Benito Guerra, Jr.

This name uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Guerra and the second or maternal family name is Latapí.
Benito Guerra, Jr.

Guerra, Jr., with Javier Lozano (left), in 2005
Personal information
Nationality Mexico Mexican
Born (1985-03-25) 25 March 1985
World Rally Championship record
Active years 2006 – present
Co-driver Spain Borja Rozada
Teams Ralliart, Citroën Racing
Rallies 22
Championships 0
Rally wins 0
Podiums 0
Stage wins 0
Total points 14
First rally 2006 Rally México
Last rally 2014 Rally México
Last updated on: 9 May 2014.

Benito Iván Guerra Latapí (born 25 March 1985) is a Mexican rally driver competing for Citroën Racing, a privateer team in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2013, with his co-driver Borja Rozada.

In 2012 he won the Production World Rally Championship (PWRC) and became a World Champion.[1]

Personal life

His father is Benito Guerra, Sr., a vintage racing driver like La Carrera Panamericana[2] and Notary public in Mexico City, his mother is Mercedes Guerra (née Latapí), a CPA. Benito has a younger sister named Mercedes, a fan of motorsport.

Career

2006 – 2010

Guerra, Jr. made his World Rally Championship debut on his home event Rally Mexico in 2006, finishing the event in 26th.[3] In 2007 he started both Rally Mexico and Rally Argentina, but retired from both with mechanical problems. He finished 14th on the 2008 Rally México, winning the Group N category. In 2009 he won the Spanish Production title, winning the Spanish gravel title outright in 2010. He finished 15th overall and fourth in PWRC on the 2010 Rally México.

2011

He began 2011 by finishing 11th overall on Rally Mexico, and then committed to a PWRC programme. He finished fourth in PWRC in Portugal, fourth in Australia and third in Spain. At the end of the season Guerra, Jr. finished sixth overall, scoring 47 WRC points.[4]

2012

Benito and his co-driver Borja Rozada, won in México, Argentina and España rallies, plus a second place in Germany, thereby the Mexican-Spaniard duo got the PWRC world championship with 109 points, over the Argentinian team Marcos Ligato and Rubén García (88 points).[5] So, Guerra, Jr. became the first Mexican rally driver to win a World Championship, and the second Mexican to earn a title in the world of motorsport. Until then Pedro Rodríguez(†) was the only one who had achieved in 1970 and 1971 at the World Sportscar Championship with JW-Porsche.

Race of Champions

As of the 2012, PWRC champion Benito Guerra, Jr. is invited to participate in the 25th edition of the Race of Champions, from 14 to 16 December in Bangkok along with racing legends like Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel. His teammate of Team Americas is the Texan Ryan Hunter-Reay, 2012 IndyCar Series champion.[6][7]

Guerra, Jr. said: “This is a great end-of-season challenge and it’s fantastic for my career to be part of ROC 2012. I’m very excited to compete with all of these great drivers and join Team Americas with Ryan Hunter-Reay. See you all in Bangkok!” [8]

In the Nations Cup race Guerra beats Jorge Lorenzo and the ROC Champion of Champions of 2011, Sébastien Ogier but is defeated by Andy Priaulx, due to a penalty. Therefore, the Team Americas is eliminated in the first round because Hunter-Reay is defeated in two of his three rounds.[9][10]

For the Champion of Champions event Guerra, Jr. bears little fortune and is eliminated in first round. At the end the overall winner of the ROC 2012 is the F1 driver Romain Grosjean.[11][12]

2013

Due to lack of sponsorship Guerra, Jr. did not participate in Monaco and Sweden rallies but in his country México he started with Citroën Racing, a privateer team in the WRC in 2013, with his co-driver Borja Rozada.

On his very first race in the WRC, as a rookie in the category, Guerra gets a great result entering in the top-ten of the Mexican rally, thus he gets his first four points for the championship ending at 8th overall position behind the winner Sébastien Ogier for 12:49.8 minutes.[13][14][15]

Complete World Rally Championship results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
2006 Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MON SWE MEX
26		 ESP FRA ARG ITA GRE GER FIN JPN CYP TUR AUS NZL GBR NC 0
2007 Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MON SWE NOR MEX
Ret		 POR ARG
Ret		 ITA GRE FIN GER NZL ESP NC 0
2008 Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII MON SWE MEX
14		 ARG JOR ITA GRE TUR FIN GER NZL ESP FRA JPN GBR NC 0
2009 RMC Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII IRE NOR CYP POR ITA GRE POL FIN AUS ESP
30		 GBR NC 0
2010 Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX SWE MEX
15		 JOR TUR NZL POR BUL FIN GER JPN FRA ESP GBR NC 0
2011 Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X SWE MEX
11		 POR
18		 JOR ITA ARG
15		 GRE FIN
Ret		 GER FRA ESP
24		 GBR
Ret		 26th 2
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX AUS
9
2012 Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X MON SWE MEX
11		 POR ARG
11		 GRE
19		 NZL FIN GER
16		 GBR FRA ITA
24		 ESP
18		 NC 0
2013 Benito Guerra, Jr. Citroën DS3 WRC MON SWE
 MEX
8		 POR ARG GRE ITA FIN GER AUS FRA 24th 4
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X ESP
14		 GBR
2014 M-Sport World Rally Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON SWE MEX
6		 POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA 17th 8
BAS Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X ESP
18		 GBR
2015 Benito Guerra, Jr. Ford Fiesta RS WRC MON SWE MEX
12		 ARG POR ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP GBR NC* 0*

* Season still in progress.

PWRC results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 PWRC Points
2010 Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX SWE MEX
5		 JOR NZL FIN GER JPN FRA GBR 18th 12
2011 Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X SWE POR
4		 ARG
6		 FIN
Ret		 ESP
3		 GBR
Ret		 6th 47
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX AUS
4
2012 Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X MON MEX
1		 ARG
1		 GRE
4		 NZL GER
2		 ITA
6		 ESP
1		 1st 109

WRC-2 results

Year Entrant Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 WRC-2 Points
2014 BAS Motorsport Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X MON SWE MEX POR ARG ITA POL FIN GER AUS FRA ESP
4		 GBR 28th 12

References

  1. ↑ Beer, Matt (November 11, 2012). "Sunday PWRC wrap: Guerra crowned". WRC.com (WRC.com). Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  2. ↑ "Resultados oficiales/Official results" (PDF). LaCarreraPanamericana.com.mx. LaCarreraPanamericana.com.mx. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Driver profile – Beníto Guerra jr.". eWRC-results.com. eWRC.cz. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "2011 FIA WRC-3 Standings". WRC.com. WRC.com. Retrieved January 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ http://www.wrc.com/pwrc/results/
  6. ↑ http://www.periodico.am/aguascalientes/benitoguerraesconvocadoalraceofchampions-53342.html
  7. ↑ http://www.raceofchampions.com/pages/common/RaceofChampions.aspx?pg=7619
  8. ↑ http://www.raceofchampions.com/News/general-news/guerra-to-partner-hunterreay-on-team-americas.aspx
  9. ↑ http://raceofchampions.com/News/general-news/team-germany-win-sixth-roc-nations-cup.aspx
  10. ↑ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104840
  11. ↑ http://raceofchampions.com/News/general-news/grosjean-crowned-2012-champion-of-champions.aspx
  12. ↑ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/104845
  13. ↑ http://www.wrc.com/results/
  14. ↑ http://www.wrc.com/results/2013/rally-guanajuato-mexico/stage-times/
  15. ↑ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/105939

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