Words by Richi Mackie
Photos by Marco Polidoro
–
Automotive excitement in its purest form. The one made of no bureaucratic obstacles or complications that make tedious and cumbersome a path that too often separates us from our car and from the best use we can do of it. The Autodromo Riccardo Paletti in Varano de’ Melegari has been the ultimate theater hosting the amazing show called “Emilia Romagna Motorfest” now at its second edition and orchestrated between Saturday 24th and Sunday September 25th, by welcoming fans from all over Italy and not only.
Everything starts only a few months ago, the moment in which we meet Angelo Antonelli, director and main figure for this event that saw the light last year. We immediately saw that spark that so many times lacks, especially having to do with cars events where you have to meet the likes of an consistent amount of people. The first edition has been a success and for the second one we wanted a spot in first row, bringing our personal “Supercars Paddock” where we welcomed a lot of friends, readers and track days fanatics only waiting to go down between the curbs. A long and demanding weekend flew away during which we had the chance to witness the evolving of the whole event, starting as a track day and becoming a true festival for enthusiasts. Arriving in Varano is comfortable from every angle of Italy and accessing the track is even better. This is another strong point of the whole thing. The moment you step in your eyes are taken by surprise by the iconic Delta S4, Delta Integrale, the imposing Michelin structure, passing through those that can offer your car the best components available, like Audacia Motori and Biesse Racing. Guys from Surf Activity, with the fast Ferdinando Monfardini, were among the main characters with their noisy Gallardo GT3, but a lot of clubs were there too, like the Audi RS Club that has lined up the usual array of performance cars, like RS3, S3, TT RS, RS4, R8 and so on.
Saturday starts early and we are busy building up our stand (thanking our friends at GazeboFlash.it), arranging our stuff around the Seat Leon Cupra ST 290, in our hands for the last few days finally having the chance to calm down the pace a bit after an intensively use that made us smile for every kilometer driven with it. And so, our gang arrives: two R8, Porsche GT3, Cayman, Boxster, Lotus, a Subaru Impreza that seems to fly from a corner to the other, Toyota GT86 and many others. Next to us you could see an endless sea of spoilers, thanks to the guys of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo club, but also names as Riccardo Errani, Luca Gastaldi, Chris Peluffo and Vittorio Roberti were there too. Hours go by and curious people become more and more, pictures are thrown on Instagram and Facebook and we already think about the following day, with the Alfa Romeo and Abarth available for test drive that can finally rest for the night.
The morning after, sun rays’ shine on the paddocks and we’re ready for another day of driving fun. The music is the same, but the volume gets higher. From 10.00 we can witness an amazing sold-out and the wait for entering on track is something crazy. Other friends arrive at our paddock: a GT3 RS, a Lotus equipped with an Audi 5-cylinder with more than 300hp, a bunch of Elise, a lot of 4C and so Cayman and a Corvette C6 Z06 that showed that if you’re the right driver you could handle all that power with no trouble at all. There’s no rest, the festival is going over the top and if you were home, well it’s a shame. Highlight moment when the shape of a matt black GT86 entered the gates with the king of drift Federico Sceriffo at the wheel.
During lunch, it was time for the Master Show – basically an hour of show for eyes and ears, with racing cars like two Delta S4, Escort Cosworth, Subaru, Alfa, Radical, a Fiat 500 probably built around a single seater and many others. The main thing is to be loud, run fast and brake late, every lap some meters later, maybe kissing the grass and attacking the curbs as your life was depending on that lap. Another lap, a last one and the checkered flag tells you to come back into the pit. Time to come back on planet Earth, no gloves or helmet, you park your car counting the minute to your next spot. There is also time to welcome two friends of SupercarSafari, a Maserati GranTurismo S and a Ferrari California, with which we have a shooting in the area near the racing track and then the sun’s rays are less intense and even if the rubber smell, petrol and oil is still strong, there is only a few minutes to poke around in the paddock and have a final look, because you know everything is going to end soon. The lights fall, the curtain falls, a well-deserved round of applause to those who have been able to give car guys something big, providing fun for everyone. You understand that it was a success when, returning home, despite the thousands of kilometers grinded during the last five days and very little hours of sleep, you can’t wait that your calendar will remember that you have to leave for E.R. Motorfest again. We will be there next year and with a few interesting news more. And you?