Hector Rebaque

Name: Hector Rebaque

Nationality: Mexico

Date of birth: February 5, 1956 - Mexico City

Well-to-do Mexican racer Hector Rebaque arrived in Europe in 1974 hoping to make a name for himself in motor racing. He tried Formula Atlantic and then Formula 2 and finished fourth in a Fred Opert Chevron at Thruxton in only his second race. The rest of the season was frustrating and in 1976 he headed off to Canada to race in Formula Atlantic although he failed to make much of an impact. In 1977 he decided to try his hand at Formula 1 with the Hesketh team. He qualified only once in six attempts and concluded that the best thing to do in 1978 was to buy better equipment. He purchased an ex-factory Lotus 78 and set up his own team and although he did not always qualify he did manage to finish sixth at the German GP. The following year he bought another old Lotus but, frustrated at not being helped by the factory, commissioned Penske Cars to build him a F1 car. This appeared at the Italian GP in 1979 but did not qualify. He raced it at the Canadian GP but then failed to qualify again at Watkins Glen. Frustrated closed down the team and sat out the first part of the 1980 season. He finally convinced Bernie Ecclestone to let him race the second Brabham and finished seventh at Silverstone. He scored a point in Canada and in the course of 1981 was able to score a number of good results, collecting 13 points.

Left without a drive when Brabham hired Ricardo Patrese in 1982, Rebaque went to the United States and drove a Forsythe Racing March, winning at Elkhart Lake when Al Unser's Longhorn ran out of fuel a couple of miles before the finish. Later in the year he had a big accident at Michigan International Speedway and decided that he was not going to race any more.

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