Motorsports | Christian Fittipaldi to retire after Rolex 24 at Daytona

Christian Fittipaldi plans to retire from driving after the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the January race he was won three times.

The 47-year-old Brazilian racer announced the decision Saturday at Road America.

“My relationship with my family, my daughter, my age, so it’s the package. It’s not one thing,” Fittipaldi said. “It’s not that I went out there, I had a huge accident and said, ‘Whoa, now I’m afraid of doing this. I can’t do this anymore.’ It wasn’t that. It was the package and I think the timing is correct. I’m going to respect the timing a lot.”

Fittipaldi, the nephew of two-time Formula One champion and Indianapolis 500 winner Emerson Fittipaldi, is a two-time IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype champion, a four-time champion of the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup and a winner of 12 IMSA races. He also won two Champ Car races and competed in Formula One and NASCAR.

He’ll get the chance to add two more victories before hanging up his helmet, at Motul Petit Le Mans on Oct. 13, and the 57th Rolex 24 At Daytona on Jan. 26-27.

“I owe a lot to Daytona,” Fittipaldi said. “I owe a lot to the France family and Daytona has brought me a lot of happiness. I have had a lot of success there. We won three times. I think I have six or seven podiums in total.”  AP