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Around the festivals

For four years, with the arrival of the month of June, lovers of the classics have a very special appointment in a mythical place: the Jarama Circuit. Its about VintageFestival.

As in England or France, countries that give us a great advantage in this type of celebration, the Vintage Festival recalls past times of the motor world by recreating the atmosphere of yesteryear with actors, music, vehicles and best of all: the presence of some legendary pilots to whom it is possible to greet and ask for an autograph.

Unfortunately, the world of motor racing has become increasingly distant from the public. Before it was normal to be able to walk between the pits, peek into them and see the mechanics working under the watchful eye of the pilots, who also covered their hands with grease. Today that is unthinkable. But the Vintage Festival, just like the Barcelona Spirit of Montjuïc, he recovers all that magic and makes it possible again. Also, if you have a classic you can take it to the circuit, show it off there ... and even walk the track with it!

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In this collection of photos taken in previous editions of Vintage I offer you some of those moments that were special to me: approaching a box and seeing inside one of those black Formula 1 Lotus from the John Player team (a car with advertising from! tobacco!) labeled with the name of its original pilot (Ronnie Peterson, Mario Andretti); in another box another formula 1 "in smaller cloths" of nothing more and nothing less than Niki Lauda !!! (one of my childhood idols) Too bad Niki wasn't around the circuit!

But that short, blond guy who just crossed me on a moped looks familiar ... If he's Ángel Nieto !!! You keep walking and soon you find him in a box next to two red Derbi, testing one of them with his mechanics. You ask permission to take a picture of him, he gives you the best of his smiles and you chat for a while with him.

In front there is a commotion: It seems that the Civil Guard is arresting someone ... If it is Juan Carlos Delgado "El Pera"! Let no one panic, the guards are two actors and they are playing a joke on this magnificent motor and driver journalist.

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A little further on, a nice little nun wants to show me her car, a 2CV. Sister Citroën! And next to it is a DeLorean ... The truth is that one feels as if one had been transported to another time.

There is a taxi rank with a black Seat 1500. How elegant they were before in that color! In Madrid they started to be white in 1980, and I think they lost a lot of charm with the change.

I see another car that was also the most back in the day: a Dodge 3700 GT. When you came across a black one, it used to be an official vehicle, or a high-ranking Army vehicle. This one has a detail that I had not seen for a long time: a pennant from the time (early 70s) with the old flag of Spain on the right front wing and some stars. Today, for safety reasons, military cars are much more discreet and go unnoticed in normal traffic.

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Suddenly, a red EMT Pegasus bus takes me back to my first years of university… And, in the meantime, I have also been able to ask for an autograph from a Formula 1 driver, the great Emilio de Villota; buy Agostini himself a T-shirt, have Toni Elías sign the deposit for a motorcycle or get a photo of 8 times Motorcycle World Champion Phil Read (I later found out that he used to be quite reluctant to allow himself to be photographed).

They give a public address announcement to go out on the track. I pick up my old Renault 5 Copa from the paddock and head to the starting straight ... I'm riding at the Jarama like my childhood and youth idols !!!

It won't be the Goodwood Revival Festival, or Le Mans Classics. But it is the Jarama, our beloved Jarama! which, like the Montmeló circuit, offers us the opportunity to travel back in time.

What do you think?

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Written by Michael Angel Vazquez

Miguel Ángel Vázquez, graduated in Audiovisual Communication from the European University of Madrid and Master in Dubbing, Translation and Subtitling (UEM). I have been a motor racing fan since I was a child, but my connection, let's say "professional" with Classic Vehicles began ... Read more

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