Notes:
Gabriel Werner was born in Paraná, the capital of the Argentinean province of Entre Ríos, on 24 November 1979. He was the second child of José Raúl and Blanca Werner; he was preceded by a sister, Lorena, and had the younger siblings Julieta, Florencia, Mariano and Evangelina. The Werners were a hard working family, and from a young age Gabriel accompanied his grandfather Tuno in a milk delivery truck when he was not in school.
Although the Werners had a keen interest in racing - José Raúl competed in local events and was heavily involved with the administration and management of the sport in Entre Ríos - Gabriel was propelled into it via unique ways. When he was ten years old he suffered a working accident in one of those milk delivery journeys with his grandfather. Tuno fell very guilty, and gifted Gabriel a kart. The little boy, who was able to drive cars since age six, became completely mesmerized by it and started racing it in local karting events. He quickly progressed through the ranks, competing regional (zonales) touring car races and then, by 1993, in the Argentinean Formula Renault Championship.
In 1994 Gabriel attempted to compete in the South American Formula 3 Championship - but, then 15, he was too young for the minimum age required by the series. It was thanks to the intervention of Elvio Rosso, president of the Federación de Santa Fe de Automovilismo (Santa Fe Auto Racing Confederation) that Werner received a special license that took into consideration his experience and results and allowed him to become the youngest driver ever to take part in the series when he debuted at an event in Paraná. Gabriel Werner and his modest team struggled with a very limited budget, but in 1996 he was runner-up in the series' Class B, in which older cars competed. Werner then moved to the main and faster class, joining Gabriel Furlán's organization together with team mate Ianina Zanazzi aboard Dallara cars, obtaining good results.
By then Werner became more and more engaged with running of the team itself, an activity in which he shone. This led to the foundation of Werner Competición, his own racing squad, where his whole family worked. Werner Competición first fielded Matías Russo in the B Class of the South American Formula 3 Championship; even though the team competed with an aging Dallara, and had quite sparse means, they proved to be competitive. Later he took Werner Competición to the Argentinean Fórmula Súper Renault; driving his own Tom's, Gabriel would be crowned 2003 champion taking the title from Federico Lifschitz in the very last race of the season, at the Mar del Plata street circuit. The following year, in what would be Fórmula Súper Renault's last season, Werner Competición would again be crowned champions, this time with its driver Ivo Perabó.
Werner Competición grew up to become one of the most important teams in the Argentinean single-seater racing scene, with Gabriel retained the positions of managing director and racing director. The team became a magnet of young talented drivers in Formula Renault; amongst them was Gabriel's younger brother Mariano, who debuted in that series in 2005. Mariano, demonstrating that speed was indeed a family affair, would go on to win the Formula Renault title in back-to-back conquests in 2006 and 2007. This later year Werner Competición expanded its range to touring cars, racing a Volkswagen Golf with Franco Novillo in the Case 3 of the Turismo Nacional series.
The team also campaigned in Fórmula Renault Plus, a series for older Crespi cars that had been formerly used in the Fórmula Renault Nacional Championship and with races held mostly in the Province of Córdoba. On Friday, 23 November 2007, Gabriel was with his team at the Autódromo Oscar Cabalén in Alta Gracia to lead the team in a practice session for a Fórmula Renault Plus event that would occur at the track that weekend. Around noon Werner went inside of a truck of NA, a tyre supplier, to oversee the inflation of tyres that would be used by his team's cars. The tyre being inflated exploded, shattering pieces of the wheel in all directions. Gabriel, who was standing right in front of it, was directly hit in the face and head. Another piece of the rim flew through the roof of the truck. Luckily Werner Competición driver Fran Viel Bugliotti, who was besides Gabriel, escape unscathed.
The circuit rescue team and doctors quickly arrived at the scene of the accident and assessed Werner's condition as critical due to massive head and brain injuries. News of the accident reached Gabriel's father José Raúl and his brother Mariano at the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez in Buenos Aires, where Mariano was scheduled to compete in a Turismo Carretera Pista race two days later. The two immediately left Buenos Aires to travel to Córdoba. Meanwhile Gabriel's mother Blanca, who was traveling back to Paraná after having attended the celebrations for the seventieth anniversary of the Turismo Carretera series in Buenos Aires, also diverted her trip to see her son. Unfortunately, though, Gabriel's injuries were unsurvivable. Even though he was quickly put into an ambulance to be transferred to the Hospital Privado de Córdoba, he suffered cardiac arrest before arrival and could not be revived. Gabriel Werner would have celebrated his twenty-eigth birthday the following day.
Gabriel Werner was buried at the San Benito Cemetery in Paraná, the city where he and his family lived. |
