Nationality Uruguayan Wins 0 Years active 1999 Poles 0 | Teams Penske Racing Name Gonzalo Rodriguez Starts 1 Role Racing driver | |
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Born January 22, 1971Montevideo, Uruguay ( 1971-01-22 ) Died September 11, 1999, Monterey, California, United States | ||
Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll (January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999) was an Uruguayan racing driver. 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.
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At the Laguna Seca Raceway during the qualification session for his second CART race, 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 Rodriguez 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.
Complete International Formula 3000 results
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Complete American Open Wheel results
(key)
