Pedro Rodríguez de la Vega (18 January 1940 – 11 July 1971) was a Mexican sports car and Grand Prix motor racing driver. He was the older brother of Ricardo Rodríguez. Both brothers started racing at an early age, first on motorbikes and then moving to cars. Following his brother's death in a racing accident in 1962, Pedro briefly considered retiring from racing, but decided to carry on. In sports car racing his first major win was with his brother Ricardo in the 1961 Paris 1000km, driving a Ferrari 250 GT. He won the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40 and in 1970-71 he won eight races in a Porsche 917. He began his Formula One career in 1963, and won the 1967 South African Grand Prix in a Cooper and the 1970 Belgian Grand Prix in a BRM. He was killed at the Norisring in Nuremberg, West Germany, on 11 July 1971 driving a Ferrari 512 M in an Interserie sports car race. Personal life Rodríguez was born in Mexico City, Mexico, the second son of Pedro Natalio Rodríguez and Concepción De la Vega. He had an older sister, Conchita, and three younger brothers: Ricardo, Federico (died at two months of age) and Alejandro. At 15, his father sent him to Western Military Academy in Alton, Illinois in order to learn English and to develop more discipline. The Rodríguez brothers raced bicycles and motorcycles, becoming Mexican national motorcycle champions in 1953 and 1954. Pedro made his international debut in cars at Nassau in 1957 in a Ferrari. He married Angelina (née Dammy), in Mexico in 1961, although he had a girlfriend in England, Glenda Foreman, with whom he lived in Bray on Thames in his later years, but left no children. Rodríguez always traveled with a Mexican flag and a record of the national anthem because when he won the 1967 South African GP the organizers did not have the Mexican anthem, and instead played the Mexican hat dance. Jo Ramírez was a very close friend to both Rodríguez as well as his younger brother Ricardo. Career Rodríguez began racing with bicycles at eight years old. He was a class winner in the Mexican Championship by 1950. He started racing a Adler motorcycle, winning Mexico's national championship in 1952 and 1954. In 1952, he entered a rally in a Ford, but achieved little. He returned