ROBERTO MORENO: FORMULA FORD TO FORMULA 1 AND BACK – QUITE A JOURNEY

Roberto Moreno is possibly only second to Daniel Ricciardo in having the most infectious smile in a racing paddock – but at October’s Formula Ford Festival it’s true to say Ricciardo would have been a distant second in the smile stakes to the Brazilian who had stepped into a time warp all the way back to 1980.

Thanks to Jonathan Lewis, Roberto was back to his roots. He may now be 62 years old, but you would genuinely not have known it. Reunited with a Van Diemen RF80, in the Canadian Club colours of his 1980-winning car, and despite jet lag, he came oh-so-close to advancing to the semi-final – which would have been remarkable in itself, and only taken away when he was punted out in the final laps of his heat.

An F1 podium finisher, CART IndyCar winner back enjoying Formula Ford is a great tale, as is his story of how he came to England to start his career in the first place. It shows how determination, belief and friendship can overcome a lack of finance. Plus, a willingness to sleep in a road car to save money for new tyres helped.

“Like everything in my career, it’s been so difficult to put together. This came about, thanks very much to Jonathan Lewis. He sent me a message on Facebook, and he said ‘I’m building your car, your 1980 winning car. Would you like to drive it?’And he was thinking of Silverstone [for the Walter Hayes Trophy]. Unfortunately, I had something to do inAmerica, I’m coaching some drivers there, and I couldn’t do it, so he said, ‘OK, we’ll do it another time.’ “But it kept buzzing in my head… I sent him a text back. ‘When is the Festival? Have you thought about the Festival?’He says it’s October. Suddenly, he