Roberto Moreno

I doubt if there is a driver featured in this book with more resilience than Roberto Moreno. Over the past three decades plenty of talented drivers have, at best, seen their careers end up in racing backwaters, or found themselves with no drives at all. The Brazilian has faced both these hurdles with seemingly endless regularity, but has still managed, by a combination of unquenchable optimism, huge application and no little ability, to remain much in demand.

A childhood friend and karting companion of Nelson Piquet, Roberto followed the future World Champion to Europe in 1979; he soon made a big impact in a Royale, and then in 1980 won 15 races and the British FF1600 championship in a Van Diemen. A testing contract with Lotus gave Moreno the lifeline to sustain a Formula 3 career, while a victory in the Australian GP with a Ralt (beating Piquet and Jones) at the end of 1981 raised his profile greatly. He started 1982 winning in Formula Atlantic in the USA before having a disastrous Grand Prix outing for Lotus at Zandvoort, where he failed to qualify, which handicapped his career for a number of years. In 1984 he finished second to team-mate Thackwell in the Formula 2 championship, but a chance of a Formula 1 return with Toleman foundered when the team failed to gain up a tyre deal. This led Roberto to try his hand at Indy Car racing with Rick Galles, and while results were disappointing the little Brazilian certainly impressed.

Returning to Europe in 1987, Moreno was back with Ralt in F3000, but his luck was out. Leading round after round, his car always seemed to hit trouble and he only managed to win one race, at Enna. Fortune did smile with a return to Grands Prix with the little AGS team which yielded a point in the Australian GP, but with no chance of racing with them in 1988 due to a lack of funding Moreno was forced to stay in F3000. Once again he showed his talent by clinching the championship with a virtually unsponsored Reynard, winning four rounds.

Buoyed by a testing contract with Ferrari, Roberto took up a drive with Coloni, then joined EuroBrun, only for the team to fold. Dramatically, after a run of non-qualifications, he was then given the Benetton seat in place of the sadly injured Nannini, and a sensational debut in Japan saw him finish second to team-mate Piquet and gain a well-earned contract for 1991. His big season was something of an anti-climax, however, and when Michael Schumacher was snatched from Jordan, Roberto found himself turfed out of the team, ironically after his best race of the year at Spa. After seeing out the season with Jordan and Minardi.

Moreno was back at square one in 1992, this time with the hapless Andrea Moda outfit. He showed unbelievable qualities to brilliantly to qualify the car at Monaco, but when the team were finally thrown out of the championship Roberto was left with no option but to find a ride in Italian touring cars, and in 1993 he was enjoying his racing again with an Alfa in the French Supertourisme championship

It was quite a surprise when it was announced that Roberto would partner Pedro Diniz in the new Forti Corse F1 team in 1995, but the all-Brazilian driver pairing were forced to spend most of their races looking in their mirrors as the leaders lapped them with monotonous regularity. In 1996, after a ten-year absence, Roberto returned to Indy Car racing with the underfinanced Payton-Coyne Racing. Predictably his professionalism brought its reward with a superb third place in the U.S. 500 at Michigan, the team's best-ever finish. Initially without a ride for 1997, Roberto was soon in action as a replacement for the injured Christian Fittipaldi at Newman-Haas. The fact that he outqualified team-mate Michael Andretti three times in six races raised a few eyebrows, but no one else, it seemed, shared the Brazilian's innate self-confidence

The following season began with two races for Project Indy before Moreno quit, and it seemed that his only future lay in the Indy Racing League. Indeed he started 1999 in that category with a sixth place at Phoenix before another call into CART action as a substitute for Mark Blundell at PacWest. Roberto immediately established a great rapport with the team and helped to refocuss their efforts before taking on an even more rewarding stand-in role at Newman-Haas. Once again Moreno stepped in for the unfortunate Fittipaldi and drove splendidly, taking a career-best second place at Laguna Seca.

Roberto's efforts have been recognised at last, as 'Supersub' finally got the full-time ride he deserved with Patrick Racing for 2000. He did not let his team down, for at the age of 41, Moreno put in a worthy challenge for the title before finishing third behind Gil de Ferran and Adrian Fernandez. The highlight of Moreno's year was his dominant victory from pole position at Cleveland. The Brazilian remained at Patrick for 2001 but his season was less happy, and despite a win in Vancouver, he lost his Champ Car ride once more for the 2002 season

Another comeback was conjured by the never-say-die Moreno who found himself a seat at the Herdez team in 2003 alongside the young Mexican Mario Dominguez. His wealth of experience was of huge benefit to the team and he played a full part in their success that included a 1-2 finished in Surfers Paradise. No more Champ Car rides were forthcoming but he remained part of the community, piloting a two-seater car that gave personalities and VIPs the ride of their life.

However, his racing career was not yet over. Whilst acting as a driver coach to Ed Carpenter for 2006, Moreno stood in for the indisposed youngster at an IRL race in St Petersburg, where he proved to still be competitive before a collision put him out of the race. Moreno’s testing ablities led him to develop Champ Car’s 2007 Panoz chassis, but he races on, sharing a Riley Porsche which took fourth place at the Daytona 24 Hour race.