🏳️ Hernan Palermo

Hernan Palermo is a semi-professional competitor rated 3,166, a level that describes drivers who win in pro-am and one-make classes and run mid-pack among full professionals. His career spans seven seasons in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup, where he made 74 starts between 2016 and 2023 without securing a victory but recording one podium finish. His average finishing position of P13 places him firmly in the middle order of the field, and he retired from racing in 2023.[1]

Palermo's competitive record shows a mixed head-to-head picture against his regular rivals. He finished ahead of Alex Bachoura in 33 of 57 shared races, a substantially winning ratio against a Bronze-graded driver; he also held a clear edge over Gresham Wagner in 36 races and Bryan Ortiz in 35 races, both drivers with stronger ratings and championships to their names. Against Selin Rollan, who sits higher in the ratings, Palermo was outpaced badly, finishing ahead only five times in 45 meetings. His most notable results came against drivers substantially above his level; he beat established professional Connor Zilisch three times and IMSA GTD and endurance champion Ben Keating twice, though these remain isolated achievements rather than patterns of dominance.

Palermo spent the majority of his career with Spark Performance and later Slipstream Performance. His final season in 2023 saw him finish seventeenth in the championship across 14 rounds without returning to the podium, ending a seven-year tenure in the series. The field he raced in regularly featured younger drivers progressing through the one-make category, some of whom would go on to national championships; his ability to beat some of these drivers occasionally illustrates the competitive nature of the field rather than any special distinction of his own.