Ginés Guirado, where there´s a will there´s a way
Soul and cornerstone of the Repsol Hospitality, uncovered
Some of the guests that enter the Repsol hospitality in the World Championship Paddock to enjoy the excellent food, don’t know that the person behind the whole set-up was once Chief of Mechanics for well-known riders, such as Carlos Cardús, Ángel Nieto, Dani Amatriain, Jorge Martínez Aspar, Emilio Alzamora or Carlos Giró. A lot of the paddock staff comes from the world of motorcycling but not many of them can claim to have done so many different jobs and from being part of the World Championship for as many years as Ginés Guirado. Born in Almeria 51 years ago, he has been linked his whole life to the two-wheels world and is proud of having carried out all jobs available in the paddock, from holding out the board at the pit wall to cooking, not to forget his jobs as mechanic or truck driver. Ginés is now living in Vilassar de Dalt, close to Barcelona, but he is still travelling around with the circus and declares that there is nothing he likes more than waking up in his truck, parked in the paddock, and feeling the morning atmosphere around there. Ginés story begins in a small town of the Spanish Province of Almeria, called Purchena, where he was born. Not very fond of school, Ginés worked as apprentice mechanic until the age of fifteen, when he decided, challenging his parents will, to move to Barcelona. After arriving in the big city, Ginés went to live with his grand-parents and immediately afterwards started to work at a neon sign company which he left five days later to work as apprentice in a motorbike workshop. He stayed there for four years. Ginés’ first experience as a businessman arrived in 1971, at the age of 19. Together with some colleagues, he decided to set up a workshop, which he had to leave to do his military service. When he came back, he was employed at another motorbike workshop but the owner decided to close and Ginés, together with a friend, decided to take over the business. This happened in 1973 and Ginés was 23 years old. Attracted by the world of racing, both partners decided to take part in the Spanish Road Racing Championship supporting two riders, José María Mayol and Luis Ricard. Shortly after that Ginés decided to leave the workshop and began working with Jacinto Moriana at JJ, a motorbike sales and repair shop, that had its own team, JJ Automóvil. Ginés started as workshop responsible, but when the man in charge of the motorbike department, Ángel Carmona, left JJ, Ginés took over his place. Between 1977 and 1980, our friend worked as mechanic at the Spanish Road Racing Championship in the 250cc and 750cc classes. In 1981 he assumed the responsibility of managing the team in Spain and some races in Europe. In 1993, Carlos Cardús and Ginés, with the support of JJ, managed to win the European and the Spanish Championship, the Superprestige and finished eighteenth in the 250cc World Championship. In that times, Ginés was, as he says himself, mechanic, chauffeur and cook. I carried out all functions. In 1987, Ángel Nieto set up a 250cc team with HRC factory Hondas and Ginés became part of the structure. The team’s rider was Carlos Cardús. It was the first year they were racing with a factory Honda, they did the whole World Championship and finished fifth. In 1988, Ginés continued his work with Ángel Nieto, the team grew and they decided to include a 125cc bike, with Julián Miralles as rider. After the experience gathered with the team of Angel Nieto, Ginés went on working with other Spanish riders in the following years: Alberto Puig, Dani Amatrain, Carlos Giró, Champi Herrero… Ginés explains about the latter: I have to say that he is the most sincere rider I’ve ever worked with. He never said anything that would not be true. That was the year I worked less in my life. For Champi, the bike would always be faster than what he was capable to do. He never touched anything. He was always saying that the bike was extremely fast, and told me not to touch anything, that it was he. That was something very welcome because we would never loose time… After an unlucky season Champi eventually gave up racing. After his employment relationship with Champi Herrero, Ginés began to work as Chief of Mechanics with Jorge Martínez Aspar and returns to JJ, his home for ever. Aspar raced that year on a JJ Cobas 125cc with Rotax engine, and the following year he changed over to a Honda 125 RS engine. But the sporting results were not as expected and Guinés relationship with Aspar came to an end. Somebody had to be sacrificed and it was my turn. In 1992, halfway of the season, I left the motorbikes through the back door and in a very ugly way. That’s when my sports career as a mechanic was over. Despite feeling disappointed and in very low spirits, Ginés recovered and decided to try luck together with a friend creating the first Spanish hospitality service. His partner then and now, Javier García, took over the kitchen and food preparation tasks while our friend took care of logistics. In addition to his work offering services in the world of motorbikes, Ginés’ company made its first steps in the Spanish Touring Car Championship, working for Nissan and Alfa Romeo. Their good work and professionalism lead finally Repsol, through Tomás García Recio, to organise with Ginés the first Repsol Hospitality in the Motorcycling World Championship. The 1995-1996 season was the first season Repsol and HRC worked together and also the official opening season of the hospitality at the World Championship. They decided to make a first test at the race in Jerez, and they used a truck with the names of all riders sponsored by Repsol painted on it, as well as the flags of their home countries. The hospitality, which in those times was a bit more than a truck with an adjacent canopy, was a great success and consequently Ginés was asked to take his structure to five other races. That was the beginning of a business relationship that has lasted for more than seven years. Everyday life at the Repsol Hospitality In addition to the Motorcycling World Championship, ‘Hospitality’, that is the name of Ginés Guirado’s company, is also working at several other championships, especially car racing events. There are twelve fulltime employees but sometimes there are up to a hundred persons working occasionally for him. During a Grand Prix, there are around a hundred persons eating in the hospitality, guests and journalists, and if the race is in Spain there are about a hundred persons…per day! The food travels by truck in built-in cold-storage rooms and everything is made on site, according to menus worked out in advance. The kitchen has an oven, several refrigerators and everything needed to cook. The food is prepared in the truck during the morning and it is always served freshly made. The Repsol Hospitality is proud of offering the highest level catering services available in the Paddock. The cooks come from five-star-hotels, although they are also trained by well-known chefs de cuisine. For a race in Spain they use around 25 kg assorted sliced cold meats, 60 kg fruit and vegetables, as much meet and serve about 600 coffees. Two whole days are needed to set up a new Repsol Hospitality. The crew arrives at the circuit on Wednesday, they set and level the truck and begin mounting the canopy with a group of six persons, who finish the overall setup on Thursday evening. The first service is breakfast on Friday morning, then there is lunch and in the afternoon there is the usual meeting with the media and guests, to have a beer in an always relaxed atmosphere. The same happens on Saturday, and on Sunday, after the race, the crew begins to remove the inside fittings of the canopy. The furniture is protected with plastic covers and everything is packed into boxes, even the electric bulbs. On Monday morning, after a tiresome weekend, the crew has to dismantle the canopy, what will take them approximately sixteen hours. After dismounting there is the trip back to Spain usually finishing on Wednesday. And then a short rest until the next race. It may seem easy from the outside but maintaining a hospitality like the one of Repsol needs a great effort. But despite everything Ginés considers it to be worth while: This job gives me the chance to be close to the bikes, my life, and coming to the circuits is what I like most of my job. I keep good memories of the time I worked as a mechanic. Years ago, a single person was capable of doing several tasks and I think that a mechanic had a much broader training than nowadays. There wasn’t by far as much money available as there is now, so if the rider crashed and a fairing was broken, what we used to do was to repair it and paint it… You would not open a box and get another, there was no such thing like that. You finished the work on your bike, you painted it, then your would show the board, cook the food and once everything was over, you would pick up everything, get on the truck and go back to Spain. You spent three months away from home, because there was no time left between races. When I started, we used to take part in two championships, the European and the World Championship. Now it’s different, the team has somebody whose job is to drive the truck. And the other mechanics travel by plane and go back home. And then they go back to the airport to take another plane that will take them to the next circuit. We used to go to the team’s headquarters to unload the truck and we had to be at work on Tuesday. I have been on both sides of the wall, in the paddock, in a canopy, I have been mechanic, I have been chief of mechanics and now I’m in a hospitality. I know what it means to be in the pit garage, I know how to show a board. I love to be in the hospitality, I know everybody, I have fun, and people love to come over. Some days I go to watch the practice sessions at the trackside, and I remember the old times… I usually sleep in the truck, but this year, I have an additional person, so I go to sleep in hotels. I don’t like to leave the circuit, I prefer to stay in the paddock, but… I like the inside atmosphere; to wake up in the morning, look outside the window and see the paddock waking up as well, the truck in front of mine… No wonder our friend doesn’t want to leave the paddock and feels so comfortable there. Ginés has spent more than twenty years moving around behind the scenes. Respected and loved by everybody in the World Championship, Ginés Guirado is the soul and the cornerstone of the Repsol Hospitality, a meeting place for journalists, guests, riders and friends.
