Under the elbow

Racing at Interlagos started a long time ago, in the 1940’s. This image was taken in 1963 when the Autodromo, in a very basic version, was used for touring car races, a category that was popular, but less so than the famous ‘Turismo de Carretera’ held in Argentina.

On this document, one can recognise the base of the climb called ‘Junçào’, on top of which we can see the corner called Cotovelo (literally: the elbow), just preceding the pit lane straight. This place saw the first races of the brothers Fittipaldi, driving a pimped up VW Beetle, before they decided to try their luck in single seaters in Europe.

Emerson Fittipaldi’s first successes in Formula 1, motivated local promotors to modernise the circuit, so they could organise a Grand Prix, first in 1972 (a non-championship race), then in 1973 a race counting for the World Championship.

The roots of Brazilian car racing can be found in this swampy area, south of Sao Paolo, ‘between the lakes’ (Interlagos). Bem Vindo !

Picture below: View of the Interlagos Race Track in 1980.