Mexico GP venue honours Adrian Fernandez

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The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, which will host the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix, has named one of the corners on the 4.421km (2.747 mile), 14-turn circuit after Mexican racing veteran Adrian Fernandez.

Curva 12 - the tricky right-hander into the baseball stadium section of the circuit - will now carry Fernandez' name. The 53-year-old has also been named as an official ambassador for the Mexican Grand Prix.

"It is a great honour to be named an official ambassador for the Mexican Grand Prix," Fernandez said. "I am excited to be appointed as a spokesman for the pinnacle of motorsport after its historic return to our country.

"As a driver, I lived unforgettable moments at this track, which makes having a curve named after me an amazing feeling. It is something that anyone in my field would feel very privileged and happy about. I am very grateful."

"We cannot underestimate the importance of Adrian in the history of Mexican motorsports," responded Federico Gonzalez Compean, the general director of the Mexican Grand Prix.

"Our decision to appoint him as a friend and ambassador for our event was a very natural and easy one to make," Compean continued. "We hope that this appointment reminds people of his career and accomplishments."

After making his start on two wheels in motorcross, Fernandez spent most of his motorsports career competing in the US with 12 years in the CART open wheel series where he claimed race wins in races at Toronto, Motegi, Mid-Ohio, Fontana, Surfers Paradise and Portland, Oregon, as well as finishing as runner-up in the 2000 championship.

He also spent a full season in IndyCar and won three more race victories including Kentucky and Chicagoland before moving on to the American Le Mans Series results where he won the 2009 LMP2 championship with his own team, Lowe's Fernández Racing.

Fernandez was runner-up in the LMP2 class in the 24 Hours at Le Mans in 2007 and made a number of starts in NASCAR before moving into driver management, where he helped guide Sergio Perez's early career including his move to McLaren in 2013.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.