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Road To Paradise 2016: The Full Review
The third driving event of Auto Class has gathered a few and selected cars, bringing along a road that has exalted the love for driving, between lakes and mountain passes, ending in the fairytale setting of Macugnaga.
ROAD TO PARADISE
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Words by Alessandro Marrone
Photos by Nazareno Distefano –– Federico Vecchio
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Take a casual early autumn Sunday, when summer heat has just left behind and you can finally plan to leave and come back with the same shirt, without having to become best friend with air conditioning. Get a dozen of sports cars, ranging from the horses of Ferrari and Porsche, through the British Lotus and Jaguar, to the iconic Delta Integrale, maybe even with a Martini Racing livery, and then AMG, Audi RS6 and to represent the hot hatch family, what is undoubtedly the best in recent years, the RenaultSport Clio RS, the last with a naturally aspirated engine and the manual transmission – a real toy that can offer fun like there’s no tomorrow. This would be my perfect Sunday, far from football stadiums, far from the city and the thousands of talk shows that bombard our TV: this has been the first edition of the new Auto Class Magazine driving tour, the “Road to Paradise”. Of course you’ll come to say that you thought that the road to heaven should be white (and not because of the snow), with soft clouds on the sides and perhaps with some little angels playing harps instead of occasional cyclists, who did not miss to underline their disappointment towards our herd of horses hungry for fuel, but the approximately 160km we have traveled together with you this October 2nd, were among the best 160 kilometers we’ve done this year. And trust me when I tell you that every year we travel a lot of ‘em.
Born this way, almost by chance, but not without a careful and precise preparation, the RTP tour is the third driving tour that our loyal fans have put on their 2016 calendar at the voice “Trips with Auto Class”, where you know, I do not intend to sound a clown like some pseudo colleagues, we always have fun both for the view that we are going to witness, both for the cheerful pace that we can keep. Gathering venue set in Borgomanero (NO) at the Next Café, a welcoming and elegant local that welcomes us with a very rich buffet. The first light of the morning are undermined by a few drops of rain that seems to put a shade on our end of the season picnic, but a hypothetical phone call to higher floors brings back a serene smile on the faces of the participants, which one after ‘another, arrive for the registrations. There are many new faces, but also some familiar one, as the brothers at the wheel of their red Toyota GT86, flanked by the GT86 of Davide from Pit-Stop Supercars, the always-hard-on-the-throttle with his RS6 Avant and “Super Darius” with the ultra-pornographic lava orange 991 GT3 RS. And then 458 Italia, Cayman GT4, 911 Carrera 4 S, an A45 AMG and a GLA45 AMG, two 996 GT3s, a Delta Integrale, Clio RS, F-Type Roadster S, Boxster and the Lotus Evora 400 brought by Team Gino Luxury & Motorsport, one of the sponsors of the day, which also provided the BMW i8 (yes, the same of July’s Col de Turini Tour), while at the group’s head, the car that no one (including me) would have ever expected – an SUV. Not your usual SUV though, but the 440hp of the new Cayenne GTS, which in addition to drink petrol like an alcoholic sailor, has been able to keep a more than satisfactory pace, counting its size and the type of road, which definitely rewarded lightest cars. Well, it’s fine, at least we have not had to stop to wait anyone this time!
Too bad for the handful of cars that instead failed to reach for various reasons, but we are confident that they won’t miss the upcoming events, and indeed we’re pretty sure that once they’ll come they will become a part of the family as it happens to most of those who try ACM’s events. Cutting short the pleasantries and the introductions we start and go towards Orta San Giulio, along the winding coil that showcases the island of San Giulio in the middle of that lovely mirror of water that is Lake Orta. At the roundabout turn right and up towards Armeno, heading for Mottarone – the first of today’s objectives. While the small towns are left behind and the road becomes full of corners, the pace increases and the engines begin to resonate their voice in the valley. Each bend is pleasure, elevated even more due to the lack of traffic. The road surface is surprisingly good and everything runs smooth until the stop, a few hundred meters from the top. Just enough time for some shots and we descend through the Borromeo Park, an unspoiled corner of land useful to cool down the spirits, also because of a train of MPV that has forced us to decrease the speedo. We go down the lake Maggiore passing through Lesa and we welcome a new background, accompanying us for several kilometers along Stresa, Belgirate and then Fondotoce. A few kilometers, finally a bit’ more cheerful, and it’s time for the picturesque Mergozzo, with its small but evocative lake. We keep going, no more stops, the drivers are hungry for corners and we feed them well with those that rise up from Piedimulera to Macugnaga, a beautiful village at the foot of Mount Rosa. The last part is the most drivable and each one keeps the pace they prefer: there is way to test drivers’ skills and those of the car, but always in full respect of the speed limits and the rules of the road. The houses become cottages and the air is pungent, every town that we cross seems to stop and admire the brief but wonderful convoy of sports cars who have decided to stretch their legs on a warm Sunday in early October. Arrived at the restaurant, we arrange the cars on the lawn of the “La Taverna del Rosa” restaurant and it’s time for hot comments, laughter, advices and pats on the back for having completed in the best way a new tour, thought and dedicated to those who want to use their cars in the right way. Lunch is not abundant, but it is good and acts as a prelude to the awards ceremony and the presentation of the “Gino Scuderia” program of which you can find more info on our September’s issue and on our website.
Just enough time to throw down the coffee and it’s time to get behind the wheel of the Evora 400 and the i8 for a series of tests exclusively dedicated to the event’s attendees. Added value to an event that had already given different emotions and created new friendships. There were not small groups, there were no cars of A or B series, but the ultimate automotive brotherhood that we would see at each cars event, and that unfortunately never happens. Finally, the Delta Integrale, the oldest car of the day, also gets the most votes (by the participants) and won the first prize offered by the detailing experts at Beauty Car Services. It has been a fantastic day, perfect, where everything went as it should. A short but intense tour that has shown that the ingredients for a special day are only a few: the right people, the right cars and the right roads. Everything else is the outline that every driving enthusiast would want to experience, and we anticipate that next year a bunch of new stuff will await you. Yes, because in addition to the proven “Col de Turini Tour” and the “Gentlemen’s Run”, we confirm the “Road to Paradise” (with a new route still to be confirmed) and other 2 driving nirvana days, that will take you as always home with a smile and with the certainty of not regretting for having left your garage empty that morning.
Many thanks to all participants for their presence and to the sponsors of the day: Astoria Wines – Beauty Car Services – Capristo – CarWrapping Italy – Gino Luxury & Motorsport and Porsche, not to mention our web partners for the occasion: Petroledge Automotive.
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