Roberto Berasategui
07/07/2021 14:09
Clarín.com
sports
Motoring
Updated 07/07/2021 2:09 PM
Cold day of July 2014. One of those days when the cold seems to come out of the concrete, rather than coming down from those big clouds that dye any scenography gray.
The Oscar and Juan Gálvez racetrack was an extension of that tonality through its circuits and the extensive, empty stands, echoing a situation as astonishing as it was striking.
Only a handful of people witnessed his arrival.
In the privacy of something that could be
as exclusive as it was fascinating
.
There was Carlos Reutemann.
The same one that was the protagonist of multitudinous days together with Formula 1 in that same place.
When the country pushed through radio and TV, first black and white, later in color, in each of the top-class cars that it got on.
This time
there was no noise
.
Unlike.
The silence seemed to collude with the cold and the clouds.
Brown jacket on top of another woven one, “Lole” arrived enthusiastically to turn with a car of the one-make Fiat Competizione category, one of the disciplines that accompanies the Super TC2000 on each date.
With great humility, he greeted each of those present, and carefully placed a dark leather bag.
Impractical perhaps, as a survivor of other times.
Indeed.
Seeing that it caused curiosity, Reutemann himself explained: “This is the bag I used to carry the booties.
And
these boots are the ones I used in my Ferrari days
.
What's more, surely part of this land belongs to Maranello ”, he commented as he passed by, to the amazement of those of us who attended one of those moments that are treasured.
Like a shoeshine, he ran his forearm to each of them and pulled them on, his enthusiasm exceedingly striking in a face that was rarely characterized by sympathy, even though his actions leaned toward enduring kindness.
Throughout the afternoon at the Buenos Aires racetrack he
never behaved like a Formula 1 driver
.
With great humility, he submitted to the explanations of Gustavo Der Ohanessian, former driver and at that time driver trainer in the promotional category.
"I am ashamed.
Reutemann is my idol.
I only show him where the elements are,
I can't teach him anything
”, confessed the former pilot of the old TC2000 with great emotion.
The cut of the engine and its revs, certain behavior and details of subdrive and overdrive, and the reading of the display to know the details on board, in addition to the details of the correction in the brakes.
“I have a problem with my left hand. I can't open and close it properly. It hurts. And I have this little problem on my hip, which has to mistreat me, "he excused himself before getting into the Fiat. Cristiano Rattazzi, president of the Italian brand in Argentina (and a regular pilot in the category), joked about these physical inconveniences, while also patting him to encourage him. Ultimately, he was responsible for the invitation.
The original idea was to go around a couple of times.
Take advantage of the invitation and
feel a little that vertigo that led him to be the protagonist of world motorsports
, when he accelerated with Brabham, Lotus, Ferrari and Williams in Formula 1. Or coincidentally the Fiat Abarth that allowed him to make the podium in the Codasur Rally of the Argentina, in 1980, third place that also equaled with a Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 in the World Cup, also held in the country.
Everything that got on, stood out.
In fact, he was the first driver in history to score points in the Formula 1 and World Rally events.
And there he hit the track.
The knowing smiles of all those who watched that Fiat Abarth Competizione disappear on the horizon of the first curve of the Gálvez.
There was Lole
.
One lap and the cell phones captured what was something historical.
At 72, Reutemann was speeding up a racing car again.
Two laps and the affection multiplied in the pit lane before the idol passed.
With the third turn, the gestures changed.
Those who were in control of lap by lap were surprised to see that the record coincided with the times of a leading rider.
No one doubted their conditions.
But at that age, with the physical problems highlighted and in just three laps,
the clocks were already nailed in the numbers that marked perfection
.
Reutemann was an exquisite pilot. Unique tester, with a sensitivity typical of the greats. He was unfairly just one point behind that 1981 Formula 1 world title, when with the Williams and in the famous race in Las Vegas he fell behind the Brazilian Nelson Piquet (Brabham). “We did not lose the championship on that last date. It was long before that, when Williams swapped Michelin tires for GoodYears in the middle of the championship. It took us a long time to adapt to those covers and we missed a lot of points.
That was the explanation. There is nothing else
”, was Lole's blunt response to speculation about a team rematch for that disobedience with the“ Reut - Jones ”poster, in favor of his teammate in Brazil. "I didn't see the poster, I was looking the other way."
He drove all kinds of cars.
Since its inception back in 1965, in the Improved Tourism (also on board a Fiat, but 1500), passing through the Sport Prototype, the Road Tourism (with the remembered "Narrow Falcon") and the National Mechanical Formula 1.
The jump to Europe with the Argentine Automobile Club team allowed him to stand out in Formula 2, achieving a runner-up position behind Ronnie Peterson, and his qualities allowed him to move to the highest category.
“It was always very difficult to get to Formula 1. I'm not saying impossible, but almost.
Very few arrive. And then stay even longer
. I had many colleagues who died in the race ", Reutemann highlighted, who also demystified the mysteries surrounding the supreme category:" When I ran, everything was written down in notebooks. My box ratios, hardness, damping points, anti-roll bar, height, everything was noted. And that notebook passed through all the hands of the team. But the same thing happened to my teammate. Therefore I saw that he used my coequiper and he looked at mine. In short, in F.1 he ends up sending the clock. There are no more laps ”.
On the road, track, Touring cars, Formula, owner of the great events of the F-1, such as his victory in Monaco (
"The best was the first, in South Africa 1974
", he recalled), in the rally.
His condition as a tester and as a fine pilot allowed him to shine in every vehicle in which he got on.
As on that afternoon in July 2014, where he ended up turning
40 laps, tireless despite the ailments
.
He scored 1m33s9 / 10.
“It is an enormous joy.
I never turned in a front-wheel drive car, and it was very tame and reliable, ”he said, very happy and enthusiastic,” he commented with a wide smile.
Because when he laughed, he did it heartily.
Carlos Reutemann the fine pilot who
knew how to take as a companion to an entire country
, fired up by his fast and exquisite gait.