Matias Rico (February 3, 1983 - April 14, 2002) was racing driver in the team of Eduardo Bouvier in Formula Renault, the school of Argentine motorsport. On Friday, his father Juan Carlos left Necochea, where he is the family, he went to look for his son by the Buenosairean capital and they put forward to Río Cuarto. Those dreams accelerated on the rough asphalt of the circuit of south Cordoba, but a somersault, a sudden spin, an absurd shock, liquidated their illusions and took their life. Rico died as a result of the injuries received in an accident during the dispute of a race of the Formula Renault, that accompanied to Tourism Competition 2000 in the circuit of the south of Cordoba.
"He told me that the track was wet, so that you could not run," El Penguin, the mechanic of the late pilot Matías Rico, repeated every time. The news of the Necochea boy's death spread like wildfire in the pits. The official announcements had not yet been heard and the boys of the formulas Renault and Super Renault were approaching the tent of Eduardo Bouvier, owner of the equipment for which it ran.
Rico, 19, died in the San Lucas polyclinic of Rio Cuarto, where he had been transferred after the accident shortly after 10:30. At the time of his death, the pilot of Necochea was accompanied by his father, who had accompanied him to Rio Cuarto to see him run.
The accident occurred in the second round of the final, when the Crespi-Renault driving Rico cruised the main straight alongside a tight peloton. The car bit the grass on the left bank and left the runway; The boy of Necochea wanted to return quickly to the circuit and in doing so the car crossed, in front of the advancing platoon. Thus, he was violently impacted on the right-hand side by a similar drive led by Matías Milla, a boy of his own age, a karting champion, who debuted yesterday in the F-Renault.
The impact was brutal. The images showed the plastic cockpit slipping out of the car, Rico's body jerking, his head almost inert. The medical service of the TC 2000, headed by Dr. Pedro Bressi, ran to his rescue. Rico suffered loss of knowledge and serious injuries, reason why it was decided to transfer to the polyclinic San Lucas of the city of Cordoba; On the way he suffered a cardiac arrest, and once interned in the Intensive Care Room of the polyclinic experienced two new work stoppages. The boy died minutes after arriving at his father's hospital.
Milla, for his part, was also transferred to the same care center, where he was treated for his left leg injury and initially only suffered a severe trauma to the ankle and left knee.
The Renault company, which sponsors the category, decided to withdraw from the programming to the race of the F-Renault, which had been stopped, and Formula Super Renault, which was to run after.
Rico made his debut in Formula Renault in 2000, although he was not a regular participant in the category. In 2001 he ran seven races, finishing the tournament in 17th place, and this year he wanted to compete the whole championship: in the first race, held in General Roca two weeks ago, he finished in seventh place. The last fatal accident in Formula Renault dates back to 1984, when Oscar Franciscángelo lost his life at the Buenos Aires circuit.
