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Roberto José Guerrero Isaza (born 16 November 1958) is a Colombian-American former race driver. He participated in 29 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 23 January 1982, becoming the first Colombian to start a Formula One Grand Prix.
With no championship points in Formula One and no prospects to drive for a competitive team, Guerrero left at the end of the 1983 season to race in the United States. He had an auspicious beginning to his Indycar racing career, winning both CART and Indianapolis 500 rookie of the year honors in 1984. His initial promise was never completely fulfilled, winning only two CART races, both in 1987. Later the same year he had a massive accident which left him in a coma for 17 days.
Of special note were Guerrero's participations in the Indianapolis 500. He came very close to winning outright on two occasions, but bad luck always kept the victory out of his grasp. In 1992 he spun off on the pace lap after having qualified on the pole position. Guerrero finished runner up twice, in the top-five five times, and held the qualifying speed record from 1992 through 1996. Guerrero was also selected to participate in the 1988 International Race of Champions.
Guerrero became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1989. He and his wife have three children and reside in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County, California.
In recent years Guerrero has returned to racing, but of a different venue. He began off-road racing at the legendary Baja 2000. He has since continued to race in Baja 1000 events and guide tours of the Baja Peninsula with Wide Open Baja.
Guerrero returned to the series in 1980 with Argo Racing Cars in an Argo JM6-Toyota. During the season he scored five victories at Thruxton Circuit (twice), Cadwell Park, Brands Hatch and Oulton Park. He tied for second in the standings with Kenneth Acheson, each with 95 points.
In 1983 Ensign Racing merged with Theodore Racing and as a result Guerrero began driving the No. 33 Café de Colombia Theodore N183-Ford Cosworth Cosworth DFV. Guerrero only failed to qualify at the Monaco Grand Prix and became more consistent in finishing races. Despite this Guerrero's best finishes were a pair of twelfth place finishes at the Dutch Grand Prix and the European Grand Prix. At the end of the season Guerrero again failed to score points and was as a result unranked in the championship while rookie teammate Johnny Cecotto managed to get a sixth place finish and with it one point towards the championship for himself and Theodore (although Cecotto failed to qualify four times to Guerrero's single time).
In 1985, Bignotti retired, and the team was reorganized as Team Cotter with Guerrero driving their No. 9 Master Mechanic/True Value March 85C-Cosworth DFX. Compared to the previous season, 1985 was a disappointment highlighted by a 3rd-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 and a 4th at the Stroh's 300K at Laguna Seca Raceway. The season also saw Guerrero retire out of a race twice while leading, first at the Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway (due to gearbox issues) and then at the Molson Indy 300 at Sanair Super Speedway (due to Guerrero crashing). Guerrero finished the season seventeenth in points with 34 points.
Guerrero returned with Team Cotter in 1986 to drive their No. 2 True Value/Emerson Electronics March 86C-Cosworth DFX (numbered 5 at Indianapolis only). Guerrero continued his streak of impressive finishes with a fourth place in the race. Guerrero also scored a pair of second place finishes, first at the Escort Radar Warning 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course and the Miami Indy Challenge 200 at Tamiami Park. In the latter, Guerrero qualified on pole position and led every lap, except the final lap due to running out of fuel and handing the win to Al Unser Jr.. Guerrero finished the season ninth in points with 87 points.
In 1987 Cotter sold the team to Vince Granatelli (son of former Indy car owner Andy Granatelli) to form Vince Granatelli Racing with Guerrero driving the No. 4 True Value/STP March 87C-Cosworth DFX. Guerrero scored his first Indy car win at the Checker 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. In the race, Guerrero originally qualified 3rd, but the car was declared illegal, and Guerrero started 22nd (last) to charge his way up through the field to win. At the Indianapolis 500, Guerrero and Granatelli were one of the few teams to have no issues with March 87C as several teams decided to use year-old 86C models instead. In the race, Guerrero qualified fifth and was viewed as among the favorites, along with pole sitter Mario Andretti and defending winner Bobby Rahal. In the race, Rahal retired after 57 laps due to ignition problems, and Guerrero was in second place behind Andretti for much of the race. On the 130th lap, a wheel came off of Tony Bettenhausen's car, and it hit the nose of Guerrero's car and went flying into the grandstand and where it killed spectator Lyle Kurtenbach. On lap 177, Andretti started to have electrical troubles, and Guerrero took the lead. On lap 182, Guerrero came in for his final pit stop, and as he exited his pit stall, the engine stalled. Third gear had been damaged earlier in the race by the Bettenhausen incident, and the car began to get moving, only to stop just outside the pit lane. This caused Al Unser to take the lead and get a lap on Guerrero. Guerrero finally got going and unlapped himself on lap 191, and there was a caution on lap 192 for Andretti stopping on the track. On lap 196, the restart came out with six cars between Unser and Guerrero. Guerrero was unable to get by Unser and ended up finishing second to one of the year-old March 86Cs to be pressed into race service.
Guerrero's recovery from his near-fatal accident was documented by IndyCar Medical Director, Dr. Steve Olvey, who said in his biography, Rapid Response: My Inside-Story as a Motor-Racing Life-Saver, that he saved Guerrero's life by lowering the pressure in his brain with injections of medicines that were brand-new to the medical field and were not widely practiced yet. Somehow, his treatment worked and Guerrero's recovery, which only took less than three months, led to him studying traumatic brain injuries as his primary focus of study.
Following the 1988 season Guerrero and Granatelli split for 1989. Guerrero joined Alex Morales Motorsports, who was at the time the factory (and only) team using Alfa Romeo engines. Guerrero drove the No. 21 Alfa Romeo March 89CE-Alfa Romeo Indy V8. The engine ended up being not ready for the start of the season and the team missed the first four races of the year, including the Indianapolis 500. Guerrero was even offered the chance to drive an extra car for Truesports. Guerrero had to decline due to his contract with Alfa Romeo. The team managed to first compete at the Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix on the Streets of Detroit. In the race Guerrero was able to finish eighth. The remainder of the season saw Guerrero score only one additional point due to a twelfth place finish at the Red Roof Inns 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Guerrero would finish 23rd in points with 6 points.
Prior to 1990 Morales Motorsports closed down and Patrick Racing took over the Alfa Romeo project with Guerrero driving the No. 20 Miller Genuine Draft March 90CA-Alfa Romeo Indy V8. Guerrero managed to qualify for the Indianapolis 500, starting 28th and finishing 23rd due to suspension damage. The team then switched to using a Lola T90/00 starting at the Marlboro 500 at Michigan International Speedway. In the race, Guerrero finished in fifth place. At the end of the season Guerrero finished sixteenth in the points with 24 points.
In 1991 Guerrero was replaced by Danny Sullivan and was left without a car to drive. At the Indianapolis 500 Guerrero drove a second car for Patrick Racing in the No. 40 Sharp's Lola T91/00-Alfa Romeo Indy V8. He qualified 28th and finished thirtieth after being involved in a crash with Kevin Cogan on Guerrero's 24th lap. Guerrero then drove three select races for King Racing in the No. 26 Quaker State Lola T91/00-Buick V6, scoring a best finish of fourteenth at the Valvoline Detroit Grand Prix on the Streets of Detroit and the Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Denver at the Pepsi Center. Guerrero finally drove the No. 50 Fendi/Hawaiian Tropic Lola T91/00-Cosworth DFS at the Molson Indy Toronto at Exhibition Place, qualifying and finishing in 18th place. Guerrero scored no points for the first time in his CART career and finished 37th in the championship.
For 1992 Guerrero drove in a pair of races for the part-time team King Racing, first driving the No. 26 Quaker State Lola T91/00-Buick V6 at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on the Streets of Long Beach, starting fourteenth and finishing thirteenth. At the Indianapolis 500 King updated Guerrero to a Lola T92/00-Buick V6 and the number was changed to 36 (Jim Crawford began to drive the No. 26 car). During qualifying Guerrero set a new four-lap track record of 232.482 mph and a new one-lap record of 232.618 mph on the third lap. Guerrero qualified on pole position and became the first part-time driver to qualify on the pole since Pancho Carter in 1985. In the race Guerrero spun out and crashed on the backstretch during the second parade lap and did not even get to start the race, being credited with 33rd (last) place. Guerrero joined Cliff Woodbury in 1929 and Carter in 1985 as drivers who started first in the Indianapolis 500 and finished last; they were later joined by Greg Ray in 2000 and Scott Sharp in 2001. Guerrero finished 38th in the championship with one point.
In 1993 King Racing expanded to a full-time schedule with Guerrero driving their No. 40 Budweiser Lola T93/00-Ilmor-Chevrolet. At the Indianapolis 500 Guerrero qualified tenth and finished 28th after being involved in a crash with Jeff Andretti after 125 laps. During the year Guerrero and King consistently qualified in the mid-pack, with a best start of fourth at the Valvoline 200 at Phoenix International Raceway. Guerrero's best finish was also a fourth at the New England 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Following the Molson Indy Vancouver at Concord Pacific Place King released Guerrero. Guerrero finished fourteenth in the championship with 39 points (he was thirteenth in the championship at the time of his release).
In 1994 Guerrero could only get a car to drive at the Indianapolis 500 with Pagan Racing (the same team who owned the car that Jeff Andretti crashed into Guerrero the previous year) in their No. 21 Interstate Batteries Lola T92/00-Buick V6. The chassis was the same chassis that Guerrero drove in 1992. Guerrero qualified 20th and finished 33rd (last) due to a crash after twenty laps. He scored no points and tied for 54th in the championship.
In 1995 Guerrero returned with Pagan Racing in their No. 21 Upper Deck Reynard 94i-Ilmor-Mercedes-Benz IC108B. Guerrero first raced at the Slick 50 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, starting 25th and finishing sixteenth. The team then competed in the Indianapolis 500, where Guerrero qualified in a respectable thirteenth place and finished in twelfth place. Guerrero finished the season 33rd in the championship with one point.
During the 1996 portion of the 1996-1997 season Guerrero continued to drive for Pagan Racing in the No. 21 Pennzoil Reynard 95i-Ford Cosworth XB. At the season-opening True Value 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Guerrero started eighteenth and finished sixth. Guerrero then drove a Reynard 94i at the Las Vegas 500K at Las Vegas Motor Speedway to start ninth and finish a season-best fourth. Starting at the Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Speedway the series began to use a different type of spec car with Guerrero driving the No. 21 Pennzoil Dallara-Nissan Infiniti Q45 for Pagan Racing. The Infiniti engine was usually slower than the competing Oldsmobile engine and Guerrero's best race with the engine was the Phoenix 200 at Phoenix International Raceway, where he started tenth and finished seventh. At the Indianapolis 500 Guerrero qualified in nineteenth place and finished 27th after retiring due to a suspension failure after 25 laps with Guerrero running as high as eleventh place. Starting with the Samsonite 200 at Pikes Peak International Raceway the team switched to the Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8. Guerrero's best finish with the Oldsmobile engine came at the Pennzoil 200 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway with a sixth place finish. At the season-ending Las Vegas 500K at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Guerrero suffered a major accident on lap 201 on the backstretch. Guerrero flipped coming off of the second turn and flipped into the grass area next to the racetrack. He climbed out of his destroyed car just moments after the accident finished. Guerrero finished the season ranked seventh in points with 221 points.
In 1998 Pagan Racing was left without a sponsor when the team's chief mechanic, John Barnes, formed his own team called Panther Racing using Pagan's former Pennzoil sponsorship. Guerrero drove the No. 21 Pagan Racing Dallara IR8-Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8. At the season-opening Indy 200 at Walt Disney World Speedway Guerrero qualified 6th and finished 26th after retiring due to a crash after thirteen laps. At the Indianapolis 500 Guerrero won the Scott Brayton Award for best showing the spirit of the deceased driver. In the race Guerrero started ninth and finished 22nd, 75 laps down. Following the True Value 500 at Texas Motor Speedway Pagan released Guerrero. Guerrero then joined Price Cobb to drive the No. 23 CBR G-Force IR01-Nissan Infiniti Q45. Guerrero finished fourth at the Lone Star 500 at Texas Motor Speedway. Guerrero finished 26th in the championship with 83 points.
In 1999 Guerrero returned with Price Cobb in the No. 50 Cobb Racing G-Force IR01-Nissan Infiniti Q45. Guerrero's best finish of the season was a thirteenth place finish at the season-opening Transworld Diversified Services 200 at Walt Disney World Speedway. The team closed down following the Indianapolis 500 where Guerrero started and finished 25th. After Indianapolis Guerrero was ranked seventeenth in points. He eventually finished thirtieth in the championship with 36 points.
For 2000 Guerrero managed to get a one-off race for A. J. Foyt Enterprises in the No. 41 Harrah's Dallara IR00-Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8. Guerrero was unable to qualify for the race, making it the first time since 1989 that he failed to start the Indianapolis 500. Guerrero later competed in the Belterra Resort Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway for Team Coulson in the No. 40 Team Coulson G-Force GF01-Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8. In the race Guerrero started 25th and finished 23rd after retiring after 48 laps due to engine troubles in what would be his final Indy car race. Guerrero finished the season 44th in the championship with seven points.
In 2001 Guerrero had no team at the beginning of practice for the Indianapolis 500. Dick Simon Racing then needed a driver for their No. 7 Yellow Transportation Dallara IR01-Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8 after Stéphan Grégoire left the team. Guerrero eventually managed to qualify the car. On the final day of qualifying Grégoire began driving for Heritage Motorsports and bumped Guerrero from the field and Guerrero failed to qualify for the second consecutive year.
Guerrero was reported to be searching for a car to drive in the 2002 Indianapolis 500, although nothing materialized. He eventually retired from racing by 2003.
| ! nowrap Maurer Motorsport ! nowrap | Maurer MM81 ! BMW | SIL | Hockenheimring | Thruxton Circuit | Eifelrennen | VLL | Mugello Circuit | PAU | PER | SPA | Donington Park | MIS | Mantorp Park ! 7th ! 16 |
| 1982 !rowspan=2 nowrap | Ensign Racing ! nowrap | Ensign N180B !rowspan=2 nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | RSA | !rowspan=2 NC !rowspan=2 | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1983 ! nowrap | Theodore Racing ! nowrap | Theodore Racing N183 ! nowrap | Ford Cosworth DFV 3.0 V8 | BRA | USW | FRA | SMR | MON | BEL | DET | CAN | GBR | GER | AUT | NED | ITA | EUR | RSA | ! NC ! 0 |
| 1984 ! nowrap | Bignotti-Cotter Racing ! rowspan=2 | 9 ! nowrap | March 84C ! nowrap | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | LBH | PHX1 | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MIS1 | ROA | POC | MOH | SAN | MIS2 | PHX2 | LS | LVG | 11th | 52 | |
| 1985 ! nowrap | Team Cotter ! nowrap | March 85C ! nowrap | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | LBH | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | MIS1 | ROA | POC | MOH | SAN | MIS2 | LS | PHX | MIA | 17th | 34 | |||
| 1986 ! nowrap | Team Cotter ! 2 ! nowrap | March 86C ! nowrap | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | PHX1 | LBH | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | TOR | MIS1 | POC | MOH | SAN | MIS2 | ROA | LS | PHX | MIA | 9th | 87 | |
| 1987 ! nowrap | Vince Granatelli Racing ! rowspan=3 | 4 ! nowrap | March 87C ! nowrap | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | LBH | PHX | INDY | MIL | POR | MEA | CLE | TOR | MIS | POC | ROA | MOH | NAZ Inj | LS Inj | MIA Inj | 4th | 106 | ||
| 1988 !rowspan="2" nowrap | Vince Granatelli Racing ! nowrap | Lola T88/00 !rowspan="2" nowrap | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | CLE | TOR | MEA | MIS | POC | MOH | MIA | 12th | 40 | |||||||
| 1989 !rowspan="2" nowrap | Alex Morales Motorsports !rowspan=2 | 21 ! nowrap | March 89CE !rowspan="2" nowrap | Alfa Romeo Indy V8 | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | MIS | POC | MOH | ROA | LS | 23rd | 6 | |||
| 1990 !rowspan="2" nowrap | Patrick Racing !rowspan=2 | 20 ! nowrap | March 90CA !rowspan="2" nowrap | Alfa Romeo Indy V8 | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | MEA | TOR | 16th | 24 | ||||||||
| 1991 ! nowrap | Patrick Racing ! 40 !rowspan="3" nowrap | Lola T91/00 ! nowrap | Alfa Romeo Indy V8 | SRF | LBH | PHX | INDY | MIL | 38th | 0 | |||||||||||||
| 1992 !rowspan="2" nowrap | King Racing ! 26 ! nowrap | Lola T91/00 !rowspan="2" nowrap | Buick V6 Turbocharged | SRF | PHX | LBH | 38th | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| 1993 ! nowrap | King Racing ! 40 ! nowrap | Lola T93/00 ! nowrap | Ilmor-Chevrolet | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | NHA | ROA | VAN | MOH | NAZ | LS | 14th | 39 | ||
| 1994 ! nowrap | Pagan Racing ! rowspan=2 | 21 ! nowrap | Lola T92/00 ! nowrap | Buick V6 Turbocharged | SRF | PHX | LBH | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | MOH | NHA | VAN | ROA | NAZ | LS | 54th | 0 | |
| 1995 ! nowrap | Pagan Racing ! nowrap | Reynard 94i ! nowrap | Ilmor-Mercedes-Benz IC108B | MIA | SRF | PHX | LBH | NAZ | INDY | MIL | DET | POR | ROA | TOR | CLE | MIS | MOH | NHA | VAN | LS | 33rd | 1 | |
| 1996 !rowspan="7" nowrap | Pagan Racing !rowspan=7 | 21 ! nowrap | Reynard 94i !rowspan="4" nowrap | Ford Cosworth | WDW | PHX | 4th | 237 !rowspan=2 | ||||||||||||
| 1996–97 | NHM | 7th | 221 !rowspan=4 | |||||||||||||||||
| 1998 ! nowrap | Dallara | WDW | PHX | INDY | TXS | NHM | DOV | CLT | 26th | 83 !rowspan=2 | ||||||||||
| 1999 ! nowrap | Price Cobb ! 50 | WDW | PHX | CLT | INDY | TXS | PPIR | ATL | DOV | PPI2 | LVS | TX2 | 30th | 36 ! | ||||||
| 2000 ! nowrap | A. J. Foyt Enterprises ! 41 ! nowrap | Dallara !rowspan="4" | Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8 | WDW | PHX | LVS | INDY | TXS | PPIR | ATL | 44th | 7 !rowspan=2 | ||||||||
| 2001 ! nowrap | Dick Simon Racing ! 07 ! nowrap | Dallara | PHX | HMS | ATL | INDY | TXS | PPIR | RIR | KAN | NSH | KTY | STL | CHI | TX2 ! NC ! - ! | |||||
| 1984 | March 84C | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | 7 | 2 | Bignotti-Cotter Racing |
| 1985 | March 85C | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | 16 | 3 | Team Cotter |
| 1986 | March 86C | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | 8 | 4 | Team Cotter |
| 1987 | March 87C | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | 5 | 2 | Vince Granatelli Racing |
| 1988 | Lola Cars | Cosworth Cosworth DFX | 12 | 32 | Vince Granatelli Racing |
| 1990 | March 90CA | Alfa Romeo Indy V8 | 28 | 23 | Patrick Racing |
| 1991 | Lola Cars | Alfa Romeo Indy V8 | 28 | 30 | Patrick Racing |
| 1992 | Lola Cars | Buick V6 Turbocharged | 1 | 33 | King Racing |
| 1993 | Lola Cars | Ilmor-Chevrolet | 10 | 28 | King Racing |
| 1994 | Lola Cars | Buick V6 Turbocharged | 30 | 33 | Pagan Racing |
| 1995 | Reynard 94I | Ilmor-Mercedes-Benz IC108B | 13 | 12 | Pagan Racing |
| 1996 | Reynard 95i | Cosworth | 6 | 5 | Pagan Racing |
| 1997 | Dallara | Nissan Infiniti Q45 | 19 | 27 | Pagan Racing |
| 1998 | Dallara | Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8 | 9 | 22 | Pagan Racing |
| 1999 | G-Force GF01 | Nissan Infiniti Q45 | 25 | 25 | Price Cobb |
| 2000 | Dallara | Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8 | DNQ | A. J. Foyt Enterprises | |
| 2001 | Dallara | Oldsmobile Aurora Indy V8 | DNQ | Dick Simon Racing | |
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