by John Manzi, for the NAADA
Monticello, NY — Right on the heels of hosting the Hungarian amateurs the North American Amateur Drivers Association is preparing for a visit from the Spanish amateur drivers beginning next week.
“The Spaniards, from Palma de Mallorca, will be with us from Monday (May 7) through Sunday (May 13) and we are preparing to entertain them with races, sightseeing and good food and we’ll continue the great camaraderie started many years ago,” noted Alicia Schwartz, NAADA’s event planner.
During the week races are planned at Yonkers Raceway, Monticello Raceway and Tioga Downs as well as a visit to “Trot Town USA,” better known nowadays as Goshen, N.Y., where the visitors will tour both Historic Track and the Harness Racing Museum.
Along the way the Spaniards will be treated to good food and wine and will spend a couple of nights enjoying “the Big Apple” (New York City) before returning home.
During the competition drivers for the visiting Spaniards will remain the same at each venue. They include club president Jaume Bassa Riera, Guillermo Busquets Liull, Francisco Liabres Ramis, Pau Roig Moll and Santi Roig Moll.
However, at each event the hometowners will field a different team. Tentatively slated to drive for NAADA at Yonkers on Tuesday (May 8) are Alan Schwartz, Joe Lee, Peter Kleinhans and Monica Banca. At Monticello on Thursday (May 10) the USA team will consist of Bob Davis, Tony Ciuffitelli, Paul Minore and Alan Schwartz. The NAADA team at Tioga Downs on Saturday (May 12) is yet to be announced.
“It’s a lot of work putting these competitions together and we’re always happy to host our foreign friends. Everyone knows that winning is not the primary reason for the international events and that’s a good thing because it seems that everybody wins against us,” Mrs. Schwartz added with a chuckle.
Just a couple of weeks ago, at the end of April, amateur drivers from Hungary were here for an international competition and after the Spaniard contests are completed NAADA will entertain amateurs from Italy and France later this year.