The Sunday of Road Tourism in Termas de Río Hondo was tinged with sadness. Of course, it was no wonder. If the last great idol of Argentine motorsports is gone. Yes, on Saturday, a couple of hours after the classification of the fifth date, the hardest news came: Juan María Traverso left. The one who transcended the boundaries of motorsport. Yes, even people who know nothing about motor sports are very clear that there was someone who was called Skinny, who raced cars and who never hid his way of being. In the midst of all this, the octogenarian category closed its weekend with the triumph of Valentín Aguirre.
Twists of destiny. Just on the weekend in which he left, a driver won whose words must be removed. Reserved and quiet is Aguirre, the antithesis of the always loquacious Flaco de Ramallo. The race was marked by the permanent memory of Traverso. Before the start, current and several former drivers gathered in tribute around a purple hood of a Traverso car. They all lived together, many centennials who know about Flaco from what they told him or saw on YouTube. Others who, as children, stood impassively in front of the television to watch the exploits of that hero who did not wear a cape, he was dressed in a helmet and a flame-resistant diver. And there were also those who fought on the track with him, like Guillermo Ortelli, Gurí Martínez and the enormous Pincho Castellano. Everything was pain.
Yes, there was a race too. And Aguirre won very well for being at the right time in the right place. He was second, resigned to not being able to win given the superiority that Diego Ciantini showed at the top. But the breakage of the differential left Bochita in tears in his box as he saw how a victory was slipping away for the second consecutive time (it had already happened in La Pampa due to a safety car entry that complicated it). The man from Reef inherited the lead with the JP team’s Chevrolet, the same one Ciantini races with, and was left with a relieving victory after a difficult start to the year.
And if, Julián Santero left happy with second place and a good sum of points for the championship and Gastón Mazzacane completed the podium. And there was José Manuel Urcera, who with his 13th place was enough to unseat Mariano Werner from the top of the tournament. The champion’s Mustang ended up saved before the end due to a transmission problem.
Yes, there was a race, with winners and losers, as happens every weekend on an Argentine road course. But this time it was different. And it will be from now on, because Flaco will no longer be able to contribute his analysis, his acid comments and his loquacity.
