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It’s been almost 60 years since Juan Manuel Fangio won the last of his five Formula 1 World Championships, yet the legend of the Argentinian nicknamed ‘El Maestro’ remains as strong as ever.
So, ahead of last year’s Buenos Aires ePrix, when the opportunity arose for Bruno Senna and Jerome D’Ambrosio to pay a visit to the town of Balcarce – the birthplace of the great man – they jumped at the opportunity.
First stop was El Casco, a beautiful farmhouse set among potato fields that was Fangio’s summer residence. These days it’s been converted into a hotel and spa, although there’s a tribute to its former owner in the shape of his office, which contains some amazing photos of Fangio with other legends such as Enzo Ferrari and Ayrton Senna.
“My uncle and Fangio became good friends,” explains Bruno, as he sat behind the desk and surveyed his surroundings. “There was a great respect between them for what they had achieved.”
Next up was a visit to Autodromo Juan Manuel Fangio. A 2.8-mile, fabulous, undulating strip of asphalt carved into the hills nearby and designed by the man himself in the early 1970s. Waiting there were four cars – a 1938 Ford V8-powered ‘single-seater’, a 1939 Chevrolet Coupe that Fangio raced in the famous Mil Millas, a gorgeous 1950 Talbot Lago 4500 and a Maserati 450S.
Senna was first out in the Ford, while D’Ambrosio was in the comparatively modern Chevy.
After a lap in each they swapped and then headed back to meet the assembled press and express their awe at how Fangio and his contemporaries could race so hard in cars that lack even the most basic safety protection by today’s standards.
They it was time to jump in the Talbot and Maserati. Even though there was only 10 years between them and the Chevy, the advances in race car technology and preparation were clear to see and the drivers were revelling in it, with D’Ambrosio even starting to drift the bright blue Talbot around.
“That was amazing!” he beamed before turning the ignition back on and heading out again.
“These cars are works of art as well as museum pieces,” said Senna, “so you don’t want to break them, but they are a lot of fun.”
With the cars safety returned, the trip concluded with a visit to the Fangio museum, where a scrum of local media and excited fans were waiting to greet the Formula E stars. After a brief press conference where the drivers divulge their admiration for Fangio and explain the concept of all-electric racing, they were treated to a guided tour.
As well as an amazing selection of cars from Fangio’s iconic career – including all the F1 championship winners – there is also a wide array of other machinery, including Ayrton Senna’s 1988 title-winning McLaren MP4/4. It was a fitting conclusion to a memorable day.
“It was a fantastic day, I had a great time learning about the man and what he represented to the people – that little town pretty much revolves around the Fangio history and legacy and the places that they’ve built and are trying to make work there are fantastic,” said Senna. “The museum was very special. It’s very hard to find a motor racing museum with as much history and as much content as that museum has and that’s a museum almost dedicated to just one person. There was also a bit of Brazilian history there, there was one of Ayrton’s cars and some of his relationship that he had with Fangio and some of his priceless F1 machines and the cars that he won championships with.”
D’Ambrosio added: “It was something very special. You touched the start of an era there with the beginnings of Formula 1, and we are at the start of something different, a new era of motor racing – electric racing. So it’s a nice contrast and a nice comparison point between the two. We are now standing where they were at that time. So it was very inspiring.”
The trip would not have been possible without the amazing help of the Fundacio Museo del Automovilismo Juan M. Fangio, Eduardo Ramirez, the wonderful hosts at El Casco and our very generous sponsors SIAM Mobility. Our sincere thanks to everyone who helped to make this fantastic trip possible.
By Jessica Borrell