 Moreno in 1997 | |
| Born | (1959-02-11)11 February 1959 (age 66) Rio de Janeiro, Brazil |
|---|---|
| Formula One World Championship career | |
| Nationality |  Brazilian |
| Active years | 1982,1987,1989–1992,1995 |
| Teams | Lotus,AGS,Coloni,EuroBrun,Benetton,Jordan,Minardi,Andrea Moda andForti |
| Entries | 77 (41 starts) |
| Championships | 0 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Podiums | 1 |
| Careerpoints | 15 |
| Pole positions | 0 |
| Fastest laps | 1 |
| First entry | 1982 Dutch Grand Prix |
| Last entry | 1995 Australian Grand Prix |
| Roberto Moreno | |
|---|---|
| CART &Champ Car World Series | |
| Years active | 1985–1986, 1996–2001, 2003, 2007 |
| Teams | Galles Racing Payton/Coyne Racing Bettenhausen Motorsports Newman/Haas Racing Project Indy PacWest Racing Patrick Racing Herdez Competition Pacific Coast Motorsports |
| Starts | 120 |
| Wins | 2 |
| Poles | 2 |
| Best finish | 3rd in2000 |
| Previous series | |
| 1980 1981–1982 1981–1982 1982 1983 1984 1984–1985 1986 1985–1988 1988 1992 1993 1999, 2006–2007 2005, 2007 | BritishFormula Ford 1600 British Formula 3 Championship European F.Three Championship Formula Pacific New Zealand International Series Formula Mondial North America European Formula Two Championship Japanese Formula Two CART International Formula 3000 Honda CR-X Challenge Italian Superturismo Championship French Supertouring Championship IRLIndyCar Series Rolex Sports Car Series |
| Championship titles | |
| 1980 1980 1982 1982 1988 | British Formula Ford 1600 champion Formula Ford Festival winner Macau Grand Prix winner Formula Pacific New Zealand International Formula 3000 champion |
Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959[1]), usually known asRoberto Moreno and also asPupo Moreno, is a Brazilian formerracing driver. He participated in 75Formula One Grands Prix, achieved one podium, and scored a total of fifteen championship points. He raced inCART in 1986, and wasFormula 3000 champion (in 1988) before joining Formula One full-time in 1989. He returned to CART in 1996 where he enjoyed an Indian summer in 2000 and 2001, and managed to extend his career in the series until 2008. He also raced in endurance events and GT's in Brazil, but now works as a driver coach and consultant, and although this takes up a lot of his time, he is not officially retired yet, as he appears in historic events. Away from the sport, he enjoys building light aeroplanes.[2]
Moreno was known as the "Super Sub" late in his career as he was used to replace injured drivers several times.
After winning the 1976 Brazilian 125cc Karting championship, Moreno set his sights on getting to Europe. He arrived in England in 1979, to race in his first season inFormula Ford. He did some races with Marc Smith racing who was the works Royale driver for that year. Marc had a two car transporter to take his and Roberto's car. Roberto was the driver and the mechanic for his Royale car.Ralt owner/designerRon Tauranac lent Moreno an old shed to work out of as his home base. He had a couple of good results, and these convinced Ralph Firman Sr, to sign him as a worksVan Diemen driver for the 1980 season. Whilst driving for Firman, he would win the Townsend Thoresen British Formula Ford title, winning eight races in the process. Meanwhile, in Europe, he drove the same car to three more victories, earning himself second place in the EFDA Townsend Thoresen Euroseries Formula Ford 1600 Championship. His also finished 4th in the RAC British series and 6th the P&O Ferries series. He then rounded out the season by winning the Formula Ford Festival. Moreno would return to race at the Formula Ford Festival in the same car at the 50th anniversary of the Festival in 2021.[3][4]
Moreno's success alerted the attention of no lesser person thanColin Chapman, the successful owner and founder ofFormula One'sTeam Lotus. Roberto only returned to Europe in 1981, because Chapman had given him a F1 testing contract with enough money to continue racing. With these funds, he racedFormula Three, but money was tight. Despite that, paired with Barron Racing, he managed to win two races, however he was more successful across the Atlantic the following season, racing in the CASC North American Formula Atlantic Championship, defeatingAl Unser Jr. in a supporting race at the1982 United States Grand Prix West inLong Beach. Later in 1982, he made another big impression by winning the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières. Prior to that victory, Moreno had found some money to do half a season in theBritish Formula 3 Championship with Ivens Lumar Racing, winning three races in the process, before he was given the opportunity to drive at the1982 Dutch Grand Prix atZandvoort for Lotus, though he ultimately failed to qualify.[4][5][6]
In this period, Moreno (who like his friendNelson Piquet was managed byAustralian Greg "Pee Wee" Siddle) was a popular triple winner of theAustralian Grand Prix in1981,1983 and1984, before it became a Formula One World Championship race from1985. These wins came in the days when the Grand Prix was aFormula Mondial race held atMelbourne's 1.6 km (1.0 mi)Calder Park Raceway. He often defeated current or past World Drivers' Champions to win the AGP, including Piquet,Alan Jones,Niki Lauda andKeke Rosberg, as well as other F1 drivers such asJacques Laffite,Andrea de Cesaris andFrançois Hesnault. In the only Australian Grand Prix he competed in but did not win during the period (1982), he finished third behind future four time World ChampionAlain Prost, andLigier F1 driver Laffite. In all of his pre-F1 Australian Grand Prix drives, Moreno drove aFormula Pacific orFormula MondialRalt RT4 powered by a 1.6 litreFord4cyl engine.[citation needed]
Moreno was winning races in Formula Atlantic, Formula Mondial and Formula Three, when he received a call-up fromColin Chapman to stand in forNigel Mansell atLotus at the1982 Dutch Grand Prix after Mansell broke his wrist in the previous Grand Prix inCanada. Prior to this,Theodore Racing'sJan Lammers broke a thumb during theDetroit Grand Prix and team ownerTeddy Yip wanted Moreno to take over the seat, however Chapman refused to release him. Then during the race inMontréal, Mansell injured his wrist, allowing for Moreno to stand in. This soon turned into a nightmare, as theLotus 91 was a beast to handle, Moreno had barely driven the car, as regular drivers, Mansell andElio de Angelis did most of the testing, with Moreno being restricted to the olderLotus 87B andLotus 88 models. Moreno failed to come to grips with the Lotus 91, with his best qualifying lap over two seconds away from making the grid. At the end of 1982, Lotus released him from his duties as test driver and it took his reputation a while to recover from this poor showing.[7][8][9]
He was to get another chance, but that Dutch race handicapped him for a number of years. At the end of the1987 season he was called up to replacePascal Fabre for theAGS team at theJapanese Grand Prix. Five years after the Lotus fiasco, Moreno was set to make his debut, except he was the slowest of all and once again did not qualify. However,Williams driver Nigel Mansell injured himself during practice and the team subsequently withdrew his entry, thus letting Moreno in for his debut Grand Prix. In the following race, theAustralian Grand Prix, he drove the ungainlyJH22 between the walls of theAdelaide Street Circuit to finish a fine seventh, while others hit the walls and broke their cars. Following post-race scrutineering,Ayrton Senna'sLotus-Honda was disqualified from 2nd for oversized brake ducts and Moreno was promoted to sixth place, scoring his, and the team's, first-ever point in Formula One.[7][8][9]
Moreno went back to North America with Siddle. A sponsor had been found for a whole season of Formula Atlantic, but the support race atLong Beach GP was changed to a Super Vee, then he lost his sponsor. Despite the set-back, his new team, Theodore Racing went off and won the first race atWillow Springs. With the prize money, he did two more races, before the team stopped racing. Luckily for Moreno, the team owner, Teddy Yip, helped finance a move to another team. He won four races, while championship rival,Michael Andretti won three. Moreno missed out on the title as every time he won, Andretti would finish second.[citation needed]
For 1984, Roberto decided to return to Europe to race F3. Whilst pre-season testing withWest Surrey Racing, he got an invitation from Tauranac to join the worksRaltFormula Two team. Moreno finished runner-up toMike Thackwell, the pair dominated the finalEuropean Formula Two Championship, in their Ralt-Hondas. He tasted victory at theHockenheim andDonington Park races. Tauranac wanted Moreno to stay for the inauguralInternational Formula 3000 season (1985), but Moreno had been testing theToleman at the end of 1984, with Senna's car. He look set to get a drive with the team, only to be told that they did not have any tyres, and the deal fell through. A move to Indycars was next for Roberto withRick Galles'sGalles Racing, as he had seen Moreno impress frequently. The deal was for Roberto to drive in the road race. He was invited to do a full campaign in 1986, however they had problems with the car and did not have any good results. When he was unable to find a full-time Indycar drive, he decided to try to get into F3000 driving with Ralt. During that season, he wonGran Premio del Mediterraneo, together with some consistent finishing saw him finished 3rd overall, before receiving the call to join up with AGS.[8][9]
Moreno almost joined theBrabham Formula One team in1984. On the suggestion of his friend, Brabham lead driver and defending World Champion Nelson Piquet, Brabham team ownerBernie Ecclestone almost signed the young Brazilian to drive the team's #2car. However, this opportunity for Moreno came to nothing when Brabham's Italian based sponsorParmalat insisted on having an Italian driver as Piquet's teammate. This led to the unique situation where Ecclestone signed brothersTeo andCorrado Fabi to share the drive in the car. Teo was the main driver, but as he was already contracted to race in theUnited States basedCART/PPG World Series forForsythe Racing, Corrado, who had driven forOsella in1983, substituted for him in 3 races where the respective F1 and CART schedules clashed.
His performance at AGS did not get him a seat in F1. He went to Bromley Motorsport in F3000. The team, owned by Ron Salt, hadGary Anderson as its Technical Director, with whom Roberto had worked with at Galles. With help fromReynard Motorsport, they began the season with virtually no money. Revenge was sweet, when Moreno took a sponsorlessReynard-Cosworth 88D to the title by winning three early-season races, atPau,Silverstone andMonza in a row. A fourth win came in theBirmingham Superprix.[8]
Also in 1988, Moreno made an appearance atSnetterton in the Celebrity Car in the inaugural Honda CR-X Challenge.[10][11]
Not even winning theFIA International Formula 3000 Championship in 1988 in an unsponsored Reynard 88D made the impression needed for a big team to recruit him. Instead, he signed a testing contract withFerrari, who helped him land a racing drive with the ambitiousColoni outfit. The car was never competitive and Moreno only made the grid four times out of 16 attempts.[8][9][12]
Initially, 1990 seemed to be even less promising, with Moreno signing for the nosedivingEuroBrun outfit, qualifying for just two out of the first fourteen races of the season. However, shortly after being informed the team would not be competing in the last two rounds of the season, he was contacted byBenetton to drive their second car, withAlessandro Nannini having almost lost a hand in a helicopter crash following theSpanish Grand Prix. After qualifying eighth, he then shadowed his teammate, Piquet, coming home an excellent second on his Benetton debut in the1990 Japanese Grand Prix atSuzuka, although this result was helped by most other top cars dropping out, withAlain Prost andAyrton Senna famously colliding at the first corner while their teammatesNigel Mansell (Ferrari) andGerhard Berger (McLaren) would both retire. After then again qualifying 8th in theAustralian Grand Prix inAdelaide before going on to finish 7th (Piquet again won), Moreno got a full contract with Benetton for 1991 season.[8][9][12]
However, theBenetton B191, onPirelli tyres, was not as competitive as anticipated, and Moreno's best results were fourth place at theMonaco Grand Prix and theBelgian Grand Prix. In the latter race, Moreno made the fastest lap, but this was overshadowed by F1 debutantMichael Schumacher (driving for theJordan team); this would be Moreno's last race for Benetton before he was controversially paid off and dropped in favour of Schumacher. Schumacher had qualified seventh, and was up to fifth after the start when his clutch failed. The Benetton management, led byTom Walkinshaw and team managerFlavio Briatore, were after a driver to rebuild the team around, convinced that neither the aging Piquet or Moreno were that driver. Briatore and Walkinshaw engaged in some high-level dealing behind the scenes and managed to steal Schumacher from Jordan and Moreno was promptly fired. There are rumours to this day that Moreno was purposely driving within himself for the whole season in order to not show Piquet up (Piquet later admitted on Brazilian television in 2012 that after his qualifying accident atImola in1987 in which he lost around 80% of his depth perception, he only stayed in Formula One "for the money"). As it was, Moreno was offered the vacant Jordan drive for the1991 Italian Grand Prix, where he qualified a very respectable ninth (ahead of teammateAndrea de Cesaris). Unfortunately he spun off on the second lap and retired. He would race the next race in Portugal, and then replacedGianni Morbidelli in theMinardi, at the last race of the year in Adelaide, but Formula One seemed to have passed him by.[8][9][12]
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For the 1992 season, he found himself back with the minnows, signing forAndrea Moda. The outfit had risen from the ashes of Scuderia Coloni, and after two non-starting races withAlex Caffi andEnrico Bertaggia, decided to start over with Moreno andPerry McCarthy (who would later claim fame as the originalStig on theBBC motoring showTop Gear). Moreno and McCarthy faced an uphill struggle, with the uncompetitive team scrambling to even get to most races. Moreno would only qualify the under-tested, under-funded car once, for theMonaco Grand Prix,[13] before the team collapsed following team ownerAndrea Sassetti's arrest at theBelgian Grand Prix.[9][12]
After the Andrea Moda disaster, he spent the next two seasons racing Italian and FrenchTouring Cars, and also attempted to qualify for the1994 Indianapolis 500. 1995 saw Moreno making a brief Formula One comeback, with the ambitiousForti team. Moreno's Brazilian heritage helped him land the drive. Sadly, their car was comparatively slow, and Moreno's best result was fourteenth in theBelgian Grand Prix. He would exit Formula One crashing into the pitlane wall at theAustralian Grand Prix.[12]
1996 would see Moreno resume hisChamp Car career, as he raced aPayton-Coyne RacingLola-Ford, finishing 3rd atMichigan. At the beginning of 1997, he quit Payton-Coyne for its lack of commitment. He drove for three teams during the 1997 season, earning the nickname "Supersub", with his best result of fifth atDetroit in aNewman-HaasSwift-Ford. Here, he replaced an injuredChristian Fittipaldi. He outqualified the team leader,Michael Andretti on several occasions, but still could not pick up a competitive drive for 1998, instead accepting a testing role withPenske.[12]
1998 was more barren, with just three drives. The following season again saw him take two different cars (Newman/Haas andPacWest), with two fourth places his best. In 1999, he also made his firstIndy Racing League start atPhoenix International Raceway finishing 6th and returned to theIndianapolis 500 after a thirteen year absence finishing 20th forTruscelli Team Racing. Only in 2000, having subbed forPatrick Racing in the previous season, Roberto was granted a full-time seat in one of theirReynard Motorsport-Fords, and he led the series for much of the distance, before hitting a low patch, and losing out toGil de Ferran, eventually ranking 3rd overall.[12]
Moreno won his first Champ Car race atCleveland, and in a scene scarcely seen in motor racing, the emotional Moreno wept openly. It had been his first race victory since his Formula 3000 victory twelve years earlier. He won again for Patrick Racing atVancouver the following year, but was less consistent and dropped to 13th in the standings.
In 2003, Moreno drove forHerdez Competition, taking hisLola-Cosworth to 2nd atMiami, and announced his retirement frommotorsport at the end of the year.[citation needed]
In April 2006, after just one outing in a Brazilian Stock Car atJacarepaguá, Moreno substituted forEd Carpenter atVision Racing, in theHonda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
In August of the same year, Moreno became the first driver to test the newPanoz-built Champ Car. According to former series championPaul Tracy, "[Moreno's] a guy who's not going to go out there and make mistakes and go off the road. They need to put miles on the car and run it fairly quickly, and he's the perfect guy for the job."[14]
After running thousands of miles of testing in thePanoz DP01, Moreno got a chance to race it at the2007 Grand Prix of Houston, substituting for the injuredAlex Figge atPacific Coast Motorsports.[15]
Moreno drove as a replacement for an injuredStéphan Grégoire at the2007 Indianapolis 500 forChastain Motorsports. He crashed the car early in the race and finished in last place.
Moreno's helmet has traditionally been yellow, with blue, red, and white wings adorning the visor, sides, and chin area. Written on the lower portion of the helmet is the name "Moreno." Later versions of his helmet have included blue cylindrical designs along with the wings. His helmets are designed by Sid Mosca.
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 |  Skoal Bandit Racing Team | Guy EdwardsRupert Keegan | Porsche 962 | C1 | 72 | DNF (accident) | |
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 |  Spirit of Daytona Racing | Doug Goad Stéphane Grégoire Bob Ward | Crawford-Pontiac DP03 | DP | 194 | DNF (cooling system) | |
| 2007 | Brumos Racing | J. C. FranceHurley Haywood João BarbosaDavid Donohue | Riley-Porsche Mk XI | DP | 662 | 4th | |
Source:[18] | |||||||
| Year | Team | Co-Drivers | Car | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 |  BMW Schnitzer |  Allan Grice Willi Siller | BMW M3 | Div.2 | 178 | DNF (piston) | |
Source:[18] | |||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Ralt Racing Ltd. | Ralt | Honda | SIL 2 | HOC 1 | THR Ret | VAL 2 | MUG Ret | PAU 3 | HOC Ret | MIS NC | PER 2 | DON 1 | BRH 3 | 2nd | 44 |
Source:[19] | ||||||||||||||||
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position; races initalics indicate fastest lap.)
| Year | Entrant | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos. | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | Barron Racing | SIL 6 | THR Ret | EST 5 | NÜR | VAL 9 | PAU | SPA | DIJ | PER | ÖST | ZAN | DON | 15th | 3 |
| 1986 | Bromley Motorsport | SIL | VAL | PAU | SPA | IMO | MUG | PER | ÖST | BIR 10 | BUG | JAR | NC | 0 | |
| 1987 | Ralt Racing Ltd. | SIL 3 | VAL 11 | SPA 3 | PAU 10 | DON 4 | PER 1 | BRH 3 | BIR 2 | IMO 5 | BUG 9 | JAR Ret | 3rd | 30 | |
| 1988 | Bromley Motorsport | JER Ret | VAL 4 | PAU 1 | SIL 1 | MNZ 1 | PER Ret | BRH Ret | BIR 1 | BUG 5 | ZOL 5 | DIJ Ret | 1st | 43 | |
(key) (races initalics indicate fastest lap)
(key)
| Year | Team | No. | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Truscelli Team Racing | 33 | G-Force GF01C | OldsmobileAuroraV8 | WDW | PHX 6 | CLT C | INDY 20 | TXS | PPIR | ATL | DOV | PPI2 | LVS | TX2 | 29th | 38 | [32] | ||||||||
| 2006 | Vision Racing | 20 | Dallara IR-05 | HondaHI6RV8 | HMS | STP 18 | MOT | INDY | WGL | TXS | RIR | KAN | NSH | MIL | MIS | KTY | SNM | CHI | 30th | 12 | [33] | |||||
| 2007 | Chastain Motorsports | 7 | Panoz GF09C | HondaHI7RV8 | HMS | STP | MOT | KAN | INDY 33 | MIL | TXS | IOW | RIR | WGL | NSH | MDO | MIS | KTY | SNM | DET | CHI | 36th | 10 | [34] | ||
| 2008 | Minardi Team USA HVM Racing | 14 | PanozDP01 | CosworthXFEV8t | HMS | STP | MOT1 DNP | LBH1 17 | KAN | INDY | MIL | TXS | IOW | RIR | WGL | NSH | MDO | EDM | KTY | SNM | DET | CHI | SRF2 | 46th | 0 | [35] |
| Year | Chassis | Engine | Start | Finish | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Lola T86/00 | CosworthDFXV8t | 32 | 19 | Galles Racing |
| 1994 | Lola T94/00 | FordXBV8t | DNQ | Arizona Motorsport | |
| 1999 | G-Force GF01C | OldsmobileAuroraV8 | 23 | 20 | Truscelli Racing |
| 2007 | Panoz GF09C | HondaHI7RV8 | 31 | 33 | Chastain Motorsports |
Source:[36] | |||||
