Difference between revisions of "Daniel Moreno"

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Daniel Moreno (born February 28, 1968) is a Canadian racing driver who raced in the F1RGP2C. Moreno joined the series at its outset in 1994 for Williams and continued to drive for the team for the next five seasons. He was one of the most experienced drivers in the F1RGP2C and was best-known for winning the Drivers Championship in 1996. However, he procured a frosty relationship with the media, with British tabloids in particular, during his time at Williams. Because of this, his European reputation has suffered in recent years following his abrupt retirement from European motorsport in 2003. Moreno's decided to quit racing altogether in 2005 and joined the Canadian Formula 1 (and F1RWRS, eventually) broadcasts on TSN where he continues to this day.

Biography

Early Career

Daniel Moreno began his racing career at eleven when his uncle, a local karting enthusiast, offered young Daniel a chance to race for his eleventh birthday. According to Moreno, he was "absolutely shite" in his first karting experience and finished in dead last. However, he was able to convince his parents to commit to a career as a professional driver (a monumental feat). His uncle refused to give Daniel a ride until he had learned how to drive properly. One year later, armed with a few hundred hours of practice, Daniel reentered the local Canadian karting series. Suddenly, Moreno was dominating the field, much to the surprise of his fellow racers. Moreno moved up to national karting championships at age fourteen. Moreno won his first of three consecutive Canadian National Karting Championship titles in 1983. By 1985, Moreno was in American and Canadian Formula Ford, switching between the two series on off-weekends. Moreno decided to graduate high school early and was actually accepted into Notre Dame university but he forewent schooling to focus on racing. In 1986, Moreno was linked to a drive in the newly-created Indy Lights series but he moved up to US F2000 for one year before moving to Indy Lights in 1987.

Moreno was solid, if unspectacular, during his two seasons in the Indy Lights series. Moreno also made a few one-off starts in the Atlantic Championship but his efforts mostly stayed in Indy. His team, Brockmore Racing, folded in early 1989, leaving Moreno without a drive. He chose to risk everything in a move to Europe to compete in the more competitive Formula 3000 development series. Unable to get a drive in Internation F3000, Moreno drove in the British F3000 series for 1989 against reject legends such as Pedro Chaves and Gary Brabham. Moreno was able to make his way through the ranks and earned himself a spot in the prestigious International F3000 Series for 1990. The competition was fierce; future F1RGP2C champion and teammate Jack Christopherson, Sebastien Belo, Jean-Denis Deletraz, Eddie Irvine, future F1 champion Damon Hill and Andrew Spokes all raced against Moreno that year. Moreno hung around the back for 1990 but he was able to secure a drive on sheer potential for 1991. In 1991, he was signed by Il Barone Rampante during Giuseppe Cipriani's F3000 project. Cipriani had no need for money and having already signed Alessandro Zanardi, he had filled his prerequisite quota for Italians. Moreno's speed over one lap immediately showed itself as he took six pole positions across ten races during 1991. Unfortunately, poor reliability and a few first-lap crashes prevented Moreno from making a serious championship run, unlike his teammate Zanardi. Il Barone Rampante still finished in second in the championship with Moreno's assisstance. In January 1992, Ken Tyrrell surprisngly signed Moreno for Tyrrell for the 1992 Formula One season while Zanardi tested for Benetton and raced for Minardi.