Gualter Salles (born September 28, 1970, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), is an open wheel race car driver. He raced in the 1997-2000 and 2003 CART seasons, as well as one Indy Racing League event, totalling 49 IndyCar starts overall. He also competed in Stock Car Brasil between 2001 and 2007.
Salles began his racing career in Europe in 1991 at the age of 20, finishing 11th in the Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries. He finished second the following year with two wins behind Gareth Rees. He competed in a handful of Formula 3 races across the British, Italian and South American series before getting a seat in British Formula 3 with West Surrey Racing. He finished tenth in 1994 and switched to Fortec Motorsport for a seventh place finish in 1995 and a lone win at Silverstone. [1]
For 1996, Salles ventured into the United States and signed with Brian Stewart Racing to compete in Indy Lights. He scored a pole position for his second race at Long Beach, where he finished third, and had a three-win streak over the summer at Portland, Cleveland and Toronto that put him 10 points adrift championship leader David Empringham. Bad results over the last three races demoted him to third behind fellow Brazilian driver Tony Kanaan. [1]
While Kanaan stayed one more year in Indy Lights and went on to win the championship, Salles stepped up to Indycars in the CART World Series, driving for the newly found Davis Racing. With the underfunded effort, Salles managed to finish seventh at Laguna Seca and tenth at the Michigan 500, enough for 20th in the standings. He then went on to drive for Payton/Coyne Racing in a six-race program, sharing the ride with Dennis Vitolo. Salles surprised by qualifying fourth at Long Beach, and scored a single point at Motegi with a 12th place finish. [2]
Salles had a variety of one-off outings in 1999 with Payton/Coyne and Bettenhausen Racing, as well as his lone Indy Racing League start at Tri-Star Motorsports. During the summer, he was hired by All American Racers to obtain feedback on their Eagle 997 chassis, contesting seven races, and finished the year with a top-10 appearance at Surfers Paradise for Bettenhausen. [3] Salles was hired by Dale Coyne in 2000, but after three retirements due to mechanical failures in an unsponsored car, he was replaced by funded driver Tarso Marques. Nevertheless, he came back to Coyne in the middle of the season after Takuya Kurosawa was ruled out for the rest of the season with an injury. Then again, all three races ended in retirement. [4]
Salles did not find a ride for 2001 and switched his focus onto his native country to compete in Stock Car Brasil, before making a comeback to CART with Coyne in 2003. He first replaced Alex Yoong at Portland after the Malaysian ran into sponsorship issues, and then took over the other spot from Joel Camathias for the rest of the year, except for a couple of races where his stock car commitments took precedence. [5] In his last CART race, he finished in a career-best 6th place at Surfers Paradise.
Salles had a brief sportscar foray in 2001, competing in the 24 Hours of Daytona and making a three-race gig with Panoz Motorsports in the American Le Mans Series. [6] Beyond that, he mostly drove in Stock Car Brazil until 2007, driving Chevrolets with very limited success and a lone podium finish over seven seasons. [1]
(key)
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Brian Stewart Racing | MIA 6 | LBH 3 | NAZ 11 | MIS 6 | MIL 4 | DET 22 | POR 1 | CLE 1 | TOR 1 | TRO 15 | VAN 21 | LAG 19 | 3rd | 108 |
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Davis Racing | Reynard 97i | Ford XD V8 t | MIA 15 | SRF 24 | LBH 18 | NZR 24 | RIO 19 | STL 12 | MIL 22 | DET 21 | POR 23 | CLE 19 | TOR 18 | MIS 10 | MDO 20 | ROA 13 | VAN 26 | LS 7 | FON 14 | 20th | 10 | [7] | |||
| 1998 | Payton/Coyne Racing | Reynard 98i | Ford XD V8 t | MIA | MOT 12 | LBH 13 | NZR | RIO 20 | STL | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR 21 | MIS | MDO 23 | ROA 17 | VAN | LS | HOU | SRF | FON | 28th | 1 | [8] | |
| 1999 | Payton/Coyne Racing | Reynard 98i | Ford XD V8 t | MIA | MOT | LBH 27 | NZR | 26th | 5 | [9] | ||||||||||||||||
| Bettenhausen Racing | Mercedes-Benz IC108E V8 t | RIO 17 | STL | MIL | SRF 10 | FON | ||||||||||||||||||||
| All American Racers | Eagle 997 | Toyota RV8D V8 t | POR 27 | CLE 13 | ROA 20 | TOR 25 | MIS 15 | DET 11 | MDO 18 | CHI | VAN | LS | HOU | |||||||||||||
| 2000 | Dale Coyne Racing | Lola B2K/00 | Ford XF V8 t | MIA 20 | LBH 22 | RIO 14 | MOT | NZR | MIL | DET | POR | CLE | TOR | MIS | CHI 22 | MDO 23 | ROA 20 | VAN | LS | STL | HOU | SRF | FON | 30th | 0 | [10] |
| 2003 | Dale Coyne Racing | Lola B02/00 | Ford XFE V8 t | STP | MTY | LBH | BRH | LAU | MIL 13 | LS | POR 18 | CLE 17 | TOR | VAN DNS | ROA 11 | MDO 17 | MTL 12 | DEN 18 | MIA | MXC 15 | SRF 6 | FON NH | 19th | 11 | [11] |
| Year | Team | Chassis | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Tri-Star Motorsports | Dallara IR9 | Oldsmobile Aurora V8 | WDW 23 | PHX | CLT | INDY | TXS | PPIR | ATL | DOV | PPI2 | LVS | TX2 | 44th | 7 | [12] |
Sébastien Olivier Bourdais is a French professional racing driver. He is one of the most successful drivers in the history of American open-wheel car racing, having won 37 races. He won four successive championships under Champ Car World Series sanction from 2004 to 2007. Later he competed at the IndyCar Series from 2011 to 2021. He also entered 27 races in Formula One for the Toro Rosso team during 2008 and the start of 2009.
Massimiliano "Max" Papis is an Italian professional motorsport driver who has competed in several top-level motorsports events such as Le Mans 24 Hours, Formula One and Champ Car. He has three Champ Car victories. He is the son-in-law of Emerson Fittipaldi. Papis also currently drives in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series.
Tarso Anibal Santanna Marques is a Brazilian racing driver. He previously participated in 24 Formula One Grands Prix, all driving for the Minardi team, but scored no championship points in three separate seasons and never completed a full year in the sport.
Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho, nicknamed ''TK,'' is a Brazilian racing driver. He is best known for racing in Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) from 1998 to 2002, and the IndyCar Series from 2002 to 2023. Kanaan competes in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani.
John Andrew Andretti was an American professional race car driver. He won individual races in CART, IMSA GTP, Rolex Sports Car Series, and NASCAR during his career. A member of the Andretti racing family, he was the son of Aldo Andretti, older brother of racer Adam Andretti, nephew of Mario Andretti, and the cousin to CART drivers Michael and Jeff Andretti. He is also the first cousin once-removed of Marco Andretti.
Mario Ermirio de Moraes Filho is a Brazilian professional race car driver. Moraes started his career in minor youth motorsports. In 2003 Moraes competed in American Formula Renault with World Speed Motorsports and won races against some competition such as Marco Andretti. In 2005 he drove for the Bassan Motorsport team in Formula Three Sudamericana and finished eighth. In 2006 he finished second in F3 Sudamericana, then moved to the British Formula Three National Class driving for Carlin Motorsport and earned several good finishes while not competing for series points. He finished in 14th place in the 2007 British Formula Three championship's Championship Class, again competing for Carlin.
Bruno Junqueira is a Brazilian race car driver who most recently competed in the IRL IndyCar Series. He is a former Formula 3000 champion and three-time runner-up in the Champ Car World Series.
Oriol Servià Imbers is a Spanish racing driver who competes part-time in the IndyCar Series. He raced for Dragon Racing in the 2014–15 Formula E season, and left the series prior to the 2015 Miami ePrix to become managing director for the technical and commercial partnerships of Dragon Racing. Servià holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia. Since 2018 he also serves as pace car driver at IndyCar races outside the Indianapolis 500.
Alexandre Tagliani, nicknamed "Tag", is a Canadian professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the NASCAR Canada Series, driving the No. 18 Chevrolet Camaro for 22 Racing.
Scott Sharp is an American professional racing driver in the United SportsCar Championship. He is the son of six-time SCCA champion Bob Sharp. Sharp is best known for his years as a competitor in the Indy Racing League.
Scott Everts Brayton was an American race car driver on the American open-wheel circuit. He competed in 14 Indianapolis 500s, beginning with the 1981 event. Brayton was killed in practice after qualifying for the pole position for the 1996 race.
Townsend Bell is an American professional motor racing driver competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, and also as a motorsports commentator for NBC Sports’ IndyCar Series coverage.
Gary Bettenhausen was an American midget car driver. He was the winner the 1967 and 1970 Turkey Night Grand Prix, the 1972 Astro Grand Prix, and the 1976 Hut Hundred.
Tony Lee Bettenhausen Jr. was a Champ Car team owner and driver who died in a 2000 plane crash. He was the son of former 14-time Indianapolis 500 competitor Tony Bettenhausen and the brother of 21-time Indy 500 racer Gary Bettenhausen. Another brother, Merle Bettenhausen, was critically injured in his only Indy Car start.
Duane Claude Carter Jr., nicknamed "Pancho," is an American retired open-wheel racing driver. Best known for his participation in Championship car racing, he won the pole position for the 1985 Indianapolis 500, and won the Michigan 500 in 1981.
Steve Chassey, is a former driver in the CART Championship Car series. He raced in 9 seasons, with 44 career starts, including the Indianapolis 500 in 1983, 1987, and 1988. He finished in the top ten 4 times, with his best finish in 5th position in 1981 at Watkins Glen International. He raced his last Indy 500 in 1988 for Gary Trout Motorsports finishing 24th. Chassey served in the 1st Cavalry Division during the Vietnam War, and was awarded the Soldier's Medal for his actions during a helicopter rescue.
Michael Greenfield is an American former owner-driver in the CART series. Born in Whitestone, New York. In 1985, his first season of SCCA Formula Atlantic racing, Michael finished 2nd in the SCCA National Championship Run Offs at Road Atlanta. During the years 1986 and 1987 he competed in the ECAR Formula Atlantic Championship with a total of 5 wins, finishing 3rd in points in 1987. He made 6 Indy Lights starts in 1988 with Chip Ganassi Racing with one win on his series debut at Pocono. In 1989, with Bettenhausen Racing's 1987 Lola chassis, he attempted to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 but failed to do so, as did teammate Tony Bettenhausen. The same year at the Pocono Raceway event Michael crashed heavily in practice, failing to qualify there as well. In 1990, teamed with his father Peter, they placed first in the Camel Lights division at the 24 Hours of Daytona. He also returned to the CART series that year with a 1987 Lola chassis and competed in 7 races, his career-best finish of 12th coming in at the Meadowlands race. He also ran two more races with Dale Coyne Racing and competed in the 24 Hours of Daytona in 1991, then returned in 1994 and 1995 to attempt to qualify for the Indy 500 with a 1993 Lola powered by a pushrod V8 engine designed and built by his father Peter. In 1994 Michael was not able to complete rookie orientation and the team was forced to hire Johnny Parsons to drive the car, however, it never came up to speed and they did not make a qualifying attempt. In 1995 Michael took over driving duties but again failed to make a qualifying attempt. The team could not get up to speed due to a major reduction of turbo boost for the pushrod V-8s.
Stefan James Wilson is a British racing driver. He is the younger brother of the late Formula One and IndyCar Series driver Justin Wilson. He is also the winner of the 2007 McLaren Autosport BRDC Award for promising young British drivers.
Conor J. Daly is an American racing driver. He is best known for competing in the IndyCar Series, last driving the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing. He also competes occasionally in NASCAR, and has also raced in the GP2 Series, and Road to Indy.
Santino Michael Ferrucci is an American professional racing driver. He competes in the IndyCar Series, driving the No 14 Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Racing. He has also previously raced in the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
 | This biographical article related to Brazilian auto racing is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |