Franco Colapinto starred in a historic day in Buenos Aires and sealed his connection with the local public after an exhibition that brought together some 500,000 people at the Road Show held in Palermo. On board a Lotus E20 with a V8 engine and also the legendary Mercedes-Benz W196 “Silver Arrow” used by the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio, the pilot made the crowd vibrate with maneuvers, speed and a constant closeness with the fans who filled Avenida del Libertador and Sarmiento
.During the event, which included three trips to the track, two with the Lotus and one with the historic Mercedes, Colapinto threw horns in front of the public, greeted the stands, waved an Argentine flag and even caused a fire to start in the car, which was quickly controlled by security personnel.
At the close, the pilot did not hide his excitement and left a clear message with a view to the future: “They are bosses. I love Argentines, they are the best fans in the world and it's good to prove it that way because we're showing F1 that we deserve to return to the calendar and have a
date.”In turn, he valued the magnitude of the event and what he experienced in his country: “Personally, it was a great day, I enjoyed it a lot and it's a dream come true. Very happy to enjoy with all the people, who have been supporting me for so long.”
The Pilarense, faithful to his style, also brought humor when he recalled his maneuvers with the car: “I did it without hands! And with accelerator, dad. It's the first time I've done spinning and crashing in there. We broke it. Formula 1 has a lot of power and it's a lot of fun to do them. The problem is that my rubber wore out a lot and I had no more grip. The car burned down, ha. Now he's coming home. They told me to take care of it, I tried to do it but in the end I got a little warmed up
, ha.”The event also included musical shows by the City Symphony Orchestra, Soledad Pastorutti and Luck Ra, gastronomic proposals, activities for the whole family and an air deployment of the Argentine Air Force, while Patricio Sardelli performed the
national anthem with his guitar.The street circuit, about two kilometers long over Libertador and Sarmiento, showed the power of the Lotus, which exceeds 600 horsepower and reaches high speeds, although without the safety conditions to push it to the limit. Even so, the sound of the V8 engine, already absent in current Formula 1, was one of the big attractions for fans
.In addition to the E20, the Pilarense climbed the “Silver Arrow”, a vehicle with which Juan Manuel Fangio, the top star of Argentine motorsport and five-time world champion, won the 1954 and 1955 seasons of the Máxima. Taking advantage of the occasion, the Alpine pilot wore a helmet similar to the one worn by the Chueco and while driving the Argentine flag flew
. On theother hand, Colapinto also highlighted the impact of the call: “It's incredible what it generated, it makes me very happy and it shows what Argentines are. I never thought I would experience something like this. It's a pleasure to have brought this show. I'm falling little by little. It's crazy how many people came. I am grateful, few have the chance to hold such an event in their country. I'm not going to forget it anymore.”
And he insisted again with the possibility of recovering the Grand Prix: “Did 500 thousand people come?It's a record. If we do a Grand Prix, we fill it and set a record. If in one day we already gather 500 thousand people... The record was set by Silverstone with 500 thousand but in three days. I thank you all, it's incredible. I see people hanging from everywhere, ha.”
