Tarso Anibal Santanna Marques (born January 19, 1976 in Curitiba) is a racing driver from Brazil. He participated in 24 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on March 31, 1996. He scored no championship points in three separate seasons, all driving for the Minardi team, never completing a full year in Formula One.

    Following his apprenticeship in karting and Formula Opel Lotus, Marques made a good impression when he stepped up to the 1993 SudAm Formula 3 series with a Ralt-Mugen Honda. The ambitious Brazilian youngster headed to Europe to contest the F3000 championship the following season and garnered a fourth place at Magny Cours. A move to a seat in the crack DAMS team for 1995 put the fast but sometimes wayward Tarso in contention for F3000 championship honours, but he eventually had to settle for fifth in the standings with a win at Estoril to his credit.

    A chance to shine in Grands Prix came early in 1996 when Marques was entrusted with the Minardi for the two South American races. Although he immediately impressed, the Brazilian was consigned to a testing role with Bridgestone until a recall to the ranks came in mid-1997 when Trulli left to drive for Prost. Unfortunately, nothing startling was achieved in the tail-end car and Marques was left without a drive of any sort for 1998.

    However, a fabulous test for the Payton-Coyne team was to alert the CART community to the Brazilian's undoubted speed, and he was given six races by Penske in 1999. The car's uncompetitiveness hampered Tarso's chances of making a big impact and it remains to be seen where his stop-start career will lead him in the future.

    In 1999, he moved stateside to drive in the American Champ Car ranks, and caught the eye of legendary team-owner Roger Penske. When two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Al Unser Jr. was injured, Penske asked him to fill in. His best finish was 9th. In 2000, 2004, and 2005, he drove sporadically in that series for perennial hopeful team owner Dale Coyne, with a best result of 11th.

    Marques returned to Formula One in 2001 to race alongside future World Champion Fernando Alonso in the Minardi team, newly purchased by Paul Stoddart. It was a difficult season for Marques, with the team's financial difficulties not always allowing equal equipment for both drivers. Marques was employed under the provision that another driver with more sponsorship money could replace him at any point in the season, and that prospect was realised towards the end of the year, when Minardi replaced Marques with Alex Yoong.

    Since his last Champ Car outing in 2005, Marques has returned to South America to drive in the TC2000 and Stock Car Brasil touring car championships.

(c) 'Who is Who' by Steve Small, 2000
(c) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 2006