In the 15 -year interval, two of their seven titles have had a lot of drama. These are the most memorable assignments of the Chevrolet idol, who said goodbye to the category in La Pampa.
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Juan Manuel Collazo
04/17/2022 08:05 am
William Ortelli has seven championships Street Tourism to his credit, separated by nearly two decades. The harvest began in 1998, combined the three between 2000, 2001 and 2002, returned to the top in 2008, repeated in 2011 and finally dedicated itself in 2016. Of course, not all celebrations are the same: the third and the last are achievements that remain in the memory of all Chevrolet fans (and of rivals, of course).
The true story of Río Gallegos’ “miracle”, the championship that Ortelli snatched from Gurí Martínez
Río Gallegos – then managed by Néstor Kirchner – paid more than half a million pesos/dollar to come up with a definition in 2001, in the midst of the crisis. In fact, the famous ‘Corralito’ was assigned along with the teams throughout the activity on Saturday. In this context of a burning country, Gurí Martínez was 15 points ahead of Ortelli with 25 at stake and even his t-shirts were sold with “champion” written on it, the forbidden word of any cabulero. When everything was ready, what happened?
In addition to Ortelli and his number 1 multicolored Chevy -attended by Sandro Crespi and Jorge Pedersoli- he finished a great weekend on a new circuit for everyone (he qualified 3rd, won the series and was 2nd in the final behind Claudio Bisceglia, Gurí’s teammate), there were two separate scenarios but they made the perfect combo for the entrerriano to escape give his first title, which he only achieved in 2004.
The first is the economic context. Cosmetic company Reino, the main sponsor of the blue and light blue Falcon of Martínez, has filed for indebtedness proceedings in recent days. In a note with the Champions before his sudden death last year, Alberto Canapino, team leader from Entre Ríos said: “It left us completely without resources. That was a huge blow for everyone, we had no way to go racing”. Later, an agreement on Vesprini and Vesprini transport moved them to the Río Gallegos.
“That tension is why we all make mistakes”, He added. In return, company owner Daniel Groppa assured that they withdrew support because “Gurí showed great ingratitude after our request for a call”, after investing half a million dollars in equipment. “Beyond the fact that 80 percent of his title will be thanks to us, the company is strong and it doesn’t matter three whistles if he is champion or not”ended with the former, without mincing words, and forced to remove any advertising from the car.
All of this also contributed to the pilot losing his cool over the Ford, which traveled with enough money to Patagonia. That’s where the second motif begins, with the first and last name: Marcos Di Palma made his life impossible. Already there before, he warned Carburando that “I’ll be worried if it’s Guri”with whom he had a rough relationship in and out of the asphalt.
Martínez’s performance, in turn, was far from the strength he showed this season (he won at Balcarce and La Plata, but added another three-second spot and was very regular). Although he remained in the top ten in the previous one -what he needed to be a champion -, he had no material to contend with. And more than that, Di Palma complicated the final: with maneuvers to the limit of what is allowed, he loses positions and also his calm.
The time bomb exploded when Martínez, who had sunk into an unbearable peloton for him, grabbed Ernesto Bessone -who arrived with a punctured tire- and allowed a “pass and go” into the pits. In the middle he was confused and even lost some position. He finished on the 21st and Di Palma, on arrival, celebrated with Ortelli. “I have nothing to do with this … El Guri? A cold chest. Atleast I saved you the paint, you kept the 2 “he said as he descended. Clarito.
Ortelli, regardless of these two situations, climbed onto the roof of the Chevrolet and raised the brand flag amid the wind and cold of Santa Cruz. It was also there that his father Hugo celebrated, who said that “I’ve never suffered like this”. He then climbed to the podium, where Di Palma appeared and gave him a pick, as a prepo. Guri, who was depressed, made a nice gesture and also climbed up to greet him. One from Salto, with a smile from ear to ear for his third coronation, came to his trailer and kissed the Virgin of Luján. It may seem like a miracle, but things happened in the middle.
La Plata, Ortelli’s last TC title: with more luck from the champion, impossible
He didn’t believe either. Ortelli got out of the car in La Plata without knowing that he had been consecrated for the seventh time after a definition as dramatic as it was controversial, in which Matías Rossi, after more than 60 thousand kilometers of racing in the year, is 500 meters away from winning the title in 2016. Mariano Werner’s futile touch, the second, left him empty -handed and the Salto player, at the age of 43, had all the luck of the champion who together reduced 37 points with 70.5 at stake.
Werner (later suspended for six months) dived into the lawn and passed Rossi – who was planning to go from Chevrolet to Ford and pick up number 1 – but the tail of his Falcon hit Chevy’s nose and they both went outside. . the last curve. Previously, Ortelli was second, while the two came in the middle of the field. Amid the lack of control, the measurement of live times collapsed and there was confusion about Rossi’s position.
Del Viso’s is listed 21st on the screen and that’s what gave him the scepter. The pilot and Donto Racing, his team, celebrated until five minutes later (which seemed like an hour) the system was reset and 24 ° appeared. Those three places provided the scales for Ortelli to capture his seventh and final championship. That’s how the screams moved from one end of the pits to the other and the party was from JP and the whole Chevrolet.
Crying, Ortelli couldn’t believe it and hugged Matthew, his son, and Analía, his wife. Rossi’s team wanted to make one last attempt, to denounce the 23 cars that finished ahead and see if three of them were out of regulations, missing for the championship, but it didn’t come in time and the Gold Cup has not changed. hands again. The fate of the champion has been thrown.
Pictures: HistoriaTC.com.ar at ACTC.
Videos: Carburizing.
Source: Tycsports
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
