Gonzalo "Gonchi" Rodríguez Bongoll (January 22, 1971 – September 11, 1999)[1] was a Uruguayan racing driver. He was killed in a crash at Laguna Seca Raceway during practice for a CART race which would have been his second start in the series.
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.[2] 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.[3]
