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Roberto Pupo Moreno (born 11 February 1959), usually known as Roberto Moreno and also as Pupo Moreno, is a Brazilian former . He participated in 75 Grands Prix, achieved one podium, and scored a total of fifteen championship points. He raced in in 1986, and was Formula 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.

Moreno was known as the "Super Sub" late in his career as he was used to replace injured drivers several times.


Career

Early career
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 in . 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. owner/designer 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 works 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.

Moreno's success alerted the attention of no lesser person than , the successful owner and founder of 's . 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 raced , 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, defeating Al Unser Jr. in a supporting race at the 1982 United States Grand Prix West in Long 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 the British Formula 3 Championship with Ivens Lumar Racing, winning three races in the process, before he was given the opportunity to drive at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort for Lotus, though he ultimately failed to qualify.


Australian Grand Prix (1981–1984)
In this period, Moreno (who like his friend was managed by Greg "Pee Wee" Siddle) was a popular triple winner of the Australian Grand Prix in 1981, 1983 and 1984, before it became a Formula One World Championship race from 1985. These wins came in the days when the Grand Prix was a race held at '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, and , as well as other F1 drivers such as , Andrea de Cesaris and François 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 Champion , and F1 driver Laffite. In all of his pre-F1 Australian Grand Prix drives, Moreno drove a or powered by a 1.6 litre 4cyl engine.


F1 substitute (1982 and 1987)
Moreno was winning races in Formula Atlantic, Formula Mondial and Formula Three, when he received a call-up from to stand in for at at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix after Mansell broke his wrist in the previous Grand Prix in Canada. Prior to this, 's broke a thumb during the Detroit Grand Prix and team owner Teddy Yip wanted Moreno to take over the seat, however Chapman refused to release him. Then during the race in Montréal, Mansell injured his wrist, allowing for Moreno to stand in. This soon turned into a nightmare, as the Lotus 91 was a beast to handle, Moreno had barely driven the car, as regular drivers, Mansell and Elio de Angelis did most of the testing, with Moreno being restricted to the older Lotus 87B and Lotus 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.Bruce Jones, "The Complete Encyclopedia of Formula One: The Ultimate Guide to the World's Most Exciting Sport" (Carlton Books Ltd, , 1998)

He was to get another chance, but that Dutch race handicapped him for a number of years. At the end of the season he was called up to replace for the AGS team at the Japanese 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, the Australian Grand Prix, he drove the ungainly JH22 between the walls of the Adelaide Street Circuit to finish a fine seventh, while others hit the walls and broke their cars. Following post-race scrutineering, 's Lotus-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.


In between years
Moreno went back to North America with Siddle. A sponsor had been found for a whole season of Formula Atlantic, but the support race at Long 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 at Willow 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, won three. Moreno missed out on the title as every time he won, Andretti would finish second.

For 1984, Roberto decided to return to Europe to race F3. Whilst pre-season testing with West Surrey Racing, he got an invitation from Tauranac to join the works team. Moreno finished runner-up to , the pair dominated the final European Formula Two Championship, in their Ralt-Hondas. He tasted victory at the and races. Tauranac wanted Moreno to stay for the inaugural International Formula 3000 season (1985), but Moreno had been testing the 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 with 's , 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 won Gran Premio del Mediterraneo, together with some consistent finishing saw him finished 3rd overall, before receiving the call to join up with AGS.

Moreno almost joined the Formula One team in . On the suggestion of his friend, Brabham lead driver and defending World Champion Nelson Piquet, Brabham team owner Bernie Ecclestone almost signed the young Brazilian to drive the team's #2 car. However, this opportunity for Moreno came to nothing when Brabham's Italian based sponsor insisted on having an Italian driver as Piquet's teammate. This led to the unique situation where Ecclestone signed brothers and to share the drive in the car. Teo was the main driver, but as he was already contracted to race in the based for , Corrado, who had driven for in , 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, had Gary Anderson as its Technical Director, with whom Roberto had worked with at Galles. With help from Reynard Motorsport, they began the season with virtually no money. Revenge was sweet, when Moreno took a sponsorless Reynard-Cosworth 88D to the title by winning three early-season races, at Pau, Silverstone and Monza in a row. A fourth win came in the Birmingham Superprix.

Also in 1988, Moreno made an appearance at Snetterton in the Celebrity Car in the inaugural Honda CR-X Challenge.


F1 substitute (1989–1995)
Not even winning the FIA 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 with , who helped him land a racing drive with the ambitious outfit. The car was never competitive and Moreno only made the grid four times out of 16 attempts. at the 1991 United States Grand Prix.]]

Initially, 1990 seemed to be even less promising, with Moreno signing for the nosediving 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 by to drive their second car, with Alessandro Nannini having almost lost a hand in a helicopter crash following the Spanish Grand Prix. After qualifying eighth, he then shadowed his teammate, Piquet, coming home an excellent second on his Benetton debut in the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix at , although this result was helped by most other top cars dropping out, with and famously colliding at the first corner while their teammates (Ferrari) and (McLaren) would both retire. After then again qualifying 8th in the Australian Grand Prix in Adelaide before going on to finish 7th (Piquet again won), Moreno got a full contract with Benetton for 1991 season.

However, the Benetton B191, on tyres, was not as competitive as anticipated, and Moreno's best results were fourth place at the Monaco Grand Prix and the Belgian Grand Prix. In the latter race, Moreno made the fastest lap, but this was overshadowed by F1 debutant Michael Schumacher (driving for the Jordan 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 by and team manager , 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 at Imola in 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 the 1991 Italian Grand Prix, where he qualified a very respectable ninth (ahead of teammate Andrea de Cesaris). Unfortunately he spun off on the second lap and retired. He would race the next race in Portugal, and then replaced Gianni Morbidelli in the , at the last race of the year in Adelaide, but Formula One seemed to have passed him by.

For the 1992 season, he found himself back with the minnows, signing for Andrea Moda. The outfit had risen from the ashes of Scuderia Coloni, and after two non-starting races with and , decided to start over with Moreno and (who would later claim fame as the original on the motoring show Top 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 the Monaco Grand Prix, before the team collapsed following team owner 's arrest at the Belgian Grand Prix.

After the Andrea Moda disaster, he spent the next two seasons racing Italian and French , and also attempted to qualify for the 1994 Indianapolis 500. 1995 saw Moreno making a brief Formula One comeback, with the ambitious team. Moreno's Brazilian heritage helped him land the drive. Sadly, their car was comparatively slow, and Moreno's best result was fourteenth in the Belgian Grand Prix. He would exit Formula One crashing into the pitlane wall at the Australian Grand Prix.


IndyCar
1996 would see Moreno resume his career, as he raced a Payton-Coyne Racing -Ford, finishing 3rd at Michigan. 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 at Detroit in a Newman-Haas Swift-Ford. Here, he replaced an injured Christian Fittipaldi. He outqualified the team leader, on several occasions, but still could not pick up a competitive drive for 1998, instead accepting a testing role with .

1998 was more barren, with just three drives. The following season again saw him take two different cars (Newman/Haas and ), with two fourth places his best. In 1999, he also made his first Indy Racing League start at Phoenix International Raceway finishing 6th and returned to the Indianapolis 500 after a thirteen year absence finishing 20th for Truscelli Team Racing. Only in 2000, having subbed for in the previous season, Roberto was granted a full-time seat in one of their Reynard Motorsport-Fords, and he led the series for much of the distance, before hitting a low patch, and losing out to Gil de Ferran, eventually ranking 3rd overall.

Moreno won his first Champ Car race at Cleveland, 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 at Vancouver the following year, but was less consistent and dropped to 13th in the standings.

In 2003, Moreno drove for Herdez Competition, taking his - to 2nd at Miami, and announced his retirement from at the end of the year.

In April 2006, after just one outing in a Brazilian Stock Car at Jacarepaguá, Moreno substituted for Ed Carpenter at , in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

In August of the same year, Moreno became the first driver to test the new -built Champ Car. According to former series champion , " 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."Kirby, Gordon, Gordon Kirby's Inside Track , ChampCarWorldSeries.com, August 1, 2006

After running thousands of miles of testing in the Panoz DP01, Moreno got a chance to race it at the 2007 Grand Prix of Houston, substituting for the injured at Pacific Coast Motorsports. Moreno to Replace Figge in Houston , SpeedTV.com, April 21, 2007

Moreno drove as a replacement for an injured Stéphan Grégoire at the 2007 Indianapolis 500 for Chastain Motorsports. He crashed the car early in the race and finished in last place.


Helmet
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.


Racing record

Career summary
P&O Ferries Formula Ford 1600 Championship101???266th
Euroseries Formula Ford 1600933141042nd
RAC Formula Ford 1600 Championship61???474th
Formula Ford Festival11011N/A1st
European Formula Three11101910th
Goold Motorsport86257N/A1st
31222619th
Macau Grand Prix 11?01N/A1st
European Formula ThreeIvens Lumar Racing10000316th
IMSA GTU ChampionshipAll American Racers400111441st
IMSA Camel GTO Championship100011243rd
European Endurance ChampionshipCharles Ivey Racing100000NC
Japanese Formula Two101011212th
24 Hours of Le MansSkoal Bandit Porsche Team10000N/ADNF
Japanese Formula TwoAdvan Sports Nova500012111th
International Formula 3000Barron Racing40000314th
International Formula 3000Bromley Motorsport10000031st
Formula OneTeam El Charro AGS20000119th
World Touring Car ChampionshipSchnitzer Motorsport100000NC
20001
Team 7UP Jordan20000
10000
Formula OneAndrea Moda Formula100000NC
20000
Payton/Coyne Racing10000
Newman/Haas Racing10000
Newman/Haas Racing50011
Indy Racing LeagueTruscelli Team Racing200003829th
Stock Car BrasilKatalogo Racing100000NC
IndyCar Series100001230th
Champ Car World SeriesPacific Coast Motorsports10000922nd
IndyCar SeriesChastain Motorsports100001036th
Rolex Sports Car SeriesBrumos Porsche100002858th
GT3 Brasil ChampionshipTigueis200000NC
IndyCar Series10000046th
Champ Car World Series100000NC
Rolex Sports Car Series100000NC


Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results


Complete 24 Hours of Daytona results


Complete 24 Hours of Spa results


Complete European Formula Two Championship results
() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
! nowrap ! nowrap ! nowrapHondaSIL


VAL

PAU

MIS
PER


2nd44


Complete International Formula 3000 results
() (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap.)
1985 ! nowrapBarron RacingSIL

EST
NÜRVAL
PAUSPAPERÖSTZAN ! 15th ! 3
1986 ! nowrapBromley MotorsportSILVALPAUSPAIMOPERÖSTBIR
JAR! NC ! 0
1987 ! nowrapSIL
VAL
SPA
PAU

PER

BIR
IMO

JAR
3rd30
1988 ! nowrapBromley MotorsportJER
VAL
PAU
SIL
MNZ
PER

BIR



1st43


Complete Formula One results
() (races in italics indicate fastest lap)
! nowrap ! nowrap 91 ! nowrap V8RSABRAUSWSMRBELMONDETCANNED
GBRFRAGERAUTSUIITACPL! NC ! 0
! nowrap Team AGS ! nowrapAGS JH22 ! nowrap V8BRASMRBELMONDETFRAGBRGERHUNAUTITAPORESPMEXJPN
AUS
! 19th ! 1
!rowspan=2 nowrap Coloni SpA ! nowrapColoni FC188B !rowspan=2 nowrap V8BRA
SMR
MON
MEX
USA
!rowspan=2 NC !rowspan=20
!rowspan=2 nowrap ! nowrap ER189 !rowspan=2 nowrapJudd V8USA
BRA
SMR
MON
CAN
!rowspan=3 10th !rowspan=36
!rowspan=2 nowrap ! nowrap B190B !rowspan=3 nowrapFord V8USA
BRA
!rowspan=4 10th !rowspan=48
! nowrap Andrea Moda Formula ! nowrapAndrea Moda S921 ! nowrapJudd V10RSAMEXBRA
ESP
SMR
MON
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
PORJPNAUS! NC ! 0
! nowrap ! nowrap FG01 ! nowrapFord V8BRA
ARG
SMR
ESP
MON
CAN
FRA
GBR
GER
HUN
BEL
ITA
POR
EUR
PAC
JPN
AUS
! NC ! 0


Complete American Open-Wheel racing results
()


CART/Champ Car World Series
1985 ! nowrap ! 6 ! nowrapMarch 85C ! nowrap DFX V8LBHINDYMILPORMEA
CLEMIS1ROA
POCMDO
SANMIS2LS
PHXMIA
28th10 !
1986 ! nowrap ! 9 ! nowrapLola T86/00 ! nowrap DFX V8PHX1
LBH
INDY
MIL
POR
MEA
CLE
TOR
MIS1
POC
MDO
SANMIS2
ROA
LS
PHX2
MIA
16th30 !
1994 ! nowrapArizona Motorsport ! 44 ! nowrapLola T94/00 ! nowrapFord XB V8SRFPHXLBHINDY
MILDETPORCLETORMISMDONHMVANROANZRLS! NC ! 0 !
1996 ! nowrapPayton/Coyne Racing ! rowspan=234 ! nowrapLola T96/00 ! nowrapFord XB V8MIA
RIO
SRF
LBH
NZR
500
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
MDO
ROA
VAN
LS
21st25 !
1997 ! nowrapPayton/Coyne Racing ! nowrapLola T97/00 !rowspan=2 nowrapFord XD V8MIA
SRF 19th16 ! rowspan=3
1998 ! nowrap ! 15 ! nowrapReynard 97i ! nowrapMercedes-Benz IC108D V8MIA
MOT
LBHNZRRIOGAT 31st0 !rowspan=2
1999 ! nowrap ! 18 ! nowrapReynard 99i ! nowrapMercedes-Benz IC108E V8MIAMOTLBHNZRRIO
STL
MIL
POR
CLE
ROA
TOR
MIS
14th58 !rowspan=2
2000 ! nowrap ! rowspan=220 ! nowrapReynard 2Ki ! nowrapFord XF V8MIA
LBH
RIO
MOT
NZR
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
CHI
MDO
ROA
VAN
LS
STL
HOU
SRF
FON
3rd147 !
2001 ! nowrap ! nowrapReynard 01i ! nowrap RV8F V8MTY
LBH
TXS
NH
NZR
MOT
MIL
DET
POR
CLE
TOR
MIS
CHI
MDO
ROA
VAN
LAU
ROC
HOU
LS
SRF
22*
FON
13th76 !
2003 ! nowrap ! 4 ! nowrapLola B02/00 ! nowrapFord XFE V8STP
MTY
LBH
BRH
LAU
MIL
LS
POR
CLE
TOR
VAN
ROA
MDO
MTL
DEN
MIA
MXCSRF
13th67 !
2007 ! nowrapPacific Coast Motorsports ! 29 ! nowrap DP01 ! nowrap XFE V8LVGLBHHOU
PORCLEMTTTOREDMSJOROAZOLASNSRFMXC 22nd9 !


IRL IndyCar Series
1999 ! nowrapTruscelli Team Racing ! nowrapG-Force GF01C ! 33 ! nowrap Aurora V8WDWPHX
CLT
INDY
TXSPPIRATLDOVPPI2LVSTX2 29th38 !
2006 ! nowrap ! nowrap IR-05 ! 20 ! nowrap HI6R V8HMSSTP
MOTINDYWGLTXSRIRKANNSHMILMISKTYSNMCHI!style="background:#CFCFFF;" 30th !style="background:#CFCFFF;"12 !
2007 ! nowrapChastain Motorsports ! nowrapPanoz GF09C ! 7 ! nowrap HI7R V8HMSSTPMOTKANINDY
MILTXSIOWRIRWGLNSHMDOMISKTYSNMDETCHI!style="background:#CFCFFF;"36th !style="background:#CFCFFF;"10 !
2008 ! nowrapMinardi Team USA
! nowrap
DP01 ! 14 ! nowrap XFE V8HMSSTPMOT1
LBH1
KANINDYMILTXSIOWRIRWGLNSHMDOEDMKTYSNMDETCHISRF2 !style="background:#CFCFFF;"46th !style="background:#CFCFFF;"0 !

1 Run on same day.
2 Non-points race.


Indianapolis 500
1986Lola T86/00 DFX V83219
1994Lola T94/00Ford XB V8DNQArizona Motorsport
1999G-Force GF01C Aurora V82320Truscelli Racing
2007Panoz GF09C HI7R V83133Chastain Motorsports


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