Eliseo Salazar

In 2013, Salazar introduced autocross (aka "solo racing") to Chile, with the first event being held 6 April 2013 at Estadio Monumental in Santiago. In September 2013, he participated in the Sports Car Club of America Solo National Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska, driving a C Prepared Ford Mustang.

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led. )

He made his debut in the Dakar Rally in 2009 with a McRae Prototype, finishing in 88th place. He will compete in the 2010 edition as part of the Team Dakar USA, in a third Hummer H3, in addition to the ones raced by owner Robby Gordon and Frenchman Eric Vigouroux.

His last international project is to race the Lisboa-Dakar rally, with the objective of being the first driver to have raced in the Monaco Grand Prix, the Le Mans 24 Hours, the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Indianapolis 500 and the Dakar Rally. In February he signed a pre-contract with Jean-Louis Schlesser to drive one of his buggies at the 2008 Dakar Rally, but he could not get a deal with a sponsor and that year's running of the Dakar Rally was cancelled anyway.

In 2008, Salazar raced in the Rally Mobil with his own team, formed by 3 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX in the N4-Class.

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.

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.

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.

On 15 May 2001, Salazar had a son, also named Eliseo. The younger Salazar attended his first Indy 500 at the age of 8 days old.

2000 and 2001 were the best years in the IRL for Salazar, finishing 4th and 5th in those championships, with five top 5 results in 2000. In 2002, he suffered a serious accident testing at Indianapolis, and was forced miss several races. After much consideration Salazar decided to retire from Indy Car racing and focus on Sports Cars.

In 1997, Salazar earned his first and only victory in IRL racing, at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, racing for Team Scandia. That year, he also made his only start at a NASCAR sanctioned race, finishing 17th on the Watkins Glen International road course, in the Craftsman Truck Series.

When the IRL and CART split in 1996, Salazar 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 in 2000, when he started and finished on 3rd place, at the wheel of a G-Force-Oldsmobile Aurora for A. J. Foyt Enterprises.

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.

After years with no competition, working as a co-host in the TV show "Video Loco" (America's Funniest Videos' Chilean version, broadcast in Canal 13), Salazar received an opportunity to join 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.

After racing in the British F1 Championship in 1980 with a Williams FW07, and winning in Silverstone, he moved to Formula One 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. His most noted 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 punch and kick Salazar. 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). In 1983 he entered six 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.

Eliseo Salazar Valenzuela (born 14 November 1954) is a Chilean former racing driver. As of May 2020, he is the only Chilean to have participated in a Formula One World Championship. He made his Formula One debut on 15 March 1981, and ultimately contested 37 races scoring a total of three championship points. After Formula One, Salazar has participated in numerous motorsport disciplines, including the Chilean national rally championship (Champion 1984 and 1985), Formula 3000, IndyCar (including the Indianapolis 500 race seven times), and the World Sportscar Championship.