Gonchi

[indy]

The documentary about Gonzalo Rodriguez is on Netflix and it was very nicely done. It exaggerated a bit at times but mostly seemed solid. Even though he drove for my team in CART, I really knew very little about him. I enjoyed it and thought you all might enjoy it, too. It is a Spanish documentary with a lot of sub titles. Also, bilingual drivers like Helio and Montoya speak in Spanish only so only the English you hear is from English-only speakers. Justin Wilson was Gonchi's teammate in F3000 in 1999 so we see our recently departed hero which to me makes the story telling just a bit more tragic.

Anyone else seen it and have thoughts to offer!? Feel free to comment if you see it later.

Jordan

[Deleted]

Yeah, I saw it and liked it a lot. He had the chops. His record in lower formula was documented in Autocourse as it happened.

You worked for Penske? " Even though he drove for my team in CART"

[indy]

Sorry, guess that misled a few guys. Poor choice of words? Just meant I always rooted for Team Penske.... I never got a job in racing. Furthest I ever got was an interview with Texas Motorplex (dragstrip) but they wanted an accountant and that was not my forte.

In the documentary, they tell a story that Penske was so impressed with Gonzalo at Detroit that Roger expressed some remorse about already having his driver lineup set for 2000. What do you guys think of that? Wasn't sure of the veracity of the claim, since I highly regard both Gil and Greg. I wondered if Penske would have considered a third car if there was more time to prep but the impending package shakeup put more than enough to put on the team's plate without expanding for 2000.

Jordan

[Deleted]

I also thought that Penske's comments were less than heart felt, but I don't know the guy. I do know he jetted Goncho's body and himself (and no doubt a few assistants) to his funeral. It was a weird time. CART as a sanctioning body was very hush hush about that accident. I can't remember all the details and won't rehash what was being said at the time.

I do know they took a long hard look at seat belt mountings and placements. HANS device as well.

Goodyear was out to lunch. They had CRAPPY tires. Nobody was going fast on wingfoots. So all this has to be taken into consideration when trying to judge a driver that season. Taken that alone Goncho was doing a pretty darn good job coupled with the fact he had very little time in the car. (which will also go down in history as not very successful, but with those tires, who knows)

[indy]

Maybe I read to much into the statement. Their facts were sometimes off a bit. Roger could have been meaning had he known how good Gonchi was that maybe he would have run a second car in 1999 or put him in the #3 instead of Tarso Marques earlier in 1999 to give him a better audition for 2000!?!?

Someone (his sister?) asserts Gonchi was fast like Montoya and could dominate CART, too, because Montoya usually won by over a lap. They seem to ignore that Montoya was with the best running team in the best package with one of the best engineers who had a notebook full of winning setups with a very similar car from previous years. I tried to verify JPM's margins of victory and I can find no CART/F1/NASCAR/IndyCar wins of JPM by at least one lap. The only win I could find during his professional career (from 1999 on) by at least a lap was the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona where he (and his co-drivers) won by 2 laps.

Still a good documentary, I recommend it if you have some free time and access to it.

Jordan

[Deleted]

Montoya's strong suit was always his ability to haul the mail on his out lap. I saw him run a practice session at Mid Ohio his rookie year and it was INSANE. It was pouring rain, nobody even went out. He did, and his lap times were quicker than the last six grid spots set in the dry.....

Montoya just flat stands on the gas.

Penske, at the time this was going on, was in a big state of flux. He basically gave Ribero a suitcase full of money to go away. Al Jr. was in the throws of his problems and his tremendously expensive car was hampered by bad tires (but the tire company was helping with the bills and Rodger was their distributor)

Tarso Marques didn't have it. He could not go fast in a bad car, period.

As far as "winning by a lap" with these IRL cookie cutter cars ain't nobody gonna get very far ahead of anyone. Unless your Ed Carpenter............