The eighth edition of Varano Vintage has concluded, the day of free practice dedicated to cars and motorcycles built within the nineties. At the Autodromo Riccardo Paletti in Varano de' Melegari, in addition to the various road cars such as Porsche, Alfa and BMW, the large audience was able to admire in action various single-seaters such as Dallara, March and Lola Formula 3, Brabham Formula 2 and the most admired of all: the Shadow Dn 3 Formula 1 used in his time by the unfortunate British driver Tom Pryce.
The British driver who counts among his career successes also the Race of Champions in 1975, and is the only Welshman to have won an F1 race, albeit not valid for the world championship. He lost his life in the South African GP in 1977 in Kyalami in an accident, a sacrifice that has made him indelible in the memory of fans.
No less exciting and at the center of the public's attention were the motorcycles, with several interesting examples such as one of the last two-stroke Patons built and several official models such as the Aprilia 250 with which Tetsuya Harada won the World Championship in 1993.
Over 60 motorcyclists, divided into two groups, participated in the Two Stroke is Back event, almost a record, second only to the first edition in 2014. A source of great interest was certainly the presence in the paddock and on the track of the creations of Alex Arletti and Carlo Mattarozzi. The Yamaha 500s, already celebrated by champions of the caliber of Jonatan Rea, Niccolò Canepa and Andrea Locatelli in Jerez, once again demonstrated the great success of the project. Mattarozzi asked the patron of the event to test his creation and Roberto Marchetti was not intimidated… A few laps on the track but enough to fully enjoy the qualities of the 4V: powerful but at the same time manageable, with a powerful torque starting from 6500 rpm and excellent agility in changes of direction, indicate that the engineer and the frame builder have achieved their goal: a bike for everyone, not just for champions.
There were other stars of the half-liter firmament: Marco Saltini took to the track with the Aprilia RSW500 ex Harada and the Paton 500, the last example produced by Giuseppe Pattoni. The presence on the track of Walter Migliorati from Brescia with his Suzuki 500 Rgb thrilled the less young; his participation in the 500gp world championship from 1980 to 1984 alongside Barry Sheen and Freddie Spencer to name just a few of the greats, was a source of pride for Marchetti when he handed over the “Master Two Stroke” plates. Cristian Polverelli took the latest evolution of his 500 to the track, later illustrating in public his plans for the future. A new engine will be put into production in small batches. Matteo Galli’s Aprilia-Bimota 500 special is very beautiful: a 250 Rs frame and a V2 carbureted engine and a chassis that includes carbon wheels.
For all information and updates on the race calendar, free practice sessions for motorbikes and cars and events at the racetrack, you can consult the calendar on the website www.varano.it and on the Autodromo's social pages.
