Eliseo Salazar

Former F1 driver


image-size = 150
pixels = 150
Name = Eliseo Salazar
Nationality = flagicon|Chile Chilean
Years = F1|1981-F1|1983
Team(s) = March, Ensign, ATS, RAM
Races = 37 (24 starts)
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Podiums = 0
Points = 3
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 0
First race = 1981 United States Grand Prix West
First win =
Last win =
Last race = 1983 Belgian Grand Prix

Eliseo Salazar Valenzuela (born in Santiago, November 14, 1955) is a racing driver from Chile and the only one of his countrymen to compete in Formula One. He participated in 37 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix (debuting on March 15 1981) scoring a total of 3 championship points. Salazar currently participates of the Chilean national rally championship.

Formula One (1981-1983)

After racing in the British F1 Championship in 1980 with a Williams FW07, and winning in Silverstone, he moved to Formula 1 in 1981, with March. He switched midseason to Ensign, and finished 6th in the Dutch Grand Prix. In 1982 he drove for ATS, and finished 5th in the San Marino Grand Prix, a race where only 7 teams entered due to the FISA-FOCA war. Probably his most famous career moment in Formula One came when he collided with the overtaking race leader Nelson Piquet in the 1982 German Grand Prix. After both drivers got out of their stricken cars, the angry Piquet started to [http://www.f1rejects.com/hall/tyson/#1 punch and kick Salazar] , to the shock and amazement of the millions of F1 fans watching the race live on TV. Salazar did not respond to the assault due to the friendship with the Brazilian driver, who helped him in his first European experiences as a driver. Months later Piquet apologised to Salazar over the phone, after being told by a BMW mechanic that the engine in his car was about to expire anyway, and that Salazar avoided BMW the embarrassment of an engine failure at their home race. (BMW officials were in attendance) [http://www.f1rejects.com/hall/tyson/index.html#2] . In 1983 he entered 6 races with RAM Racing, but the car was very slow and he only managed to qualify twice. He finished 14th in Jacarepaguá and retired in Long Beach with gearbox failure.

After the Chilean economic crisis in the early years of the 80's, Salazar had to leave F1, and competed with little success at the Formula 3000 championship and the South American F3 in some races. He began to race rally in Chile, becoming the champion of the 1985 hill-climbing season in Chile in a Toyota Corolla XT.

port Prototype (1988-1990)

In late '80s, Salazar drove some races in the FIA World Sport Prototype Championship. His best result was 1st place at the C-1 class in the '88 Fuji 1000 km in Japan with a Spice SE88C Ford car of the BP Spice Engineering. Thanks to his contacts with Tom Walkinshaw, he joined the Jaguar Silk-Cut factory team, to dispute the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the 1989 race, the Chilean, with Alain and Michel Ferté, achieved the 8th place with the Jaguar XJR-9; but his best result would be winning the 1990 event of the historic race in a Jaguar XJR-12, but after driving several hours in the No. 3 car, he was forced to leave his seat to the British driver Martin Brundle, who received the chequered flag, and Salazar was forced to move to the No. 4 car, which retired at 20 hours with mechanical problems (Brundle's original car, the No. 1, was pulled out at 14 hours for electrical problems). For that particular fact, he was named the 1990 Sportsman of the Year by the prestigious British magazine Autosport.

Career in USA (1994-2002)

After years with no competition, working as a co-host in a Chilean version of the TV show "funniest home videos" called "Video Loco" (the Spanish for "Crazy Videos", broadcasted in Universidad Católica Televisión channel, also known as "Canal 13", the Spanish for "Channel 13"), Salazar received an opportunity to joint the Ferrari-Momo factory team for the 1994 IMSA Sport Prototype championship in the WSC (World Sport Car) series, with the Italian Gianpiero Moretti. He raced at the Exxon World Sports Car Championship in 1994 and 1995 with several races won and podiums with the Ferrari 333 SP. Those results were good enough to pull him to the Indy Car World Series.

He signed a contract with the Dick Simon Racing in 1995 to race in the CART Indy Car World Series, with a strong debut at the Indy 500. With a Lola-Cosworth, he started 33rd and finished 4th in the Cristal-Copec-Mobil 1 No.7.

When IRL and CART broke relations in 1996, Eliseo chose to compete in the new series. He became a regular top driver at Indy 500 with four Top 10 results. His best result at Indianapolis was the 3rd place in 2000 with a G-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora of the A.J.Foyt Team; that was also the year of his best classification, in the same 3rd place.

During 1997 Salazar made 1 start in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, finishing 17th on the Watkins Glen International road course.

2000 and 2001 were the best years in the IRL for Eliseo, finishing 4th and 5th in those championships, with five top 5 results in 2000. He raced at the IRL to 2002 when he retired after several serious accidents and economic problems due to the rising costs of the IRL. He retired from the series, with one race win in the IRL, the final race of the 1997 season at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway for Team Scandia; the team's only IRL victory.

After that, Salazar joined the American Le Mans Series.

Present and Future (2004-)

Salazar then returned to Chile where, in 2004, he joined the official Hyundai rally team in the Rally Mobil, the national rally championship. His car was an N3-class Hyundai Coupe GK 2.0L.

In November 2005, Salazar competed in the inaugural race of the Grand Prix Masters, as a late replacement for Alan Jones. In 2006 he raced in both GPM races in Qatar and England.

In 2007, Salazar moved to the N4-class of the Rally Mobil, the Chilean Rally Championship, driving a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, and was 5th in his first year at the N4-Class with a car of the ING Team.

His last international project is to race the Lisboa-Dakar rally, with the object to be the first ever pilot to have raced in the Grand Prix of Montecarlo, the 24 hrs of Le Mans, the 24 hrs of Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the Rally Dakar. In February he signed a pre-contract with Jean-Louis Schlesser to drive one of his buggies at the 2008 Dakar Rally; but he couldn't get the sponsors.

For 2008, Eliseo is planning to race in the Rally Mobil with his own team, formed by 3 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX in the N4-Class.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

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24 hours of Le Mans results

Chilean Rally Championship (Rally Mobil)

External links

* [http://www.eliseo.com Eliseo Salazar Official Site]
* [http://www.eliseo-salazar.blogspot.com Fan made blog dedicated to Eliseo Salazar]
* [http://www.rallymobil.cl Rally Mobil]
* [http://www.gpmasters.com GP Masters]
* [http://www.pablodonoso.com Pablo Donoso Official Site, protege of Eliseo Salazar]