After crossing the arch built up for the occasion on the Polo field in Arelauquen, Daniel Erejomovich looked happy but anxious. Agitated, he looked eager to find last minute data as he mingled and chatted with the rest of the participants. Winning the 1000 Millas for the second time – and this time in Patagonia - meant closing the perfect year for him. It would represent his fifth Argentine Classic Sport Cars title, his fourth Triple Crown and winning 7 out of 8 races in which he participated this year as he was a no-show in the Western Rally.

His timed average in the third leg was over 4 hundredth, way beyond his hit in Italy when driving the Nuvolari he made 1.98. Erejo admitted that he could not bring himself to finish it up. Leaving aside some problems in the first round at the Empresa Lago Escondido Kartodrome, the pilot wrote down his name one more time on the Golden Album of the race on an AC 16/80 Comp Sport of 1938 when he finished 86 timed tests with only 448.5 penalty points.

The leader of the first leg, Carlos “Calilo” Sielecki, was forced to wipe out more than 40 points in the last 313 km and 25 PC to catch up Erejomovich. Even though he admitted “I did my best, Daniel did it better. It is just like this: you love the clock when it tells 0 but you hate it when it reads 10”. All in all, racing under the nickname “Buga”, he ended as runner up with 33.8 penalty points more.

Lucas Argüelles and Fernando Sánchez Zinny gave us another thrilling moment in relation to the lower platform of the podium. Unfortunately, Alejandro Lopez, who had been in the third position after two days of competition, had to back out. The early withdrawal of the Delage DM6 of 1927 made the El Foyel and the Kartodrome tests the dramatic turning point for the third position.

Argüelles was taken down after his performance on the fast and sloppy rubble of El Foyel. “I am really frustrated. Again, just like last year, I got it all wrong there. I thought it over thoroughly, how to do it but I could not put my plan into practice in the end. Losing positions due to those two tests would be very unfair, particularly today with no discarding” he said before having lunch at El Hogar Empresa Lago Escondido.

Destiny proved to be fair for the 1928 Fiat 520 Baquet pilot when Sánchez Zinny stepped on the pressure switches and the effort proved too much for his Amilcar CGSS. The difference was 22.10 penalty points. Nonetheless, the four-time winner of the 1000 Millas was overjoyed because, after having a go at it for some time, he was finally able to finish this demanding competition on his dearest 1927 car.

As well as participants strongly battled for the first and third positions, the fifth place was a “virtual tie”. Only 25 hundredth was the difference David Beraja made over Fernando Nocetti, the pilot born in the province of Salta, in a laborious journey. 

“I was surprised with the results of the first legs. I thought I was not doing well. I started participating in these races two years ago and I sign in as much as I can” said Beraja at the wheel of a Jaguar XK 120 of 1954. Nocetti, on the other hand, admitted and regretted “We lost in the first PCs on Friday. We were OK because we had won the E1 without handicap”.  

After a great recovery Leo Zerbini with his father Luis as copilot recovering from a fractured tibia and fibula on a 1972 Porsche 911 T managed to grab the 7^th position with 9 penalty points less than Daniel Penone. “We finished the leg with a 6 in average. We lost our punch when we hit 20 in one test. I can´t believe it. However, in the end, this is the real thing” admitted the collector of the 1939 MG TB.

Guillermo Acevedo, with his son Ignacio as copilot, started OK but before reaching Lago Puelo, the outermost point of the leg, that had started at Llao-Llao Hotel, just like every other day, dropped to 4.6 average. Dropouts helped them go beyond the 10^th position with their Jaguar XK 120, something that looked difficult to achieve.

The participation of Daniel Van Lierde on a 1908 Züst is also worth mentioning. He finished in position 103.  “I had the chance to get to know the car and its reactions for the chain. Although braking is certainly difficult, it has an auxiliary brake at the exit of the transmission that is more effective. The steering wheel is very stiff but it was a very nice experience” said the pilot who was in charge of opening the race every day.

Furthermore, although the Ferrari 166 Inter/195 could not make to the checkered flag it was picked the Best Vehicle of this edition and Manuel Eliçabe, his owner, dedicated the award to his father.

The 29th edition of the 1000 Millas Sport will take place on November 8 to 12, 2017.