Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll (January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999) was a Uruguayan racing driver. He was killed in a crash at Laguna Seca Raceway during practice for the 1999 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey CART race which would have been his second start in the series.
Career Rodríguez 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 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. 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. At the time of Rodríguez's death, he was 28 years old.
In 2021, teammate Al Unser, Jr. released his biography Al Unser, Jr.: A Checkered Past, written by motorsport author Jade Gurss. Unser noted the nuances of the incident, basing information on what happened to him during various testing and practice sessions during the season. Both he and Rodríguez were driving the Lola B99/00 chassis and not the Penske PC-27 chassis for the weekend, and he specifically noted a mechanical nuance with the Hewland gearbox in the Lola versus the Xtrac used by the Penske and Reynard chassis.
Unser believed the Hewland gearbox downshifted to neutral in the crash while Rodríguez was making a shift.
Rodríguez had a contract in place to compete in the 2000 CART championship with Patrick Racing, and there were rumours that Minardi could hire him for the 2001 Formula One season.
Legacy In 2014, a Spanish-language documentary of Rodríguez's life, Gonchi, was released.
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 PAU HEL NÜR PER HOC A1R SPA MUG JER 22nd 0.5 1998 Team Astromega OSC IMO CAT SIL MON PAU A1R HOC HUN SPA PER NÜR3rd33 1999 Team Astromega IMO MON CAT MAG SIL A1R HOC HUN SPA NÜR3rd27
Complete American Open Wheel results (key)
CART Year Team No. Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Rank Points Ref 1999 Team Penske 3 Lola B99/00 Mercedes-Benz IC108E MIA MOT LBH NZR RIO STL MIL POR CLE ROA TOR MIS DET MDO CHI VAN LAG HOU SRF FON32nd1
Gallery
References
External links Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez - a foundation which promotes child road safety and physical education Profile at HistoricRacing.com