When you think of the nations that produce the world’s greatest racing drivers Uruguay probably doesn’t make your top-10 list. That’s likely because you had never heard of Gonzalo “Gonchi” Rodriguez, a Uruguayan whose life-long dream was to race in Formula 1, but whose career was cut short just before seeing that dream realized.
Gonchi tells his story in the same frame as Senna, capturing Rodriguez’s passion and the celebrity he gained in Uruguay as his exploits became known. Born in Montevideo Uruguay, Rodriguez showed an interest in racing from an early age. He showed both a talent and a flamboyant style, beginning in Formula Renault and through 3 seasons of Formula 3000 racing. That raised the interest of Penske racing, who hired him on to drive in the CART series.
It was in only Gonchi’s second CART race, at the famous Laguna Seca venue, where the throttle on his car stuck open going down the Corkscrew sending him off the track and into a barrier at more than 140 miles per hour. Rodriguez was killed instantly in the crash, and his death sent reverberations not just through the team and racing community, but all the way back to Uruguay where he had become a national hero. Watch the trailer right after the jump.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/I2gB9mTki20[/youtube]
If you have Netflix you can watch Gonchi right now as it was added to the streaming service just this past Thursday. It might be a good way to spend the day off.
Image: YouTube