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unda ~ y Los Angeias, CA TIMES cf AryCUt- i.aa7 6+aoh Mit Anr SUN 1.386,7137 Los Angeles, CA TiMES QRANSE COUNTY ED LaaAnps)II-lanp @.evh Mrt Are. SAN la Les An TI FERNAN r Anpfta Mu geles, ME$ DO VA o- tan Arr* CA LLEY ED g a+aei. eVntlty UUN 288 88w Sunday eUhzOo.~68 SEP 12. 1999 SEP 12, 1999 8$? 12. 1o99 (ffl! 1!!11!! itli fl~l i;lil l~l1I~I ~~f !ll //~/~/(~~//~~`/ P1326 ~al~aY P!($SS CLlPPINGS IIl(I! 11 1lti111 1il, ! I(IE II;ltl I 9 il! 11 ifi(f1 if lili N i1 tiii I!1111} i{ 1E1lfl I I!! Pf578? 3.dfSi®i.'i "24$1~ PRE95CLlPP1VGS P_R_F$SpLrPP1NG5 Driver Killed in Practice at Laguna Seca Rodriguez iA . Oat of respect for M Gonzalo and his family, we chose not to run this afternoon. ~ MICNAEL ANpRERI .../ i RACING Confcnued from Page I ming 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. Qlvey said Rodriguez was prob- ably killed by the in7tial impact with the wall. Safety crews removed Rodriguez from the car and he was taken by ambulance to the Community Hospi- tal 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 'f exact cause of the accident. Paul Morgan, managing director of Ilmor-Mercedes, the engine builder, said that telemetry from computer readouts on Rodrigueti s i car at the time indicated the throt- tle tle did not stick, that it operated properly. Morgan would not specu- late on any other reason for the accident. Qualifying for today's 300-kilo- ' meter (185.7 miles) race was can- i celed at the request of the Champi- onship Drivers Assn. In a tribute to their fellow driver, all of the teams lined up their can 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;' 4ii- chael Andretti said. "Out of respect to Gonzalo and his family, we chose not to run this afternoon." The field of 27 rlrivers will line up today in the way they qualified Friday. Also canceled was indy Lights qualifying becauie repairs to the wall coubi not he completed in time. By SHAV GLICK rtMBS STAFF W&tTEa . MONTER)~Y-Rookie driver Gonealo Rodriguez of Uruguay, in only his second race of the CART champ car series, was killed Saturday when his Merce- des-Lola crashed into a concrete wall at approximately 160 mph during morning practice for to- day's Shell 300 at Laguna Seca Raceway. Rodriguez, 27, died of massive head and neck injuries, according to Dr. Steve Olvey, CART direc- tor of medical affairs. Witnesses said Rodriguez was approaching the famous Cork- screw at the highest point at Laguna Seca when it appeared his throttle stuck and he veered through a gravel pit before ram- Please see RACING, Page 17 yi 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 Rodriguei s family, team owner Roge enske withdrew his Marlbor in- cluding Al Unser Jr., from today's race. The Uruguayan flag will be displayed in Rodrigueti s memory during today's driver introductions. i Rodriguez, a regular on the't European Formula 3000 circuit, ' drove for Penske at Detroit, where . he qualified i6th and finished 12th on the Belle Isle course. He joined Penake's team as a test driver last March but returned to Europe to fulfill his Formula 3000 commit- ments. Driving for Team Astro- mega, he won at 4fonaco on May 15 andwas second in the standings. He first began racing in karts at age 13 and in his first season won the Unguayan national champion- ship. 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 Kmsnoff of La Canada was killed in 1996 at Toronto. Three spectators were killed by flying debris during the U.S. 500 at 4fichigan Speedway in Stily 1998. Although there have been sev- eral 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, accord- ing to John Stornetta, Laguna Seca ' p ~. general manager. r