Pepe Villacorta, Doctor Racing, and the most unusual data from Caminos del Inca | INTERVIEW

Pepe Villacorta is part of the entourage of Inca roads. He is a journalist, but he seems to be part of the organization or of some team, because he collaborates with everyone, and more, with his impressive data. Doctor Racing is one of the greatest connoisseurs of the race and everyone is looking for them. We were able to chat with him briefly and in just minutes of conversation, he gave us some amazing test data.

—How many laps to Caminos del Inca?

This is my 16th lap. The first was in 1998, then there were a few years that I didn’t do it because I was commenting on it for TV, but since 2017 I restarted continuously.

—How do you take the fact of being so recognized in each place?

I take it with the humility of the case. Affection has been linked with all of us who make up Caminos del Inca, between pilots, mechanics, journalists. I was given the honor of hosting the token game. They ask me for data and even advice on stages. This 50th edition of Caminos was highly anticipated and thanks to Silva and Zani’s invitation I am here, collaborating with everyone.

—Spectacular symbolic game where you excelled with the data…

The competition deserved it. The organization worked on it. Everyone happy, everyone excited, like the Castillo family who made their dream come true. The pope remembered that as a child he wrote down the numbers of the cars and now he is running it. Or like Ruth Gutiérrez, who dedicated her career to her brother.

—You have all the data from memory…

I had some notes but I lost the note sheet. As the pilots were passing by, I was remembering the data and they were coming out. For example with the 204 of Aranzabal, the number with which Henry Bradley won his third Caminos in 1970, or the 302 of Falcone, which is the first number with which Bradley won the first edition in 1966. Or the Alayza family that he returned to the tradition of the 612, with which Luchón ran in 90. Now his brother inherited it.

Do you remember everything…

This is how memories appear to me, what they say photographic memory. Like the case of Joel Pastor, who was one of the youngest in 2001 and ran his Toyota, which now belongs to the Castillo family. Imagine, more than 20 years and that car is still there. Together with the Toyota of Marmadillo, it must be one of the oldest. The Legacy of the Alayza arrived in 95, also one of the oldest.

“How do you keep all that?”

What no one believes me. I have several of these (shows us a notebook). They are my notebooks. This is what I am reviewing. Notebooks, notebooks that given the moment of the race I review them. As well as the books that have been written about Caminos.

—Does this edition remind you of anything from yesteryear?

The arrival in Ayacucho was similar to that of the first edition. It was arrived in convoy to avoid problems. All the pilots went in a caravan except for two or four who were not at the meeting. When he saw that everyone left, they ran away, thinking they were staying. Now we had to arrive in convoy at the 50th edition due to known problems.

—Any special memories of Caminos del Inca?

I congratulate all those who make the effort to run, because it is a great effort to compete. There are memorable finals, like those of 1981 and 1998. In 1981, Jorge Koecklin, Luchón Alayza and Julio César de las Casas had been fighting, separated by 4 minutes. In the last stage Koecklin leaves first. Luchón had been winning and De las Casas recovered and beat him by 1:32 minutes. Or like Neto and Dasso in 98. Dasso had a 9-minute lead until Arequipa, but the Scort had better final speed and Neto beat him by a minute.

—Do you plan to publish something with all the data you save?

Yes, I’m thinking about it because at any moment the hard drive is erased (laughs). It will be a book that will have no order, the first thing that comes to mind I will put it. I’ve already started writing something because everything has to go digital, lest the notebook get lost. Above all, videos have to be rescued, because I have VHS and that material has to be recovered. They get moldy and you have to clean them. If the girdles break, they have to be repaired. It is the work that I do to continue with the history of Caminos del Inca and other races.

—How is Doctor Racing?

A man happily married for 17 years. I have a son who is in junior high school. I am a simple person, very emotional. I like basketball and I watch the NBA. If there is an opportunity, my specialty is to prepare a cause for the family.

“Does your son like cars?”

Not so much, but he does want to accompany me one day to see how it is inside. He gets excited when he sees me on TV. He is happy and I hope to take him to a rally so that he can immerse himself more in the subject, to a small, more familiar rally.

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