Day of the Dead Altar 2026: Motorsport Legends | Meta Motor Bistro

Day of the Dead Ofrenda 2026

Day of the Dead Altar: a tribute to the greats of motorsport

Every year on the Day of the Dead, we build an altar to remember those who are gone. At Meta Motor Bistro, our 2026 ofrenda pays tribute to the greats of motorsport: Formula 1 drivers, Le Mans legends, motorcycle champions and daredevils who lived at full speed.

Among marigolds, candles and the smell of gasoline, we remember fourteen figures, including Mexico’s Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez, Moisés Solana and Pedro Infante. Scroll to read their stories: the photo of whoever you are reading lights up in the list.

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Portrait of Thierry Sabine

Founder of the Dakar Rally

Thierry Sabine

Born
· Neuilly-sur-Seine, France
Died
· near Gourma-Rharous, Mali

Their story

Thierry Sabine was a motorcycle and rally racer, and above all an organizer of adventures. In 1975 he created the Enduro du Touquet, a race across the dunes of northern France’s coast.

His life changed in 1977: racing a motorcycle in the Abidjan–Nice rally, he got lost for days in the Ténéré desert in Niger. He survived and came out with an idea: a race across the Sahara from Paris to Dakar, open to cars, bikes and trucks. The first edition started in late 1978.

He died during the 1986 edition, when his helicopter hit a dune during a sandstorm near Gourma-Rharous, in the West African country of Mali. Singer Daniel Balavoine and three others were on board.

Portrait of Pedro Infante

Film idol and the rider of A toda máquina

Pedro Infante

Born
· Mazatlán, Sinaloa, Mexico
Died
· Mérida, Yucatán, Mexico

Their story

Pedro Infante was an actor and singer, the great idol of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He made more than 60 films, and songs like “Amorcito corazón” are still sung across the country.

He was not a racing driver: his speed came on two wheels and in the air. In “A.T.M. ¡A toda máquina!” (1951) and “¿Qué te ha dado esa mujer?” (1951) he played Pedro Chávez, a Mexico City traffic-police motorcycle officer doing stunts on a Harley-Davidson. Off screen he was a licensed pilot and a motorcycle lover.

He died when the cargo plane he was co-piloting crashed on takeoff from Mérida.

Portrait of Jules Bianchi

Formula 1 driver · Marussia

Jules Bianchi

Born
· Nice, France
Died
· Nice, France

Their story

Jules Bianchi was a Formula 1 driver. He raced for Marussia in 2013 and 2014, 34 Grands Prix in all.

Racing ran in the family: his grandfather Mauro Bianchi was a GT champion, and his great-uncle Lucien Bianchi won Le Mans in 1968 with Mexico’s Pedro Rodríguez. He started in karting, won the French Formula Renault title in 2007 and raced F3 Euroseries and GP2 before reaching F1 through Ferrari’s driver academy.

His greatest day was the 2014 Monaco GP: ninth place, the first points in Marussia’s history. On October 5, 2014, at the Japanese GP at Suzuka, in heavy rain, his car went off and hit a recovery crane. He spent nine months in a coma and died in his hometown.

Portrait of Pierre Levegh

Le Mans and Formula 1 driver

Pierre Levegh

Born
· Paris, France
Died
· Le Mans, France

Their story

Pierre Levegh, born Pierre Bouillin, was a sports car and Formula 1 driver. He took his racing name from his uncle, Alfred Velghe, a motoring pioneer who raced as “Levegh”.

Before motor racing he was an all-round sportsman who played ice hockey and tennis. He raced at Le Mans from 1938, and in 1952 made history by trying to win the 24 Hours driving his Talbot alone: he led for almost 23 hours until, exhausted, his engine failed.

In 1955 Mercedes-Benz signed him for Le Mans in the 300 SLR. On lap 35 his car clipped another, flew into the grandstand and disintegrated. Levegh and more than 80 spectators were killed: the worst accident in motor racing history.

Portrait of Renzo Pasolini

Motorcycle road racer

Renzo Pasolini

Born
· Rimini, Italy
Died
· Monza, Italy

Their story

Renzo “Paso” Pasolini was a motorcycle road racer. He raced in the World Championship from 1964 to 1973 for Aermacchi, Benelli and Harley-Davidson, and was twice world runner-up (350cc in 1966 and 250cc in 1972).

He was born in Rimini, in Romagna, Italy’s region with the deepest motorcycle tradition; his father raced bikes too. He was easy to spot: he raced wearing his thick-rimmed glasses under his helmet, as in this photo.

He died on the first lap of the 1973 Nations GP at Monza, in a multi-bike crash that also killed Finnish champion Jarno Saarinen.

Portrait of James Dean

Actor and amateur Porsche racer

James Dean

Born
· Marion, Indiana, USA
Died
· Cholame, California, USA

Their story

James Dean was an actor. With only three leading roles, “East of Eden”, “Rebel Without a Cause” and “Giant”, he became the eternal symbol of rebellious youth.

Speed was his other passion. As a boy he rode motorcycles on his aunt and uncle’s farm in Fairmount, Indiana. In 1955 he began racing seriously in a Porsche 356 Speedster and won his class at Palm Springs. He then bought a Porsche 550 Spyder he nicknamed “Little Bastard”.

He was driving to a race in Salinas, California, when a car turned across his path at a highway junction in Cholame. He was 24.

Portrait of Evel Knievel

Motorcycle daredevil

Evel Knievel

Born
· Butte, Montana, USA
Died
· Clearwater, Florida, USA

Their story

Robert Craig “Evel” Knievel was the most famous motorcycle daredevil in history. His white star-spangled jumpsuit was as iconic as his jumps.

Before that he was a miner, insurance salesman and hockey player. In the 1960s he started jumping over cars, trucks and buses to draw customers to a motorcycle dealership, and turned it into a show. His most famous jumps were the Caesars Palace fountains in Las Vegas (1967) and his rocket attempt to cross Idaho’s Snake River Canyon (1974).

He died of natural causes at 69, after a lifetime of broken bones.

Portrait of Moisés Solana

Mexican F1 and Can-Am driver

Moisés Solana

Born
· Tacubaya, Mexico City, Mexico
Died
· Valle de Bravo, State of Mexico, Mexico

Their story

Moisés Solana was a racing driver and, before that, one of Mexico’s best jai alai players. He raced in Formula 1, Formula 2, sports prototypes and Can-Am.

He began in national races in the 1950s and was a rival of the Rodríguez brothers. He started eight F1 Grands Prix between 1963 and 1968, six in Mexico and two in the United States, for Cooper, Lotus and BRM. His best finish was 10th at the 1964 Mexican GP.

He died in the Valle de Bravo–Bosencheve hillclimb: his McLaren M6B ran wide in a bend, hit a concrete barrier and caught fire.

Portrait of Ricardo Rodríguez

Ferrari’s youngest-ever F1 driver

Ricardo Rodríguez

Born
· Mexico City, Mexico
Died
· Mexico City, Mexico

Their story

Ricardo Rodríguez was a racing driver, considered by many the greatest talent Mexico has produced. He is the youngest driver ever to start a Grand Prix for Ferrari: he was 19.

He began in bicycle and motorcycle racing, winning national titles as a boy. His father, Don Pedro Rodríguez, backed both sons’ careers. At 18 he finished second at the 1960 24 Hours of Le Mans with André Pilette. On his F1 debut, at the 1961 Italian GP, he qualified second for Ferrari.

He died on November 1, 1962, All Saints’ Day, in practice for the Mexican GP at Magdalena Mixhuca, driving a Lotus. He was 20.

Portrait of James Hunt

1976 Formula 1 world champion

James Hunt

Born
· Belmont, Surrey, England
Died
· Wimbledon, London, England

Their story

James Hunt was a Formula 1 driver and 1976 world champion with McLaren. He later became a BBC commentator.

He discovered racing at 18 on a visit to Silverstone, and dropped the medical career his parents had planned. He started in Minis and Formula Ford; his crashes earned him the nickname “Hunt the Shunt”. He reached F1 in 1973 with the Hesketh team and won the 1975 Dutch GP for them.

In 1976 he won the title by one point over Niki Lauda at the final race, a rain-soaked Japanese GP. He retired in 1979 and died of a heart attack at 45.

Portrait of Pedro Rodríguez

Le Mans winner and two-time F1 GP winner

Pedro Rodríguez

Born
· Mexico City, Mexico
Died
· Nuremberg, Germany

Their story

Pedro Rodríguez was a Formula 1 and endurance driver, the most successful Mexican of his era and one of the greatest wet-weather drivers in history.

Like his brother Ricardo, he started on bicycles and motorcycles as a boy, backed by their father. He won two F1 Grands Prix: South Africa 1967 with Cooper-Maserati and Belgium 1970 with BRM. In endurance racing he was a legend: he won the 1968 24 Hours of Le Mans in a Ford GT40 with Lucien Bianchi, and starred in the Gulf-liveried Porsche 917.

He died in an Interserie race at the Norisring, Germany, driving a Ferrari 512M.

Portrait of Ayrton Senna

Three-time Formula 1 world champion

Ayrton Senna

Born
· São Paulo, Brazil
Died
· Bologna, Italy

Their story

Ayrton Senna was a Formula 1 driver and three-time world champion with McLaren (1988, 1990 and 1991). He won 41 Grands Prix and took 65 pole positions.

His father built him a kart when he was four. He was world karting runner-up, moved to England to race Formula Ford and Formula 3, and debuted in F1 with Toleman in 1984. His second place at Monaco that year, in the rain, announced a genius. His rivalry with Alain Prost is one of the greatest in sport.

He crashed at Tamburello corner during the San Marino GP at Imola, driving for Williams, and died that same day in a hospital in Bologna.

Portrait of Ken Miles

Ford GT40 driver and engineer

Ken Miles

Born
· Sutton Coldfield, England
Died
· Riverside, California, USA

Their story

Ken Miles was a sports car driver and engineer, key to the Ford GT40 program that beat Ferrari at Le Mans. He was born on November 1, All Saints’ Day.

He left school young to apprentice at Wolseley Motors. He served in World War II as a tank sergeant and in 1952 moved to California, where he won races in MGs and Porsches. Carroll Shelby hired him as driver and developer of the Cobra and later the GT40.

In 1966 he won the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. At Le Mans, Ford staged a formation finish and Miles lost the win on a technicality. Two months later he died testing the Ford J-car at Riverside.

Portrait of Steve McQueen

The King of Cool, actor and racer

Steve McQueen

Born
· Beech Grove, Indiana, USA
Died
· Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, Mexico

Their story

Steve McQueen was an actor, Hollywood’s “King of Cool”, in films like “The Great Escape”, “Bullitt” and “Le Mans”.

He didn’t just act out races: he ran them. He raced off-road motorcycles and in 1964 rode for the US team at the International Six Days Trial (ISDT). In cars, he finished second at the 1970 12 Hours of Sebring in a Porsche 908, with his foot in a cast, alongside Peter Revson. In “Le Mans” (1971) he wore the white Gulf racing suit seen in this photo.

In 1979 he was diagnosed with mesothelioma, a lung cancer linked to asbestos, which he may have been exposed to in the Marines and through racing suits. He went to Ciudad Juárez for surgery to remove the tumors. He died of cardiac arrest hours after the operation, on November 7, 1980. He was 50.

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