Gustavo Sondermann (February 17, 1982 – April 3, 2011) was a Brazilian
racing driver
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...
.
Career
Sondermann began
racing karts at the age of sixteen and soon moved up to the
Brazilian Formula Renault championship for 2002, in which he competed for two years with mixed results. In 2004 he moved to Europe to compete in the
equivalent British series, and also made a guest appearance in the
Formula Renault Eurocup
Formula Renault Eurocup was a Formula Renault motor racing championship. Eurocup raced only on European circuits.
It served as a support series to the Formula Renault 3.5 Series as part of the World Series by Renault from 2005 to 2015. Renault S ...
the following year, but subsequently returned to Brazil in 2006 to compete in the
national stock car championship.
He competed in the second tier of the series, known variously as ''Stock Car Light'', ''Stock Car Copa Vicar'' and latterly as the ''Copa Chevrolet Montana'' from 2006 until 2011, winning four races in total and with a best finish of third place in the championship in 2007, a year soured by the death of his team-mate,
Rafael Sperafico
Rafael Sperafico (22 April 1981 – 9 December 2007) was a Brazilian racing driver. He was the cousin of fellow racing drivers Ricardo Sperafico, Ricardo and Rodrigo Sperafico, Rodrigo, and also related to Alex Sperafico, Alexandre. He was b ...
, in the season finale. In
2010
The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...
, he competed in seven races of the premier Stock Car Brasil division, scoring six points and finishing in 31st place in the championship. He also competed in the third-tier Mini Challenge series, the
GT4 Brasil Championship and the
Pick Up Racing Brasil series, winning the last of these in 2008.
Complete Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
† As Sondermann was a guest driver, he was ineligible for points
Death
During the first race of the 2011 Copa Chevrolet Montana season, held in heavy rain at the
Autódromo José Carlos Pace
The Autódromo José Carlos Pace, better known as Autódromo de Interlagos or simply Interlagos, is a motorsport race track, circuit located in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. It was inaugurated on 12 May 1940, by the federal intervener of the S ...
, Sondermann was hit by several cars and ultimately by Pedro Boesel at the fast ''Curva do Café'' before the start-finish straight. He was extricated from his car and transferred to hospital in a coma after having had cardiac arrest, where he later was diagnosed brain-dead. His organs were donated.
References
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External links
Sondermann's Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sondermann, Gustavo
1982 births
2011 deaths
Brazilian people of German descent
Brazilian racing drivers
Brazilian Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
British Formula Renault 2.0 drivers
Formula Renault Eurocup drivers
Stock Car Brasil drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
Sport deaths in Brazil
Filmed deaths in motorsport
Comtec Racing drivers