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| | Saturday, September 11 | |||||
| Lineup
MONTEREY, Calif. -- In a symbolic and eerie tribute to Gonzalo Rodriguez, a rookie driver killed in a crash earlier Saturday, the pit lane and track at Laguna Seca Raceway remained silent during the afternoon qualifying period.
CART flagman Jim Swintell stood in the stand overlooking the
main straightaway, silently holding a green flag over the track as
the clock ticked away the final round of time trials for Sunday's
Shell 300.
"It's just unbelievable what happened this morning," said CART
owner-driver Robby Gordon. "Out of respect for Gonzalo and his
family, the drivers stuck together and decided to have an afternoon
of silence. It's the least we can do."
Rodriguez, hoping to qualify for his second CART FedEx Series
start, died instantly when his Penske Racing Lola crashed during
the morning practice.
His car went off course and sped over a gravel pit designed to
slow the cars. It slammed through a tire barrier and into a
concrete wall before flipping high in the air, clearing a fence and
landing upside down on a grassy hillside.
The 27-year-old from Uruguay was pronounced dead after being
taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.
The practice session was immediately halted and it took several
hours for the damage to the concrete barrier to be repaired. It was
estimated that Rodriguez hit the wall at more than 140 mph.
CART officials met with the drivers, who requested that the
qualifying session be canceled out of respect for Rodriguez and his
family. But it was also decided to go on with the race as
scheduled.
There were no immediate answers to questions about the cause of
the fatal accident.
Initially, it was speculated that the throttle stuck open, but a
Mercedes spokesman said telemetry from the car showed the throttle
was working as expected when the accident occurred.
"Obviously, our initial reaction was to work on driver-related
issues," said Andrew Craig, president and CEO of CART. "CART has
impounded the car, which is our standard procedure, and we will, of
course, be looking at the telemetry and working closely with the
team to identify the cause of this accident."
The first driver fatality in CART since Jeff Krosnoff was killed
during a race in Toronto in July 1996 cast a pall over the
picturesque Monterey Peninsula track on warm, sunny day.
It was reported that several of the drivers were crying during
the meeting following the fatal crash.
"It's a terrible tragedy," said two-time Laguna winner Michael
Andretti. "Our hearts go out to his family."
Andretti, Scott Pruett, president of the Championship Drivers
Association, and pole-winner Bryan Herta went together to inspect
the accident site as additional impact-absorbing materials and a
second tire barrier were added to the area and repairs were made to
the cracked concrete wall.
The 2.238-mile, nine-turn track reopened for a Toyota-Atlantic
practice and race after a four-hour delay.
Except for the Penske team, which withdrew its entry for the
cars driven by Rodriguez and Al Unser Jr., the teams and drivers
had to begin thinking about the 83-lap, 185.8-mile race.
"It's very hard to think about racing now," said a CART
driver, who asked not to be identified. "But we have a race to run
and we'll all do our jobs."
With Friday's qualifying determining the starting positions,
Herta, the defending champion, will start from the pole for the
third straight year, with Tony Kanaan alongside.
Juan Montoya, the series points leader who struggled with his
car's handling on Friday, will start 16th -- his worst qualifying
effort of the season.
The sensational rookie goes into the race holding a 23-point
lead over Dario Franchitti, who crashed during Friday's qualifying
and will start 12th in the 27-car field.
Rodriguez is the first driver killed during a race weekend at
Laguna Seca since the track was opened in 1957. Two sports car
drivers have died in testing crashes at the track.
| ALSO SEE CART rookie Rodriguez killed in Laguna practice
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