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.
Early racing
Karting Guerrero began his racing career in 1972 by competing in kart racing. From 1972 to 1977, he won two national championships in his native Colombia. He also finished third in the 1975 Pan American Karting Championship.
Jim Russell Driving School Guerrero then joined the Jim Russell Racing School in 1977. In the school's six events, Guerrero managed to win five of the races and finished second in the other race.
Open wheel racing
Formula car racing
British Formula Ford 1600 Guerrero began competing in British Formula Ford 1600 in 1978. He took eight wins during the season.
Formula Three
British Formula 3 Guerrero competed in Vandervell British Formula 3 for Angila Cars in an Argo JM3-Toyota. He finished ninth in the standings with fifteen points.
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.
European Formula Three While competing in British Formula 3 Guerrero competed in European Formula Three. He again drove for Angila Cars in an Argo JM3-Toyota. At the end of the season he scored two points to finish in 25th place in the championship.
European Formula Two In , Guerrero began competing in European Formula Two for Maurer Motorsport in a Maurer MM81-BMW. He won the Jochen Rindt Memorial Trophy at the Thruxton Circuit. His next best finishes were a pair of fourth place finishes at the Gran Premio del Mediterraneo at Enna-Pergusa and the Gran Premio dell'Adriatico at the Misano Circuit and he finished seventh in the championship with 16 points.
Formula One
Guerrero began competing in Formula One in 1982 for Ensign Racing, beginning the season in a No. 14 Café de Colombia/Moda Caribu Ensign N180B-Ford Cosworth DFV at the season-opening South African Grand Prix. He failed to qualify for the event due to Guerrero's Formula Two team Maurer Motorsport and its boss Willy Maurer filing an injunction to Ensign team boss Morris Nunn and as a result Guerrero was withdrawn from the race. An official press report from Nunn stated that Guerrero was "in an inappropriate physical and mental condition to drive." Guerrero returned for the following race, the Brazilian Grand Prix, in a new Ensign N181. He again failed to qualify for the race. Guerrero qualified for the third race of the season, the United States Grand Prix West, starting nineteenth and finished fifteenth after crashing 27 laps into the race. Ensign skipped the San Marino Grand Prix due to the FISA–FOCA war and Guerrero then failed to qualify for the Belgian Grand Prix. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Ensign's tire supplier Avon withdrew from Formula One and that left the team tireless. The team got some older tires to use for the race, but Guerrero failed to qualify. Michelin started supplying tires to the team after Monaco and Guerrero qualified for Michelin's first race for the team, the Detroit Grand Prix, starting in a respectable eleventh place. In the race, Guerrero was involved in a crash six laps into the race and was credited with a nineteenth place finish. After that, Guerrero then only failed to qualify at the Dutch Grand Prix and the French Grand Prix. Guerrero scored his best finish of 1982 (and his entire Formula One career) at the German Grand Prix with an 8th-place finish. At the season-ending Caesars Palace Grand Prix, Guerrero qualified in 15th place. The car's engine then blew in the warm up and Guerrero missed the race. Guerrero was unranked in the championship standings due to the fact that he had scored no 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 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).
Indy car racing
CART Indycar World Series
Guerrero made his Indy car debut in 1984 for Bignotti-Cotter Racing in the No. 9 Master Mechanic March 84C-Cosworth DFX with legendary chief mechanic George Bignotti serving as Guerrero's chief mechanic. The high point of Guerrero's season was a second place finish at the Indianapolis 500 where he also shared the race's rookie of the year award with Michael Andretti. Guerrero's best finishes outside of Indianapolis were a pair of fifth place finishes at the Budweiser Cleveland Grand Prix at Burke Lakefront Airport and the Michigan 500 at Michigan International Speedway. Guerrero finished out the season eleventh in points with 52 points, only one point out of the top ten. Guerrero won the series' rookie of the year award.
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 third-place finish at the Indianapolis 500 and a fourth 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 third, 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 Sr. 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.
Near-fatal crash and recovery
After his near-win in Indianapolis, subsequently, Guerrero scored four pole positions at the Miller American 200 in Honor of Rex Mays at the Milwaukee Mile, the Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 presented by Texaco at Portland International Raceway, Budweiser Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport, and the Escort Radar Warning 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. In the latter Guerrero scored his second (and unbeknownst at the time, last) IndyCar victory. Just days after his Mid-Ohio victory, Guerrero was testing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, when he crashed and was hit by a tire off of his car. Guerrero was in a coma for seventeen days and did not compete in any more races in 1987. Guerrero finished a career-best fourth in points with 106 points, despite missing the final three races of the season.
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.
Later career