September 12, 1999, was the date on which Gonchi would become an international name among drivers, but in a completely unexpected tragedy, Gonchi died on September 11 during the qualifying session in Laguna Seca, United States. The hopes of 3 million Uruguayans and hundreds of followers and colleagues died with him.
Months later, Maria Fernanda “Nani” Rodríguez, his younger sister, decided to bring those hopes to life, and give back all the love Gonzalo received during his career by creating a foundation with his name to keep his spirit and legacy alive.
The Fundación Gonzalo “Gonchi” Rodríguez was created in October 2000, at the initiative of Nani, Gonzalo’s friends and fans. They believed Gonchi’s achievements were not to be lost, and that with his same energy and enthusiasm a better world for future generations could be built.
FGR’s first activity was a tribute to Gonzalo, organizing the Gonzalo Rodríguez Cup – Master Kart in January 2001; several prestigious Formula 1, Indy, Superbikes, Le_Mans, F2 International and TurínCar drivers participated in the event, among them: Emerson Fittipaldi, Clay Regazzoni, Arturo Merzario, Giovanna Amatti, Tamara Vidali and Wilson Fittipaldi.
Sports
Inspired by Gonzalo’s sporting spirit, and aware that sports represent an opportunity for integration and social inclusion, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez used sports as a tool for education in social values, and started a program called "Sports for All". The Fundación coordinated a working plan together with the National Administration of Public Education (ANEP) and the Ministry of Sports and Youth to support the teaching and learning processes developed in the school and from a perspective of rights; this was specially designed, free of charge, for hundreds of children nationwide.
Within the framework of the “Sports for All” program, seven sub-programs were developed; these were based on the promotion of sports in education centers. Sporting activities were offered to the community to cater for the psycho-physical needs of each context.
All programs resorted to playful activities as an educational tool promoting the comprehensive education of children by P.E. teachers, artists and psychologists.
“Sports for All” made Physical Education available and free of charge to more than 15000 children from public schools in different parts of Uruguay and encouraged the government to pass regulation to make Physical Education mandatory as from 2009. Up to that moment, only 8% of the school population had Physical Education classes.
Road Safety
Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) present one of the worst rates of deaths in road crashes: 17/100 000 population, being trauma-caused in road crashes the main cause of death for children aged 5 - 14 years old. Until 2007 child safety as road users was not included in the regional governments’ agendas.
Within this context, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez decided to address this public health issue by launching EDU-CAR: Child Road Safety Plan. It started as a pilot plan to be implemented in Uruguay with an international projection and interaction. The plan was technically and financially supported by prestigious international organizations, such as the FIA Foundation and the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility.
EDU-CAR aims to protect children today and educate them to become the drivers of tomorrow promoting a cultural change in society that values and respects safe behavior in traffic.
The plan initially had 4 work phases: Research, Training, Advocacy and Regional Replication. There were, however, some other areas included in the research work not originally planned; some of them were, School Transportation and Safer Vehicles.
Latin América has become the most important car market and manufacturer, while recording high levels of road traffic accidents and serious injuries. In 2010 at the 1st High-Level Road Safety Conference in Moscow the creation of regional NCAP Programmes was recommended. Latin NCAP is the first independent program established in one of the regions recently motorized; this represent a milestone regarding crash-test information available to consumers. The Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez played a fundamental role in the setting up of the program being its Secretariat. In the Pilot Phase of the program (3 years) the aim was to establish the program in the region. After this phase, the Fundación together with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and its Foundation, the International Consumers Research and Testing, and the Inter-American Development Bank invited other organizations to join the program. Latin NCAP became a legal entity, composed of several international organizations involved in Road Safety. The Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez chaired the organization’s Board until 2017.
Today, the Fundación Gonzalo Rodríguez has become in a leading Road Safety Latin American organization with offices in Argentina, Chile and Uruguay implementing projects in several countries in the region.