The Jarama Vintage Festival. A Total Success

30 years later, Ángel Nieto has once again climbed onto a competition motorcycle at the Madrid Circuito del Jarama. And he did so at the Jarama Vintage Festival, a weekend that transported more than 17,000 people back to the best of the 60s, 70s and 80s.

A weekend in which Madrid once again heard the roar of Formula 1 cars and smelled the motorcycles. Great world champions such as Nieto, Lavado, Read, “Champi” Herreros or Agostini were mobbed by fans, signing autographs and posing for photos with all the visitors.

We also had the chance to enjoy two classic motorcycle races. The first was the Formula 200, an endurance category in which teams of two riders each complete two 100 km races. In today’s Sunday race, within the production category, we saw an exciting duel between motorcycles Suzuki. The winners were the team of Aurelio Abadez and Javier Esteban, riding a Suzuki GS 1100, with Alberto Pérez and Javier Fernández second on a Suzuki GSX 1100. Third place went to Francisco Paul and Miguel Almagro on a Suzuki Katana. In the Superbike category, the first place finishers were Jean François Dondaine and Williams Gougy on a Suzuki 750, second were Patrick Joslin and Raymond Fabulet on a Ducati 851, and third were Ricardo Lozano and Horacio Rico, also on a Ducati 851.

The other race was the International Classic Grand Prix, in which 350cc and 250cc motorcycles compete with independent classifications. Today’s race, over 12 laps, was won by Guy Bertin on a Kawasaki KR, who beat Chris Bishop on a Precision. Third was Christopher Rose on a TZ G. In the 250cc category, victory went to the Belgian Yves Roger Hecq. Second was Eric Saul and third Andre Gouin.

But what everyone was waiting to see was the legendary riders on their bikes. Around 12:30, Ángel Nieto suited up and mounted a beautiful MV-Agusta to take a few laps of the Jarama circuit alongside Giacomo Agostini and Phil Read. Nieto had planned to use his Derbi or his Garelli, which he had brought specially from his museum, but since the laps were run at low speed, and those bikes need a high rev range to run properly, he preferred not to start them.

The cars of the greats, such as Niki Lauda and Emerson Fittipaldi, were also out on the Madrid track. The MINI Challenge, the one-make championship, also had its moment, with the victory going to the Autosa Tormes Competición team.

But the action could not only be seen from the grandstands. In the paddock, which was open to all spectators, you could hear musical hits from more than 30 years ago, play retro video games or buy vintage items. Vespa also livened up the circuit, with its most classic vehicles, on which you could see actresses dressed as Gracita Morales or the Red Cross ladies riding by.

A weekend to transport yourself to another era admiring classic cars and motorcycles such as the Jaguar E, which was honored for its 50th anniversary, or the classics car park, which welcomed more than 500 cars built before 1980.
An exciting weekend that brought a tear to more than one eye as they listened to and watched the TV clowns, Tip y Coll, or José Luis López-Vázquez trapped in the booth.

At 3:00 PM, the Jarama Vintage Festival closed its doors to the tune of the Telerín family’s “Vamos a la cama”. Now it’s time to rest and wait for the Jarama Vintage Festival 2012 to arrive.

Photos | David Gómez (Plusmoto)