Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll (January 22, 1972 – September 11, 1999) was a Uruguayan racing driver. He was killed in an accident at Laguna Seca Raceway during practice for a CART race.
At the Laguna Seca Raceway during a practice session for his second CART race, he was fatally injured in a crash. A stuck throttle was initially thought to be the cause for his car overshooting the braking point, leaving the track, striking a tire barrier and slamming 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.[citation needed] 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)
gonzalo, rodríguez, racing, driver, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, gonzalo, rodríguez, racing, driv. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Gonzalo Rodriguez racing driver news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2015 Learn how and when to remove this template message Gonzalo Gonchi Rodriguez Bongoll January 22 1972 September 11 1999 was a Uruguayan racing driver He was killed in an accident at Laguna Seca Raceway during practice for a CART race Gonzalo RodriguezNationalityUruguayanBornGonzalo Rodriguez Bongoll 1972 01 22 January 22 1972Montevideo UruguayDiedSeptember 11 1999 1999 09 11 aged 27 Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey County California U S CART Championship CarYears active1999TeamsPenske RacingStarts1Wins0Poles0Previous series1997 19991996 19971994 19961993International Formula 3000British Formula 3000British Formula RenaultSpanish Formula Renault Contents 1 Career 2 Death 3 Legacy 4 Racing record 4 1 Complete International Formula 3000 results 4 2 Complete American Open Wheel results 4 2 1 CART 5 References 6 External linksCareer EditHe showed promise in Formula 3000 for three seasons taking two wins in 1998 at Spa Francorchamps and Nurburgring 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 EditAt the Laguna Seca Raceway during a practice session for his second CART race he was fatally injured in a crash A stuck throttle was initially thought to be the cause for his car overshooting the braking point leaving the track striking a tire barrier and slamming 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 Rodriguez 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 Rodriguez had a contract in place to compete in the 2000 CART championship with Patrick Racing Legacy EditIn July 2013 Autosport magazine named Rodriguez one of the 50 greatest drivers never to have raced in Formula One citing both his mental and physical strength and his race craft citation needed In 2014 a Spanish language documentary of his life Gonchi was released 3 Racing record EditComplete International Formula 3000 results Edit 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 Points1997 Redman amp Bright F3000 SILDNQ PAU HELRet NUR6 PERRet HOC17 A1R7 SPA MUG8 JERRet 22nd 0 51998 Team Astromega OSCRet IMO3 CAT21 SILRet MON2 PAURet A1R4 HOC11 HUN7 SPA1 PERRet NUR1 3rd 331999 Team Astromega IMO5 MON1 CAT2 MAGRet SIL15 A1RDNQ HOC4 HUNRet SPA2 NUR 3rd 27Source 4 Complete American Open Wheel results Edit key CART Edit 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 Ref1999 Team Penske Lola B99 00 Mercedes Benz IC108E MIA MOT LBH NZR RIO STL MIL POR CLE ROA TOR MIS DET12 MDO CHI VAN LSWD HOU SRF FON 32nd 1 5 References Edit Rookie driver killed in CART crash ESPN com ABC broadcast coverage of the Shell 300 from Laguna Seca Raceway youtube com Got Netflix Watch Gonchi Archived 2016 08 10 at the Wayback Machine September 3 2015 Gonzalo Rodriguez Results Motorsport Stats Retrieved 20 December 2022 Gonzalo Rodriguez Racing Reference Retrieved 20 December 2022 External links EditFundacion Gonzalo Rodriguez a foundation which promotes child road safety and physical education Profile at HistoricRacing com News report and footage of the crash on YouTubePreceded byUnknown driver Fatalities in CART IndyCar1999 Succeeded byGreg Moore Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Gonzalo Rodriguez racing driver amp oldid 1139325607, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
