THE INCA TRAIL
the big South American adventure rally
Day 46: Bahía Blanca - Balcarce - Mar del Plata (504km)
The greatest
Bart Rietbergen's Kermit is in his element on the Fangio circuit - wet or what? |
Exhibit commemorating Fangio's run in the Gran Premio de America del Sur, 1948: Argentina - Bolivia - Peru - Ecuador - Colombia - Venezuela. 9,575km |
First was a drive to Tres Arroyos. This was the scene of one of his earliest races - in November 1938. Next, Necochea: a city with a street circuit and the place where Fangio entered his first officially-sanctioned motor race, in a self-built Ford V8 special. He came third in his heat and seventh overall in the final, against other entries such as Mercedes and Alfa Romeos.
Heavy rain over recent weeks had been threatening to play havoc with our route through Argentina, and the organisers had to do some quick revisions to planned routes as a result. Though today's route was fully passable by the advance course car just 48 hours before, more steady rain meant that things had deteriorated. It was so bad by mid-morning that Bill Price and Mike Johnson's course opening car became irretrievably stuck: the gravel 4x4 Explorer Section and Medal Section, through ghost railway townships along the old main highway, route 85, had to be abandoned, and the course car rescued by a local farmer and his tractor.
The alternative main road route, through endless lush flat grasslands, was strongly reminiscent of Holland. After all the rain, ditches each side of the road were brim-full, completing the picture - though the occasional palm tree among the rest gave the game away.
Next came a visit to Juan Manuel's estancia, El Casco, the home given to him by the town of Balcarce. We were treated to lunch there, organised by the Fangio Museum, which now has the guardianship of this country property.
Just a short drive up the road took classic cars to the Autodromo JM Fangio, for a circuit lap consistency test. More torrential rain had made the approach to the circuit treacherously rain-sodden, and the drive around the circuit was another test in itself with loss of grip and spray a constant consideration.
Finally, at Balcarce itself, we parked in the town's ornamental central square, then enjoyed a visit to the Fangio Museum, beautifully created within an old colonial-style building. Many Inca Trail crews were over the moon to have the chance to visit this homage to the great master: it features many of his cars, a recreation of his former workshop, a display of all the awards he won in the course of his 20 year career - and much more besides. As Barbara Smith said: 'For me, it's one of the great highlights of the trip: I came here because of this.'
There was pause for thought for Inca Trail crews: a section in the museum commemorating Fangio's 1940 win in the Gran Premio del Norte told them that he drove Villazon - Potosi along the same route as our Sundance Regularity and Medal sections - in less than our target time. Mind you, his car was modern then - but the Bolivian gravel roads were probably just the same.
A day of total Fangio immersion, then - and for those not so lucky it was a day of total rain immersion, too.
Would-be Frankensteins please note
Jonathan Pelly-Fry points out a rather spooky tendency. His Audi's Citroen air hose transplant worked a treat the other day. But the car has developed an identity crisis: it's begun to perform the classic Citroen trick of dropping down on its haunches whenever it's parked overnight.