Driver Killed in Practice at Laguna Seca

Rookie driver Gonzalo Rodriguez of Uruguay, in only his second race of the CART champ car series, was killed Saturday when his Mercedes-Lola crashed into a concrete wall at approximately 160 mph during morning practice for today’s Shell 300 at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Rodriguez, 27, died of massive head and neck injuries, according to Dr. Steve Olvey, CART director of medical affairs.

Witnesses said Rodriguez was approaching the famous Corkscrew at the highest point at Laguna Seca when it appeared his throttle stuck and he veered through a gravel pit before ramming into tire barriers with such force that he broke a concrete retaining wall behind the tires.

When the car hit the wall, it catapulted into the air high enough to clear several advertising signs and a tree before landing upside down on the hill.

Olvey said Rodriguez was probably killed by the initial impact with the wall.

Safety crews removed Rodriguez from the car and he was taken by ambulance to the Community Hospital of Monterey Peninsula where he was pronounced dead at 10:10 a.m.

The badly damaged Lola was impounded by CART officials, who said they will try to determine the exact cause of the accident.

Paul Morgan, managing director of Ilmor-Mercedes, the engine builder, said that telemetry from computer readouts on Rodriguez’s car at the time indicated the throttle did not stick, that it operated properly. Morgan would not speculate on any other reason for the accident.

Qualifying for today’s 300-kilometer (185.7 miles) race was canceled at the request of the Championship Drivers Assn.

In a tribute to their fellow driver, all of the teams lined up their cars in the pits for the 12:45 p.m. final qualifying, but when the green flag fell the engines remained silent.

“It’s a terrible tragedy, our hearts go out to his family,” Michael Andretti said. “Out of respect to Gonzalo and his family, we chose not to run this afternoon.”

The field of 27 drivers will line up today in the way they qualified Friday. Also canceled was Indy Lights qualifying because repairs to the wall could not be completed in time.

Bryan Herta, who is expected to lose his ride with Bobby Rahal’s team next year, won the pole for the second year in a row, qualifying Friday at 117.903 mph. Herta started from the pole last year and won the race. This is his third time on the pole at Laguna Seca.

“I don’t know what it is about this place, I don’t feel like I do anything different, but good things keep happening,” Herta said. This is his first pole this season and he is still looking for his first win.

Out of respect for Rodriguez’s family, team owner Roger Penske withdrew his Marlboro team, including Al Unser Jr., from today’s race. The Uruguayan flag will be displayed in Rodriguez’s memory during today’s driver introductions.

Rodriguez, a regular on the European Formula 3000 circuit, drove for Penske at Detroit, where he qualified 16th and finished 12th on the Belle Isle course. He joined Penske’s team as a test driver last March but returned to Europe to fulfill his Formula 3000 commitments. Driving for Team Astromega, he won at Monaco on May 15 and was second in the standings.

He first began racing in karts at age 13 and in his first season won the Uruguayan national championship. He won the Uruguay Formula Renault championship from 1988-90 before heading for Europe to drive in Formula Ford, Formula 3 and Formula 3000.

It was the first fatality for a CART driver since Jeff Krosnoff of La Canada was killed in 1996 at Toronto. Three spectators were killed by flying debris during the U.S. 500 at Michigan Speedway in July 1998.

Although there have been several fatalities among amateur and historic-car drivers at Laguna Seca, this was the first in a professional series since the hillside road course track opened 42 years ago, according to John Stornetta, Laguna Seca general manager.