Last Saturday, Fernando Alonsoās āroadshowā took place through the streets of Oviedo, an event that cost the public coffers no more and no less than almost half a million euros. A huge influx of people was expected in Oviedo and apparently there were between 100,000 and 150,000 attendees. The center of Oviedo became a small circuit of a kilometer or so in length that collapsed the city center for a few days and angered the neighbors, who had to take a long detour to reach certain places and some could not even get their cars out of their garages.
Photography taken by Javi.
We knew there would be a lot of people, so we decided to get up early and be there first. Nine thirty in the morning was a good time considering that the exhibition didnāt start until 12 and we could get a good spot. A good place? Well, barely, because at that time the entire fence was already full of people and we were lucky to find a space on the sidewalk in front of the stands a little to the right, with a strategic pothole that forced Fernando Alonso to brake in front of us.
He raced with 4 cars: a kart, a Megane Sport, a Megane Trophy and the Renault R28 from last season. The last two were impressive with how fast they ran and also with the noise they made, although to be honest, I expected a Formula 1 car to make more noise. We had all the photographers and media cameras in front of us, so it was easy to know when the car was approaching because they all started to focus at the same time (apart from the noise, which was sometimes deceiving).
Photography taken by Alcanor.
Alonso started spinning almost in front of us and also walked by and greeted us, and even made a small show with a bottle of champagne wetting the audience. He also got out of the car and knelt down to thank the fans, which only makes me reaffirm that those who criticize him do so out of some kind of contained internal rage (damn, Iām still waiting for videos).