Where the red sands of Portugal meet the Atlantic Ocean, UNIMATIC joined Automobili Amos and other friends in an electrifying off-road experience to the top.
It all happened across four days of adventure, companionship and thrill.
The expedition set off in Comporta, a land of brick-hued desert dunes dotted here and there by fiery green forests. After crossing the Sado river and entering the Alentejo, the radios went silent and the horizon grew farther and farther away.
The calm before the storm, that’s what we call it. Where every second beats in tune with the heart.
A race between the drivers and their own limits, a challenge to overcome one’s own physical boundaries.
Through desert dunes, forests and rivers, UNIMATIC chased the raging buzz of adventure and the ever-running escapade of time.
To better understand the soul of this journey, we took a moment to unwind with Eugenio Amos, the one who organised the three-day off-road race.
1.How did this project come to your mind and how did it come to life, practically speaking? What’s the genesis of the off-road race expedition and what inspired you to pursue this dream?
This project started over the course of the many cross-country races I attended around the world. My trusted navigator Paolo Ceci and I have run and travelled across the four continents. In the various transfers (the part of the race that is not timed) we talked of how beautiful and magical the uncontaminated places we visited were, and I thought about my family, my friends, my dear ones and about how I would have wanted to share all that magnificence with them, as well. Not only landscapes, but also cultures, traditions and customs, languages, food. I succeeded in bringing this idea to life thanks to Scott Abraham, the South Racing team manager, a Portuguese cross- country rally team that has been building and managing Can-Am vehicles for years. They ran various international races and won six Dakar. He wanted to extend the business by offering a “leisure” service beyond motorsport as well, and the rest is history! Thanks to his formidable team, who’s used to a much different kind of struggles, organising the tour was pretty simple in comparison, since we were also helped by the fact that the land that hosted the first trip was the team’s.
2. Speeding up and slowing down. We could say that the core of your career is based on racing and enjoying the thrill of speed, which ignited your passion and experience with cars and engines. The Portuguese adventure you designed is, surely, solidly built on off-road racing for people who don’t generally get the chance to race, but it also gives the feeling of a moment when everything slows down. Taking a moment out of the rush of everyone’s daily life, the occasion allowed everyone to just let go of control and let instinct take the wheel – metaphorically speaking. Since speed is your everyday tune, how does it feel to work with such a different melody?
I often think that races aren’t fun but rather repetitive and boring per sé. I like competition, but only if it has a high price to pay. The organisation and execution of these tours is surely more fascinating and fun. To me, it was important that everyone could have fun in the same way, even while living different experiences: whether you’re a car driver with a super car collection and a decent race pedigree or you have little experience, I had to guarantee safety, fun and the correct compromise between struggle and comfort. I loved being able to help the participants, change places and enjoy the landscape in (almost!) complete peace. Organising, taking care of the others, surprise them, listen to them and learn, think about what a friend or a client could like, are all activities that I really appreciated doing.
3. Why did you choose Portugal as the first destination for this project? What drew you to this place and how did you plan the itinerary? What were your thoughts, needs and desires behind the choices you made? What experiences did you want to offer and what atmosphere did you want to create?
Portugal was a strategic choice, at first: as I previously stated, Portugal is the land in which the team resides. However, along the way we realised how far of an approach and mentality it was from the European ones we are used to. The organisation was encouraged and supported by the local community. They wanted us to be with them. And then, the landscapes: in a little kilometres you can go from the Alentejo countryside to the Comporta dunes. Magical! The experience I wanted to offer was a taste of races, just without the anxiety of a chronometer and, especially, without the discomfort of a tent in the cold and in the scorching heat. The choice of accommodation, as well as the choice of food, was critical. In all the businesses I developed, almost every time I designed products that, first and foremost, I could like, that could please my desire, and so it was. “If we do it in the correct way and I like it, someone else will probably like it, as well.” This is my mantra.
4. The project was a complete success, offering adventure and camaraderie to people that will never forget this experience. What’s in store for the future? What other adventures are you planning next?
Like I told my children: “Maybe I understood what I wanna be when I grow up!!”. Jokes aside, the main idea is to develop more tours, in even more remote areas, where one can really give free rein to creativity in terms of landscape and roads to travel on. And maybe implement some activities that can really help adults and children reach an agreement. Why not, maybe a “treasure hunt” tour!
