Casino da Madeira crowded for autograph session
Bruno Vasconcelos and Nélio Pereira arrived at Casino da Madeira by 21 hours. They quickly watched some cars taht were at the entrance, but did not lose time and were first in the queue for the autographs of the 17 teams who attended the session.
“We wanted to be the first ones. We bought a RVM t-shirt for these teams to sign and to keep it as a souvenir. The rally is a passion”, said Bruno Vasconcelos, with his friend's agreement: “We have been following this for many years and always collect good souvenirs.”
They were the first of a long and permanent line, fot two hours.
“It is usual to see it in Madeira, but really this year the mouvement is much bigger. It all shows the passion for motorsport we live in the island and shows that the sport is alive. This kind of events is very important to promote the contact of the public with the drivers and should be stressed”, said the driver Pedro Meireiles.
By 22 hours, Nádia, Regina, Bianca and Paulo joined the many meters long line. “We will wait all the time we need. Every year we come for the autographs. I have already a cover with a large collection. We really enjoy the rally and even watch Regional Championship races. In this RVM, our prefered one is Bruno Magalhães and we hope he is the winner”, told Bianca, in the group's name who had to wait around 40 minutes to start the autographs' hunt.
Behind them, the queue kept growing. It was a large croud that got together in the permises, with kids and grownups enthusiastic with the close contact with the driver.
Italian-french Robert Consani, presnt for the first time in the island, was impressed: “People are very nice it is good to see. I am enjoying Madeira, it has very beautiful landscapes and as far as I was able to see, the roads are godd. I hope I will do a good race.”
The end of the autographs session was due to 23 hours, but had to be postponed to 23:30. After the signatures, some extra time was used to conviviality near the cars show at the entrance, still with some fans admiring the cars and many cameras flashing.
Teams who attended the event:
- Pedro Meireles/Mário Castro
- Ricardo Moura/António Costa
- Robert Consani/Maxime Vilmot
- Miguel Nunes/João Paulo Fernandes
- Bruno Magalhães/Hugo Magalhães
- José Pedro Fontes/Miguel Ramalho
- João Barros/Jorge Henriques
- Alexandre Camacho/Pedro Calado
- Carlos Martins/Daniel Amaral
- Filipe Pires/Vasco Mendonça
- Paulo Neto/Vítor Hugo Oliveira
- Duarte Ramos/Luís Ramos
- Bruno Fernandes/Mauro Sousa
- Isabel Ramos/Carina Barros
- Pedro Diogo/Bruno Rodrigues
- Gil Freitas/Duarte Miranda
- Rui Conceição/Roberto Fernandes