara Honda 19th 10th
2008 Dallara Honda 8th 2nd

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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This article has been tagged since August 2007.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Hoover Orsi		 Formula Three Sudamericana Champion
2000		 Succeeded by
Juliano Moro
Awards
Preceded by
Tony Kanaan		 Scott Brayton Award
2007		 Succeeded by
Incumbent
v • d • e
2008 IndyCar Series season
Teams
Races
Homestead • St. Pete • Motegi • Long Beach • Kansas • Indy 500 • Milwaukee • Texas • Iowa • Richmond •
 Watkins Glen • Nashville • Mid-Ohio • Edmonton • Kentucky • Infineon • Belle Isle • Chicagoland • Surfers Paradise
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