Andre Ribiero, An Appreciation
American Honda and Honda Performance Development extends its deepest sympathies to the family, friends and many fans of Andre Ribeiro, Honda’s first Indy car race winner, who passed away this weekend in Sao Paulo, Brazil, age 55, following a battle with cancer.
After a race-winning career in his native Brazil and later Europe, Andre Ribeiro da Cunha came to North America with Tasman Motorsports to compete in the 1994 Indy Lights Championship, winning four times and finishing second in the drivers’ championship.
Team and driver moved up to Championship Auto Racing Teams [CART] competition in 1995 where, as a rookie, he recorded Honda’s first Indy car victory on August 20, winning from the pole in his Tasman Motorsports Reynard Honda.
Two more Honda-powered victories – in his native Brazil at Rio de Janeiro and at Michigan International Speedway – followed in 1996. Ribeiro retired from competition following the 1998 season, then went on to run a network of automobile dealerships in his native Brazil in partnership with Roger Penske.