JUNE 30, 2004

F1 stars remember an old friend

A number of Formula 1 driver have confirmed that they will be attending an event at Monza this September to remember the Uruguayan racer Gonzalo Rodriguez. The Formula 3000 driver was killed at the wheel of a Penske Racing Lola Indycar in the autumn of 1999 while practising for the Laguna Seca CART event, as part of his plan to build a career for himself in the United States of America, having been unable to find the money to get into F1.

The Gonzalo Rodriguez Memorial Foundation was established in 2000 and is now supporting the sporting activities of thousands of children in Uruguayan state schools. The foundation introduced a series of awards in Formula 3000 to help to draw attention to this work and this year the third Winning Attitude Awards will be held at Monza. It is expected that Fernando Alonso, Juan Pablo Montoya, Mark Webber, Marc Gene, Giorgio Pantano, Zsolt Baumgartner, Antonio Pizzonia, Bjorn Wirdheim and Ricardo Zonta will all attend the event.