Gonzalo Rodríguez (racing driver): Difference between revisions

Gonzalo Rodríguez
Gonzalo Rodríguez
Nationality	Uruguayan
Born	January 22, 1971; Montevideo, Uruguay
Died	September 11, 1999 (aged 28); Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey County, California, U.S.
CART Championship Car
Years active	1999
Teams	Penske Racing
Starts	1
Wins	0
Poles	0
Previous series
1997–1999; 1996–1997; 1994–1996; 1993	International Formula 3000; British Formula 3000; British Formula Renault; Spanish Formula Renault

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Revision as of 22:28, 13 October 2017

Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll (January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999), better known as Gonzalo Rodríguez, was an Uruguayan racing driver.

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.

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 open throttle caused his car to overshoot the braking point, going off the track at more than 140 mph and slammed into a concrete barrier at the entry of the Corkscrew corner. The impact caused his car to flip over the barrier and land upside down on the other side of the wall. Gonzalo 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, runoff was installed at the end of the straight.

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

In July 2013, Autosport magazine named Rodríguez one of the 50 greatest drivers to have never 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.^[1]

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

^ Got Netflix? Watch Gonchi September 3, 2015.

External links

Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez - a foundation which promotes child road safety and physical education
Profile at HistoricRacing.com
News report and footage of the crash on YouTube

[1] Got Netflix? Watch Gonchi September 3, 2015.

[1]

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-'''Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll''' (January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999), better known as '''Gonzalo Rodríguez''', was an Uruguayan [[racing driver]]. He showed promise in [[International Formula 3000|Formula 3000]] for three seasons, taking two wins in [[1998 Formula 3000 season|1998]] at [[Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps|Spa-Francorchamps]] and [[Nürburgring]], winning the [[1999 Formula 3000 season|following season]] in [[Circuit de Monaco|Monaco]] and finishing third in both championships. Following a rotation of drivers as team mates to [[Al Unser Jr.]] in [[Champ Car|CART]] [[Penske Racing]]'s second car, he was given his opportunity at the [[Detroit Indy Grand Prix|Detroit Grand Prix]] in [[1999 CART World Series Season|1999]] and scored a point in his only race.
+'''Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll''' (January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999), better known as '''Gonzalo Rodríguez''', was an Uruguayan [[racing driver]].
+==Career==
+He showed promise in [[International Formula 3000|Formula 3000]] for three seasons, taking two wins in [[1998 Formula 3000 season|1998]] at [[Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps|Spa-Francorchamps]] and [[Nürburgring]], winning the [[1999 Formula 3000 season|following season]] in [[Circuit de Monaco|Monaco]] and finishing third in both championships. Following a rotation of drivers as team mates to [[Al Unser Jr.]] in [[Champ Car|CART]] [[Penske Racing]]'s second car, he was given his opportunity at the [[Detroit Indy Grand Prix|Detroit Grand Prix]] in [[1999 CART World Series Season|1999]] and scored a point in his only race.
 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 open throttle caused his car to overshoot the braking point, going off the track at more than 140&nbsp;mph and slammed into a concrete barrier at the entry of the Corkscrew corner. The impact caused his car to flip over the barrier and land upside down on the other side of the wall. Gonzalo 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, runoff was installed at the end of the straight.