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| 1000 Millas Argentina |
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More than a race of historic cars, the 1000 Millas Sport Argentina took place in Patagonia, was an extraordinary experience of life: experience which also this time I had the great pleasure to share with my wife Stefania.
Beautiful landscapes in the middle of spring with an explosion of bright colours, beautiful streets every kilometres and hospitality of the highest level, especially thanks to the wonderful structure of the Llao Llao Hotel located in San Carlos de Bariloche, daily basis event.
Four days and 1300 km of absolute pleasure, especially due to the perfect organization.
What about the atmosphere which is breathed from all the participants, really friendly and cheerful.
Sport part very nice, technical and demanding with special tets for everyone: up, down, fast, slow, narrow, wide, visible, hidden, straight or crooked .... really everything.
First long section about 700 km, towards the Patagonia heart, crossing very different landscapes, beautiful tests and at the end of the stage we are second absolute in the classification. Not bad as a new starting experience overseas and on a new car, never used before, a beautiful Triumph TR3A year 1960.
Second stage shorter, less than 300 km, but with a lot of tests, as many as 27. It is growing our feeling with the car, indeed at the end of this demanding stage we are still second, thanks to our great day with an average of 2.70 hundredths of a second error (we say "media never seen before in the 1000 Millas"): we are always closer to the first in the standings, which are in the race with a prewar car year 1936, so in advantage for the drive ratio for the final classification.
In this second stage we passed through the beautiful area that until a few months ago was still buried under a meter of the ashes of the Chilean volcano; we stopped for lunch in one of the most popular resorts and tourist attractions, Villa la Angostura, and it was very nice to see how much people of this beautiful city wants to celebrate, so hard hit by bad luck. A big party in the street and a big thrill for us.
Third and final stage: rain and cold (around 7 degrees all day). In this climate, the landscape and the colours are very different than the previous days, but everything is always very nice. After a few tests we pass in the lead, but then we go in disadvantage for three major penalties we take because of two problems on our stopwatch and for the extraction of the throttle cable just at the last test.
Finally we slip into the ninth position. Pity, because depending on the timing of the tests of the entire race without these problems not depended from our mistakes, we could have won the 1000 Millas Sport 2012 .... but these are the races and problems in mechanics or trial, are part of these types of competitions, so cheers to the winners and to us the consolation of having recorded the best time of the race.
We will try again in 2013.
But well above the sports part, there is the wonderful and unforgettable memory of a "Patagonian experience", all perfect with a great satisfaction for what was experienced in these amazing 5 days.
Hasta la vista y abrazos a todos
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