Gonzalo RodrÃguez (racing driver)
Gonzalo " Gonchi " Rodríguez ( born January 22, 1972 in Montevideo, † September 11, 1999 in Laguna Seca ) was an Uruguayan racers.
Rodríguez began his motorsport career in karting at age 14. In 1992 he moved to Europe in the Spanish Formula Ford A year later he went to the Spanish Formula Renault and finished there at the end of the season in third place. 1994 Rodríguez drove in the British Formula Renault, where he also reached the third place in the overall standings. He also began the Eurocup Formula Renault, where he reached the rank tenth in the ranking. In 1995, Rodríguez participated in the British Formula 3 Championship and was twelfth overall. In 1996, he competed in several races of the British Formula 3 Championship, but his main focus was on the British Formula 2 Championship, where he finished fourth in the overall standings.
In 1997, Rodríguez Formula 3000 team Redman Bright. When first run, he could not qualify, in the course of the season he came in sixth in the points once and finished at the end of season 22 overall. In 1998, he joined the Belgian team Astro Mega and played as a team -mate of Gastón Mazzacane his second season in Formula 3000th After a third and a second place in the Uruguayan won the race at Spa- Francorchamps and the Nürburgring. He was eliminated in third place overall. His teammates could Mazzacane Rodríguez clearly distance. In 1999 he stayed with Astro Mega and won the prestigious race in Monte Carlo. Against the dominant Nick Heidfeld the Uruguayan, however, had no chance of winning the league title, before the last race he was in second place overall.
In addition, Rodríguez in this year his debut in the CART series in Detroit for Penske Racing. In the race at Laguna Seca he should start for Penske again. In training for his second race he crashed but deadly. Before the infamous Corkscrew curve he lost control of his car and drove over 225 km / h in the range limitation that was just poorly secured with stacks of tires. After the impact, the car took off and landed upside down on the other side of the boundary. Rodríguez died instantly in a fracture of the skull.
The last Formula 3000 race in the season Jason Watt won the runner-up title. Rodríguez was posthumously third overall. After his death, Gonzalo Rodríguez Foundation was established, which campaigns for Uruguayan street children.