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Roberto Guerrero, first Colombian

25. Nov 2023 
by Ziv Knoll
5168 views

Roberto Guerrero, born 16 November 1958 in Medellin, is a Colombian former racing driver. He participated in 29 Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1982 and 1983, driving a Café de Colombia-sponsored Ensign (picture-below), and later a Theodore, but despite showing good speed, he failed to score a point. Guerrero is the first Colombian to start a Formula One Grand Prix.

Guerrero then moved to the US, trying his luck in the CART series. His best championship finish is 4th in 1987 in a Vince Granatelli Racing March (picture-above), when he won two races at Phoenix and at Mid-Ohio.

Very competitive at Indianapolis, the Colombian finished second twice at the Indy 500, plus a third, fourth and fifth, but never won the legendary race in his 15 starts. In 1992, he held pole position, but a mishap on cold tires on the second parade lap cost him a chance to race that day.

Guerrero: “I think of those 15 times, there were three where we should have won it. But that’s the way life is. Not everything goes the way you expect. At Indianapolis, I had the highest of the highs and the lowest of the lows. The pole was one of the highs, the parade lap crash one of the lows.”

Guerrero, pictured here-below in his Formula One days with his wife Katie, became a naturalised citizen of the United States in 1989. He resides with his family in the Orange County, California.

Source: DR

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