Moreno was winning races in Formula Atlantic, Formula Mondial and Formula Three, when he received a call-up from Colin Chapman to stand in for Nigel Mansell at Lotus at the 1982 Dutch Grand Prix after Mansell broke his wrist in the previous Grand Prix in Canada. Prior to this, Theodore Racing's Jan Lammers broke a thumb during the Detroit Grand Prix and team owner Teddy Yip wanted Moreno to take over the seat, however Chapman refused to release him. Then during the race in Montréal, Mansell injured his wrist, allowing for Moreno to stand in. This soon turned into a nightmare, as the Lotus 91 was a beast to handle, Moreno had barely driven the car, as regular drivers, Mansell and Elio de Angelis did most of the testing, with Moreno being restricted to the older Lotus 87B and Lotus 88 models. Moreno failed to come to grips with the Lotus 91, with his best qualifying lap over two seconds away from making the grid. At the end of 1982, Lotus released him from his duties as test driver and it took his reputation a while to recover from this poor showing.