Cars for Smiles Madrid – November 12, 2022

After two years absence due to COVID-19, we have celebrated again our event in Madrid on Saturday, November 12, 2022.

On this occasion, the attendance record has been broken, with 54 adolescents (patients) from the different hospitals in the Community of Madrid and, along with them, 56 pilots who, in a totally altruistic manner, participated with their magnificent high-performance cars.

Thanks to the sponsorship of the Itevelesa Group, which once again supported us, we have been able to celebrate the event at the emblematic facilities of the Zarzuela Hippodrome in Madrid and the Jarama circuit.

In addition, the invaluable collaboration of such important brands as Porsche, Bentley, Alpine, Maserati, Aston Martin and Toyota (Toyota joined with their latest radical version of the emblematic “Supra” model). We also had the collaboration of the owners’ clubs; Aston Martin Owners Club Spain, Classic Car Owners Madrid and the Porsche Club Spain.

The day, although it dawned somewhat rainy, did not prevent the participation of all the participants who attended the Zarzuela Hippodrome on time where they could enjoy a pleasant breakfast to gather strength for the rest of the day.

During the opening ceremony of the event, we had the participation of Emilio de Villota, Legacy of María de Villota, who, after some motivating words, showed a video that told the story of his daughter María, who dreamed of being a racing driver from a very young age and who actually made it to the F1. But, as many of us know, María suffered a very serious accident that changed her life and unfortunately, she passed away 1 year after the accident.

Through our relationship with the motorsport world, we surprised everyone with video messages of encouragement from the professional drivers, Mónica Plaza, Eduardo Pons, Albert Llovera and Radio host Paco Gonzáles.

Without a doubt, the most anticipated moment of all is the formation of the teams. Once children (co-drivers) and drivers were assigned, the caravan of 56 cars left on its way to the Jarama Circuit duly escorted by the Police, which delighting the co-drivers and the astonishment of the rest of the drivers on the road when they saw a very long caravan of super sportscars pass by.

Arriving at the circuit, the weather helped by clearing up and allowing the co-drivers to enjoy a drifting activity thanks to collaboration of The Royal Experience company, as a previous step to the main course of going out to ride on the track. While the co-drivers were enjoying the drift-activity, the drivers received a briefing for the activity on the real track.

Once the drifting activity was over, all the drivers and co-drivers got into their starting position and drove around one lap in formation with safety cars to get to know the Jarama circuit. Then a sprint on the strait was done one by one to life the experience of the sound and acceleration of the cars. Finally, the activity on the track was ended by some quicker laps around the circuit with the control of the safety cars.

Then the caravan returned to the Hippodrome, again escorted by the police, where all participants enjoyed a buffet meal as a prelude to the last part of the event, in which 100% of the raised money contributed by the drivers was handed over in the form of symbolic cheques to Hospitals who presented different projects that have a most direct impact on the wellbeing of our co-pilots (patients and their families).

This year, having also broken a fundraising record of 14,200.00 euros, it has been possible to support 4 projects of 4 different hospitals. These are the projects and hospitals who received a cheque:

  • Project “Doctor Bocata” of the Hospital 12 de Octubre.
  • Project “Humanize TEA” of the Rey Juan Carlos Hospital.
  • “Triple Sport” project of the Infanta Elena Hospital.
  • Project “Accompany Art” of the Hospital of Majadahonda.

 

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