Ricardo Londoño, F1 coureur

Koop Ricardo Londoño merchandise

Ricardo Londoño-Bridge (8 August 1949 in Medellín – 18 July 2009) was a racing driver from Colombia. He had an unremarkable international career apart from his one attempt at Formula One in the 1981 Brazilian Grand Prix with Ensign.

Brought into the small team for financial reasons, Londoño took part in the special acclimatisation practice session held before the Grand Prix weekend. This session was held because the Jacarepaguá circuit had not been used in F1 since 1978. He performed reasonably well in the session, but it became irrelevant when the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile elected not to grant Londoño the necessary licence to take part in the proper practice sessions and the race, due to his lack of experience. Ensign replaced him with Marc Surer, who qualified for the race and set the fastest lap while finishing in fourth place.

Although Londoño did not participate in the Grand Prix, as he was entered for the race he became Colombia's first Formula One driver. He continued racing in other series after his attempted entry, retiring in 1985.

Londoño was murdered on Saturday July 18, 2009 in the north Colombian Córdoba Department. Two others were also killed in the shooting.

bron: Wikipedia