met the drug lord Pablo Escobar for the first time. Londoño moved to North America in 1979 and took part in the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Daytona 250 Miles in the IMSA GT Championship. He shared Porsche 935 Turbo with John Gunn and George Garces in Sebring and failed to finish. Londoño used the same car to finish 18th in Daytona and placed 45th in the Drivers' Championship. In 1980, Londoño raced at Daytona alongside Mauricio de Narváez and Albert Naon and the trio came seventh overall and second in the GTO class. That same year, with finance from a car dealership in Cali, a sports equipment supplier and private partners, he partook in nine out of ten races of the Can-Am season with his own team, Londoño-Bridge Racing Team and drove a Lola T530. Londoño was competitive throughout the season and took six top ten finishes with a best result of fifth at Mosport Park. He accumulated five points which put him twelfth in the standings. European tour and Formula One With support from the National Federation of Coffee Growers of Colombia and Pablo Escobar, Londoño left for Europe in late 1980 and rented a Lotus 78 from Colin Bennett so he could participate in the season-closing British Formula One Championship round at Silverstone, the Pentax Trophy. Bennett called him "promising". Londoño suffered a major accident in practice but his team's mechanics repaired his car in time for the race. He finished one lap behind race winner Emilio de Villota in seventh having moved up eleven from his starting position. Londoño briefly returned to the United States to compete in the 1981 24 Hours of Daytona for Red Lobster Racing, partnering Kenper Miller and Dave Cowart, but the BMW M1 the trio drove failed to finish, retiring with engine problems after 346 laps. That same year, the Ensign Racing Formula One team had severe financial difficulties after its main sponsor left. After the first race of the season, the United States Grand Prix West, Ensign's owner Mo Nunn sought a driver to help redress the team's situation. Bennett had joined Ensign as a co-owner and suggested to Nunn that he employ Londoño for the Brazilian Grand Prix. As he was virtually unknown in the Formula One world, some believed that Londoño's name was a pseudonym. Formula One was returning to Jacarepaguá for the first time in three