INDYCAR: Remembering Jovy Marcelo

IndyCar

INDYCAR: Remembering Jovy Marcelo

Some who knew Jovy Marcelo, who lost his life 20 years ago today while practicing for the Indy 500, fondly remember the talented Filipino driver.

Marshall Pruett | Posted May 15, 2012

Jovy Marcelo's life and budding Indy car career were cut short in a practice crash at Indy on May 15, 1992. (Photo: IMS Photo)

"He was real soft-spoken. But in the car he was not afraid to race you hard, wheel-to-wheel. I think of a young Paul Tracy--Jovy was the same way."

Jimmy Vasser on Jovy Marcelo

Based on first impressions, you’d have never known Jovy Marcelo was a championship-winning racecar driver.

The pie-faced Filipino wore a permanent smile, was a devout family man and was a star on the rise in open-wheel racing, but was largely anonymous at the time of his death 20 years ago today at Indianapolis. Two decades later, he still remains a bit of a forgotten footnote in the 500’s history.

A second-generation driver born and raised in the Philippines, Marcelo came to prominence in the United States driving in the Toyota Atlantic Championship where he showed his potential in 1990 against Mark Dismore, and after switching to the ace P1 Racing team for 1991, won the title by four points over future CART champion and IndyCar Series team owner Jimmy Vasser.

The talent Marcelo displayed in Atlantics was somewhat masked by the equipment he had to drive in CART. (Photo: IMS Photo)

This writer watched Marcelo with interest during his two TAC seasons, and at a time where the best from Atlantic and the Firestone Indy Lights Series had a much easier path to landing in Indy cars, the Bay Area resident was destined to graduate to CART in 1992.

Vasser would also make the leap to CART in 1992, and spoke fondly of Marcelo from his time competing against him on the way up the open-wheel ladder.

“He was a great person,” said Vasser. “He came from a really tight-knit family. He was married with kids. He had a couple of small children. I knew his father real well. His father was a real likable guy. He was the only pro driver I've ever seen from the Philippines, really. And he was a great competitor. He was a smooth driver, pretty quick. I think he was a great protagonist for me in the Atlantic championship. I liked those years. And Jovy was a champion. That says it all right there. I was second in the championship. I had six poles and six or eight wins, but he pulled it out and beat me by four points. He was a well-deserved champion.”

Ed Carpenter Racing General Manager Derrick Walker gave Marcelo his first Indy car test, and like Vasser, was stunned by the realization that 20 years had gone by since Marcelo’s passing.

“He was just a nice, nice kid,” the veteran team owner recalled. “Pleasant, a serious professional for his age, very mature for his age. And his parents, his father, they were just good people to be around. We tested him and like a lot of people that you meet along the way, you can't put a deal together because you didn't have the money to be able to make anything of it. But he tested in typical fashion for him, very diligent and not like getting too distracted by the occasion, he took it in his stride. I liked him a lot for the little time I spent around him.”

Just as Vasser would experience, Marcelo spent his rookie Indy car season driving for one of the smaller teams, Euromotorsports, in a year-old Lola chassis powered by an aged and uncompetitive Cosworth engine.

Jimmy Vasser, middle, celebrates the Atlantic win at the 1991 season finale at Laguna Seca, while Marcelo, left, celebrates earning the TAC title. (Photo: Marshall Pruett)

In an era filled with legends and heroes, Marcelo stood little chance to impress against the Andrettis, Unsers, A.J Foyt, Bobby Rahal, Emerson Fittipaldi, Danny Sullivan and numerous others. Through the first three rounds of the championship, Marcelo barely cracked the top 20 at Surfers Paradise, Phoenix and Long Beach, but was looking forward to his first appearance at Indy.

Driving the No. 50 car, Marcelo made it through Rookie Orientation, but after a week of practicing for the first of two consecutive weekends of qualifying, the Euromotorsports team aimed to use a few extra days of running to try and qualify Marcelo on the second weekend as speed was proving to be elusive.

Roberto Guerrero would use the mighty Buick V6 turbo to score pole at an average of 232.4 mph, while Marcelo, along with a few other drivers hoping to make the field, was mired in the 215 mph range when practice resumed on Monday, May 11th.

On Thursday the 14th, Marcelo would raise his speed to 216.8 mph, and with one more day to find enough speed to reach an average of 220—what would likely be needed to make the 33-car grid—the pressure was on.

Installing a fresh engine to prepare for and use during qualifying kept Marcelo off-track for most of the 15th, and he finally ventured out at 3:48 p.m. to try some simulated qualifying runs. 19 minutes later, he was gone.

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