Born and raised in Joinville, Gugelmin began competitive kart racing aged seven, winning several regional and national titles.

Gugelmin then won the 1985 British Formula Three Championship, further winning the Macau Grand Prix to emulate Ayrton Senna two years prior.

Across 147 races, Gugelmin achieved eight podiums, including one victory at the Molson Indy Vancouver in 1997, finishing a career-best fourth in the standings that year.

He was a longtime friend of future Formula One world champion Ayrton Senna, who was already racing in the country, and the two shared a house from 1982 to 1987.

[4] Senna, having previously been a Formula Ford driver with the Van Diemen team, used his influence within the organisation to secure Gugelmin a race seat with them for 1982.

[6] A progression to Formula Three followed in 1985 with West Surrey Racing, winning the British championship and the season-ending Macau Grand Prix.

[6] Gugelmin entered Formula One, the highest category of circuit racing defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), motorsport's world governing body, with the March team in the 1988 season, as team-mate to Ivan Capelli.

He had previously been in contention for a drive with Lotus in the 1986 championship at the request of his friend Ayrton Senna, however the British team could not promote two Brazilian drivers and he was overlooked in favour of Johnny Dumfries.

[1] Gugelmin began the season with five retirements from the first six races due to mechanical failure, but soon afterwards he took his first points scoring finish with fourth place at the British Grand Prix.

[9] At the French Grand Prix, Gugelmin was involved in a large accident at the start of the race which resulted in a spectacular barrel roll.

Gugelmin was once again partnered by Capelli, but the team's CG901 chassis proved troublesome,[11] and between them they failed to qualify six times during the season, including at the Mexican Grand Prix.

[12] Gugelmin retired from fourth position mid-race with engine problems but he went on to score a single point for finishing in sixth place in the Belgian Grand Prix later in the season.

[2] Although races at Mid Ohio and Nazareth resulted in non-finishes, Gugelmin finished 13th at Laguna Seca although this was not high enough to receive any points.

[20] For the 1997 season, Gugelmin had lost 40 lb (18 kg) under a fitness programme,[2] and the PacWest team switched to using Firestone tyres and Mercedes-Benz engines.

A highlight was Gugelmin leading 40 laps during the final event at California Speedway, en route to finishing in fifth place.

Gugelmin was unable to reproduce his race-winning form, and finished no higher than 15th position in the final points standings over the next three years.

[2] The 2001 season saw PacWest switch engine manufacturers from Mercedes to Toyota and Gugelmin would be partnered by Indy Lights champion Scott Dixon.

[2] During the practice session for the race at Texas Motor Speedway, Gugelmin crashed after he lost control in the second turn and hit the wall with the acceleration peaked at 66.2 g, before a second impact with the wall where acceleration peaked at 113.1 g.[29] The event was eventually cancelled after drivers complained of dizziness, nausea and blurred vision, which were caused by the high g-forces experienced when driving at speed on the track.

[34] Following his retirement, Gugelmin put his Florida mansion in Coral Gables up for sale for $17 million, and moved back to live in Brazil full-time.