Annual Report RACC MotorSport 2019 INDEX OF CONTENTS Index Editorial ......................................................................................................................04 Sebastià Salvadó (1932-2019). A key figure for motorsport in our country ..............06 Supporting motorsport since 1908 ...................................08 SCHOOL OF CHAMPIONS .............................................. 10 COMPETITION ORGANISER ........................................52 01. RACC Pilots. 08. Rally RACC 2019. The school of great champions ......................................12 A memorable edition ..................................................................54 All RACC Pilots of 2019 .............................................................. 14 09. Spanish Formula 1 GP. The race of champions ..............................................................62 02. RACC Pilots in the Motorcycle World Championship....................................................................18 10. GP Catalunya MotoGP 2019. The Márquez brothers’ festival ......................................68 03. RACC Pilots in national and international competitions .................................................26 11. Rallycross 2019. The “top” show .................................. 74 04. RACC Motor-racing Pilots on circuits ..................32 12. 24 Hours of Driving and motorcycling. Endurance in its purest form .............................................78 05. RACC Motor-racing Pilots in Rallies and Raids ..........................................................................36 13. Catalunya Històric. The classic rally with its own character ..............82 06. Volant RACC. The springboard for promises ........................................42 07. Open RACC Karting and THE RACC SPORTS ACTIVITY Promo RACC motors, the first step ........................ 44 IN FIGURES (2019) ................................................................. 86 RACC Motor Sport, tributes for the pilots and trophies for the champions ............................................... 48 The RACC’s support as seen by the pilots .................. 50 THE SUPPORTS......................................................................... 88 3 EDITORIAL Our way of understanding motorsport, to face the future At the time of writing this editorial, of rotations of the World Champion- In 2019, the RACC have a year full of the world is under health alert that af- ships considered in 2019, will mark sporting successes in which, once fects the lives of the most vulnerable, the immediate future of the sport, again, the entity contributed to pro- which keeps a large part of society which, like all others, must be trans- tecting our country around the world confined to home and has important formed to adapt to the demands of a to the organisation of motor com- economic and social consequences changing context. petitions of the highest international in all sectors and in motorsport. standard and through its pilots, who Given this reality, we will need effort have returned to the podium of the The necessary prohibition to hold and sacrifice, and be able to draw on main championships. mass events, the pilots’ inability to our experience to find solutions. In train, the restrictions on travel and this report, which summarises the Last year, 53 riders from the RACC economic losses suffered by the or- activity of the RACC in 2019, be- school competed in different disci- ganisers, sponsors, federations, yond reviewing everything we have plines of motorcycling and motor- teams and brands, etc. have forced done, you will findour way of under- sports; some are consecrated, and the postponement and, in some standing motorsport, based on in- others young promises who, with the cases, the cancellation of the races novation, ability to excel and a vo- support and accompaniment of the planned for the first part of the year, cation for service, values that have Club, which trains them in the sport- which endangers the 2020 champi- been present in our history and I am ing and also in the human dimension, onships. Thus, both the consequenc- convinced will help us face the new will soon fight to make a place for es of the cancellation of competitions challenges of this demanding future themselves among the figures of the due to the pandemic and the effect that lies in wait. higher categories. 4 EDITORIAL Marc Márquez has shone with his own ministrations and sponsors, and with Sports light and in an exceptional season he the help of hundreds of volunteers, achieved his eighth World Cup Mo- held the 55th RACC Catalunya-Costa Commission toGP championship; and his broth- Daurada Rally, which was one of the President of the RACC er Àlex too, who conquered his sec- most memorable since it joined the Josep Mateu ond World Cup championship, this World Cup championship in 1991. time in Moto2. In the Junior World Members of the Board Rally Championship, Jan Solans pro- Without a doubt, it has been a year Vicenç Aguilera claimed himself champion, and in of successes, but also one of sad mo- Josep Narcís Arderiu Formula 1, we saw how Carlos Sainz ments. In 2019, Sebastià Salvadó, our Jr. struck up his best season with the President for 30 years, left us and we Aman Barfull first podium of a RACC driver since pay tribute to those with whom he Josep Maria Bellot 2006, while his father, Carlos Sainz, shared a life and career devoted body Joaquim Folch in early 2020 in Saudi Arabia became and soul to the RACC and especially Antoni Gil the only driver in the world with three to motorsport. Jordi Gual Dakar victories in cars, and was also Josep Maria Mañé recognised as the best driver of the We will continue working because Joan Ollé World Rally Championship of all time. we know that this effort contributes to the international projection of our Xavier Pérez We are proud of our school of pilots country, because it brings economic Pedro de la Rosa and the successes our sportspeople resources to the territories that host Antoni Tachó reap, and particularly the RACC’s abil- the competitions, because it is a test- Àngel Viladoms ity to organise sports competitions. bed for advanced safety techniques Once more this year, we have become for users’ vehicles, and because Secretary of the the only entity in the world that or- it thrills a large block faithful to the Commission ganises the four most important scor- sport that it appreciates. Blanca Ramos ing events for the world champion- ships in the same country: Formula 1, These are just some of the many ac- MotoGP, Rallies and Rallycross. tions that the RACC carried out last year, in which we have given the best After 50 years as organisers of the of ourselves. We face the future with Formula 1 Grant Prix, the RACC has the commitment we have always continued to support the Circuit de shown, innovating, adapting, taking Barcelona-Catalunya. In this sense, large steps to overcome obstacles it has asked for public and private in- and moving forward in an environ- volvement to find new and different ment in which, today more than ever, solutions to allow the top event to we will have to take on new challeng- remain stably on-site in Montmeló es and rethink ways of doing things, in the coming years. For the RACC, also in the world of motorsport. the continuity of the F1, which has a strong economic impact on the ser- vice, automotive, tourism, transport and leisure sectors of more than 160 million euro, of which 28 million come to Barcelona, is strategic for the Cir- cuit and the country. Also, the Club, with its effort and with Josep Mateu the support of the country, of the ad- President of the RACC 5 TRIBUTE TO SEBASTIÀ SALVADÓ Sebastià Salvadó (1932-2019) A key figure in the motorsport of our country 1 2 3 3 1. In front of the main straight of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. When he became president of the RACC, Salvadó made it a priority to promote the construction of a permanent speed circuit, a project that finally became reality in 1991 in Montmeló.2. Podium of La Pujada al Montseny 1985. With two pioneer- ing pilots, Juan Fernández and Fermí Vélez, in one of his first acts as president of the RACC.3. With Bernie Ecclestone. Their relationship was one of cordiality and good personal connection. 6 TRIBUTE TO SEBASTIÀ SALVADÓ On 15 April 2019, Sebastià Salvadó, President of the RACC from 1985 to 2015, died leaving behind him a career full of successes and a deep impact on those who knew him. A motor racing and motorcycling pilot in his youth, he promoted the construction of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to host Formula 1 and MotoGP, he managed to get the RallyRACC to become a rally scoring for the WRC World Cup championship, and created a RACC school of leading pilots, the producer of great world champions. 4. With RACC pilots Laia Sanz and Marc Márquez at the RACC Motor- Sport 2013 awards, as world cham- pions in Trial and Enduro, and Mo- toGP, respectively. 5. With Dani Pedrosa. Trained at the Club school, in 2005, the RACC pay tribute to him for his 250-cc world title. 6. With Daniel Sordo at the deliv- 4 ery of the award to the RACC pilot in recognition of his World Junior Rally Championship in 2005. 7. With Carlos Sainz and Luis Moya at the Rally Catalunya 1995. The RACC pilot won the trial, which had scored for the World Champion- ship since 1991. 8. Posthumous tribute. Around 150 relatives, collaborators and friends attended the tribute and the open- ing of the new “Sebastià Salvadó” space at the Club headquarters in 5 6 the past June. 7 8 7 HISTORIC VIEW Supporting motorsport since 1908 1960 Rally Dues Catalunyes. 1954 1964 The Volta a First Montseny 1908 Catalunya is Hillclimb. The Copa 1914 1929 recovered and the Catalunya, the The RACC Rally of the Copa Montjuïc is 1966 first of the RACC’s organises the Copa Universal Exhibition held for the first Formula 2 GP competitions. Tibidabo. of 1929. time. at Montjuïc. 1900-1910 1910-1920 1920-1940 1940-1960 1960-1970 1916 1933 1957 First Volta a Rally of the The Volta a Catalunya. The 1,000 km. Catalunya seed of the present becomes the first RallyRACC. 1936 Rally Catalunya. The Civil War stops all sports activity. 1969 The RACC takes the Formula 1 to Montjuïc.