The wrinkles on his face indicate that time has left its lessons on this pleasant character whom everyone greets. There is no way to talk without interruptions with Mr. Lino Sisterna, since everyone in Cuyo knows this man from San Juan. Much less so when the meeting takes place in one of the races organized by his family, with the support of his eldest son, Juan Pablo Sisterna, supported by the work of all his brothers.
He started racing with a Fiat 128 in 1984 and the passion was passed on to Juampi and Silvina, the eldest, who passed it on to Lino (h), Federico and Lisandro to take over the baton of creating a championship that has been around for over a decade and entered the orbit of the Asociación Corredores Turismo Carretera. This milestone for the Asociación Argentina de Rally Raid established the challenge for a family from the remote interior to be able to navigate, with managerial solvency, in the difficult waters of Buenos Aires.
“I’m proud that my children are following the path I started,” said Don Lino to Página/12 on a freezing morning of racing near Cerro Villicum. “In the first race I did, Juan Pablo was four years old, Silvina was three and the rest of my children hadn’t arrived yet,” recalled the patriarch, who is 69 years old. “They’ve been racing all their lives and seeing where we’ve come, having a championship like the one we have… what more can a father expect?” remarked the man who established the rally in San Juan.
The conversation stopped when a man from Cordoba handed him a homemade salami in a long wrapper, which he thanked with a smiling bow. Because Lino made friends all over the planet racing the Dakar, receiving teams from all over the world in the years when the raid used the Argentine deserts. It was precisely when the Dakar decided to go to Arabia for its routines that Juan Pablo Sisterna consolidated the tournament he organized.
The Argentine Rally Raid Navigation Championship (CANAV) regularly brought together more than a hundred vehicles and, in parallel, the South American Rally Race (SARR) was created as an international race with five editions completed in the last five years. This record opened the doors of the ACTC, to join the conquering period of expansion of the entity that was born with the TC road race and, in the same act, announced a new rally tournament and the accession of federations that total more than eight thousand licenses sports that previously depended on the ACA.
In 2020, the SARR was born, which is held every year in February.
“We took it on with passion and commitment, we see the effort of many years of work, of many people, until the opportunity came to us,” remarked Juan Pablo Sisterna, general coordinator of the competitions. “It is a type of racing that was forged in the deserts of the North of the country, we are very happy and proud to arrive in Buenos Aires with this link,” continued the general director of CANAV and SARR.
And he insisted that the visibility of ACTC Media TV, the TC’s content producer, is key to growth. “It is our need for drivers and teams to be known to get sponsors and for enthusiasts like Facundo Ardusso, Emiliano Spataro and Leonel Larrauri to see the races and want to return to the rally raid,” Sisterna said. As for the general regulations, those currently in force will continue even with the transfer to the ACTC, so that the pilots feel comfortable, with slow transitions, if necessary.
Juan Pablo trained in architecture, although this activity takes up a large part of his working time. Silvina arranges the time of her textile business in Buenos Aires to travel to the races, meet up with her family and keep track of the start and finish times.
Linito is a driving specialist, knowledgeable in conductive tactics to overcome the complexities of the rally raid and, in addition, all the roads they have explored in different provinces are recorded in his memory. Multifaceted, Fede and Lichi are there for whatever it takes. Sometimes in logistical coordination and other times with the body inside the cars to replace any last minute cancellation in registrations. Because the pilots who appear also arrive with very different objectives, from the one who jumps into an endless stove for the roasts to the one who counted the slices of cold cuts to assemble the sandwiches.
Andújar started the road of cars
Andújar and Yacopini race in the Raid Rally World Championship but they accompany them in the national one.
This weekend Manuel Andújar raced for the first time in a Side by Side vehicle, thinking about the Dakar after the registration of quad bikes was banned. The two-time winner of the toughest raid in the world and two-time world champion accepted the invitation of the Mendoza native Juan Cruz Yacopini and assured that he will soon be in the left seat as a pilot.
2024-07-01 03:01:00
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