Hélder Silva was once again the fastest on the Santa Marta Ramp

Hélder Silva was once again the fastest, in absolute terms, in the 10th edition of the Rampa de Santa Marta, driving the Norma FC20 M20FC

In second place was José Correia in an Osella PA.30, while Nuno Guimarães (Silvercar S2) completed the podium by taking third place overall.

In GT, José Rodrigues got the better of the competition and increased his lead in the championship in this category.

In the Touring Car category, victory went to Pedro Alves, driving a Seat Leon TCR.

In the Super Challenge, Luís Nunes, driving a Skoda Fabia R5, was the best in the category and in Division A.

João Pires (BMW E36 M3) won in Division B and Bruno Carvalho (Citroen Saxo) was the fastest in Division C. In Division D, the victory went to Bruno Gomes.

CONVIVIALITY

Amidst the shade of the vines and with improvised tents in the vineyards, speed lovers were once again present on the ramp, both those from Penagua and others from outside the municipality.

This is the case of Luís Filipe, who came to Lamego. “I love the sound of car engines. I came alone, but I’ve already met some friends here”. Furthermore, “I really enjoy watching the races with this Douro Wine Region landscape”.

Playing at home, Ana Mendes, from Santa Marta de Penaguião, makes sure to bring blankets, food and drinks to watch the competitions. “I would really like to ride alongside Andreia Fonseca or Mr. Arnaldo. Driving a car like that would be the biggest dream of my life.”

Ana Mendes reveals that she supports all the drivers, but she roots more for the local ones. “I like them all, but these two (Andreia and Arnaldo) are from here, we have to support them more”.

He came early in the morning and stayed until it was over. “These are two different days and the municipality is doing very well to support these initiatives.”

With a very well-equipped space to watch from the front row of the vineyard, José Fonseca even brought a cooler to always have fresh drinks, in a get-together that he makes a point of sharing with friends. “We always come, because we really like the smell of gasoline. We brought some friends together, others didn’t come because they drink a lot”, he says with a laugh, adding that they brought ham, salpicão, cheese, sausages, barbecue chicken”, in two days of great celebration and socializing.

Luís Machado, Mayor of Santa Marta de Penaguião, expressed his “proudness” with the large crowd present at this ramp. “We have a lot of people visiting us throughout the weekend. This is an event that attracts many drivers, in a year in which we broke the record for participants, with 107 registered and 104 taking part. This is a different ramp, which knows how to welcome those who visit us”.

ACCIDENT

This edition was marked by Saturday's accident, which involved Pedro Cerqueira's Peugeot 207 RC 1.6 THP, which skidded and hit the tires, hitting amateur photographer Manuel Rocha, who was promptly assisted on site by the race's medical team and transported to Vila Real hospital by Santa Marta de Penaguião firefighters.

He suffered an exposed fracture in his lower limb and other injuries. but on Monday he was stable and recovering.