Gonzalo Rodríguez (racing driver)

Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll (January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999) was a Uruguayan racing driver. He was killed in an accident at Laguna Seca Raceway during qualifying for a CART race.

Gonzalo Rodríguez
NationalityUruguayan
BornGonzalo Rodríguez Bongoll
(1971-01-22)January 22, 1971
Montevideo, Uruguay
DiedSeptember 11, 1999(1999-09-11) (aged 28)
Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey County, California, U.S.
CART Championship Car
Years active1999
TeamsPenske Racing
Starts1
Wins0
Poles0
Previous series
1997–1999
1996–1997
1994–1996
1993		International Formula 3000
British Formula 3000
British Formula Renault
Spanish Formula Renault

Career

He showed promise in Formula 3000 for three seasons, taking two wins in 1998 at Spa-Francorchamps and Nürburgring, winning the following season in Monaco and finishing third in both championships. Following a rotation of drivers as team mates to Al Unser Jr. in CART Penske Racing's second car, he was given his opportunity at the Detroit Grand Prix in 1999 and scored a point in his only race.

Death

At the Laguna Seca Raceway during the qualification session for his second CART race (in 5th place while qualifying), he was fatally injured in a crash. A stuck throttle was initially thought to be the cause for his car to overshoot the braking point, leave the track, struck a tire barrier and slam into a concrete wall behind the barrier at the entry of the Corkscrew corner. Review of the in-car telemetry refuted this supposition.[1] The impact caused his car to flip over the barrier and land upside down on the other side of the wall. Rodríguez was killed instantly by a basilar skull fracture caused by the impact with the wall, which was lined by only a thin layer of tires. Because of the incident, an additional tire wall was installed at the end of the straight.[2]

Rodríguez had a contract in place to compete in the 2000 CART championship with Patrick Racing.

Legacy

In July 2013, Autosport magazine named Rodríguez one of the 50 greatest drivers never to have raced in Formula One, citing both his mental and physical strength, and his race craft. In 2014, a Spanish-language documentary of his life, Gonchi, was released.[3]

Racing record

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points
1997 Redman & Bright F3000 SIL
DNQ		 PAU HEL
Ret		 NÜR
6		 PER
Ret		 HOC
17		 A1R
7		 SPA MUG
8		 JER
Ret		 22nd 0.5
1998 Team Astromega OSC
Ret		 IMO
3		 CAT
21		 SIL
Ret		 MON
2		 PAU
Ret		 A1R
4		 HOC
11		 HUN
7		 SPA
1		 PER
Ret		 NÜR
1		 3rd 33
1999 Team Astromega IMO
5		 MON
1		 CAT
2		 MAG
Ret		 SIL
15		 A1R
DNQ		 HOC
4		 HUN
Ret		 SPA
2		 NÜR 3rd 27

Complete American Open Wheel results

(key)

CART
Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Rank Points
1999 Team Penske Lola B99/00 Mercedes-Benz IC108E MIA MOT LBH NZR RIO STL MIL POR CLE ROA TOR MIS DET
12		 MDO CHI VAN LS
WD		 HOU SRF FON 32nd 1

References
  1. "Rookie driver killed in CART crash". ESPN.com.
  2. "ABC broadcast coverage of the Shell 300 from Laguna Seca Raceway". youtube.com.
  3. Got Netflix? Watch Gonchi Archived 2016-08-10 at the Wayback Machine September 3, 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.