Tarso
Marques

Tarso Marques was born in Curitiba on 19 January 1976. After five years of karting, he entered the Brazilian Formula Chevrolet at the age of 16 and won the title at his first attempt. In 1993 he moved up to Formula Three Sudamericana and later to International Formula 3000.

He made his Formula One debut with Minardi in 1996. He competed with several drivers for the seat, among them Giancarlo Fisichella, Jarno Trulli and Pedro Lamy. He started two races in 1996 and nine in 1997. In 2001 he returned to Minardi alongside Fernando Alonso and started 13 races. His two ninth places were the team's best results of that season. Alex Yoong took over his car with three races remaining. Marques stayed at Minardi in 2002 as test and reserve driver. In total he made 24 starts, all for Minardi, without scoring a championship point.

In 1999 he moved to the United States to race in Champ Car. At Penske he stood in for Al Unser Jr. and finished ninth at best. In 2000, 2004 and 2005 he took part in occasional races for Dale Coyne Racing, with 11th place as his best result. After his last Champ Car outing in 2005 he raced in South America in TC2000 and Stock Car Brasil. In 2013 he became a contributor to the TV Globo programme Auto Esporte, covering vehicle customisation.

Source: Wikipedia, “Tarso Marques”. Text licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.