It’s 4:30 p.m. and the final of the Copper Grand Prix from Antofagasta, north of the Atacama Desert: the teams Rosberg AND.
Juanito Montes (37 years old) and César Argañaraz (45) watch the race that will define everything on the giant screen of the Explorer, the VIP of the circuit. Who are they? As they define themselves, “two hustlers passionate about motorsport“, two mechanics from Cordoba who rub shoulders with the elite of European motorsports and are part of Rosberg Mikaela Kottulinsky He crossed the finish line with the left wheel axle destroyed to secure the title, the Argentines exploded in a shout of happiness.
Minutes before, the only team that could take the championship from them capsized, but for Argañaraz there was no need to count the chickens before they were born. “Races are celebrated when they’re over,” he said, and he rejected any type of greeting, although no one could surpass them in points in the championship.
“The tension you saw has to do with the fact that we are also running. It is the closing of our work for the year and that is why we live with extreme tension,” says Montes, from Villa Carlos Paz, Cordoba, like his colleague.
“In this team they make us feel that we are all a key piece: the drivers are employees of the Rosberg team, just like us. That is why we lived the race with great intensity: we needed to close the year winning,” adds Argañaraz.
How to reach the great teams in Europe without dying trying
Juanito Montes, who started as a mechanic in the provincial rally categories until reaching the Dakar, fell by chance into the team of the former Formula 1 world champion who also claims to have won last season. “I was returning from the Dakar in Arabia and I went through Barcelona to stay at Nahuel Bianco’s place, a friend who works as a mechanic in Europe and told me that they needed people: ‘You have to try your luck here, it has to go well’“He told me,” recalls the man from Córdoba, that “he had nothing to lose” and settled in Germany, the team’s headquarters.
“My thing is passion, it doesn’t come from the family. I wanted to study but there was no money at home, so I started working with an acquaintance who gave me an opportunity. For me to get here is to play in First Division, it is the dream of any mechanic who loves motor sports“says Montes, who has been working in the rally for 15 years and settled in Europe two years ago.
Thanks to his work, Juanito has already been to Saudi Arabia, Greece, Finland and Central Europe. “What I like most is getting to know different cultures. It opens your mind. And also It helps me realize that Argentina is the best country in the world. We will have problems, but I wouldn’t change it for anything,” says Montes.
They are both workers freelance and they say that the motorsport circus is very small in Europe, just like in Argentina: “If you have the desire and are constant, you can do well and you can earn good money,” they say.
“Of course: now you have to plan for next year. You talk to the teams and put together your calendar,” explains Argañaraz.
César had a longer journey until he could make a good living from his passion: motorsports and mechanics. “I was always a pager,” he accepts.
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Clarín visited the paddock of the German team where César Argañaraz and Juanito Montes from Córdoba work
He started sweeping workshops in his native Córdoba Capital. “I went to the workshops and told them: ‘Don, he wants me to sweep his workshop. Shall I wash your car?’“, he remembers. He went through bodywork and painting, “sanding cars”, grinding mechanics until in 1999 when he joined a Honda team that had at Guri Martínez, Pato Silva and Chiqui García.
Restless, he went to try his luck in Europe. “It’s a friend’s fault: he got married there and started to chop head to go.” César went, but he missed his daughter Azul and returned a month later. In 2020 he decided and sold everything, moved his entire family to the Old Continent, but the adventure was short-lived. pandemic, I lost my job and we spent all my savings. I had to return to Argentina,” he says.
When the doors of the world were reopened, Di María style, it was again with his head against the wall. He got a job in a small mountain town in Italy and, when he settled, he returned to look for his family. The third time would be the charm.
At that point, he already had two children with his new wife, Jésica, but Azul (who is now 18 years old and studies in Valencia) lost his mother. That is why she joined the now assembled family that Joaquín (10) and Francina (6) complete.
To lower a change
A hard week ended with days that started every day at five in the morning and ended around eight at night. “But it ends in the best way,” they agree.
Now there are a few days of rest, returning to Córdoba for the Holidays and the wheel turning again. The closest motorsport event is the Dakar, which starts on January 5.
-What is the OBJETIVE? Reach a bigger team?
-I am fulfilling all my dreams. Mine was to work in the World Rally championship and I achieved it. Also in the Dakar and now being able to be champion in this category (Juanito).
-I don’t aspire much more than to continue doing what I like. I made the effort for my family and we managed to get up. It is hard work. I’ll see how far my body will go (César).