javier romagosa
Paco Costas (1931-2018), famous motor journalist specialized in road safety and Formula 1, died on July 11 at the age of 86. Many of the readers will remember you for the fantastic program 'The Second Chance', with which he taught to drive a good part of the Spanish population at the end of the 70s. In reality, this impressive production was just one of his great achievements.
Of humble character, Paco Costas began as a mechanic's apprentice in his childhood, soon to become an industrialist in the industry, an amateur pilot and, finally, thanks to his first steps in El Diario de Ávila, a journalist. On television -which at that time only had two channels, TVE 1 and TVE 2- it premiered with the programs 'Four times' y 'Everything is possible on Sunday', both focused on road safety.
In 1978, with the production thanks to Francisco Navarrete of 'The Second Chance', Paco Costas gave a twist to his pedagogical work. Thanks to a sensational staging, in which the most frequent accidents were masterfully recreated and the way to avoid them or, at least, minimize their consequences, Costas was able to keep Spanish viewers magnetized while learning what to do. what to do and what not to do behind the wheel. Still today, each of the installments of the series It is didactic.
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Back in the 80s, and with the desire to continue with its formative work, directs and presents 'That's how it was, that's how they tell it', a space in which famous people recounted their bad experiences at the wheel and how they could have avoided them.
As a prestigious motor journalist -something hard earned thanks to his work and his affable nature- he collaborated in various newspapers and specialized magazines in the printed press, as well as on the radio and in recent times even on the web. Able to adapt to the new digital environment even despite his age, many of us followed him on social networks and paid special attention to his frequent updates.
Paco Costas: Passionate about Formula 1
Apart from road safety, Paco Costas had another great passion, perhaps above the one for which he became famous: He was always a great lover of Formula 1, even becoming friends with pilots of the stature of Fangio, Stewart, Tyrrell, Hunt, Lauda, Depailler, Scheckter, Senna, Prost , Pérez Sala, Geancarlo Minardi, Jo Ramirez, Alesi or Berger, among others. His programme 'Grand Prix: This is Formula 1', it was one of the first dissemination events among Spanish fans of this sporting discipline.
As a result of this passion, Costas edited the book 'The Magic Decade', in which he narrates his experiences in the premier class and, above all, the time of the rivalry between Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. On the other hand, also within the publishing scene, in the mid-90s he published the book 'For a Safer Driving' and, in 2014, 'A Life on Wheels', memoirs written in co-authorship with Daniel Galdeano.
In the last stage of his life, Paco Costas gave lectures on road safety, ran his own school on this specialty and even confessed his passion for motorcycles in his last article.
Genius and figure. D.E.P
