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Grand Prix 2023

Heat 2

Event Staged: Tuesday 11th July 2023
Venue: Studio 2, Elamedia Estudios (Elamedia Studios),
c/ Río Tormes, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
TVE La 1 (E): Monday 31st July 2023, 10.45pm-12.35am

Audience Figures:
TVE La 1 (E): 2,251,000 viewers / 24.9% share

Teams: Brión (Coruña) v. Yepes (Toledo)

Team Members included:
Brión (Coruña) - Carolina Iglesias, podcaster (Team Patron), José San Martin (Team Captain), Jose Antonio Vidal, Nerea Lago;
Yepes (Toledo) - Goyo Jimenez, comedian (Team Patron), Pablo Pascual (Team Captain), Roxana Santiago, Andrea Mohino.

Games (Official Titles - Translated): The Disturbing Seagulls, The Nursery, Crazy Bees, Game of Dragons, Hot Potato, Shoot the Penguinducks, Alice in Fallsland, Crazy Logs, The Super Bowling Pins, The Dictionary (3 rounds).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 Yepes (Toledo) ● ●
 Brión (Coruña)

29
23

Ranking

 Team

Points

Rankings Table

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
-
-
-
-

 Yepes (Toledo) ●
 Alfacar (Granada)
 Brión (Coruña)
 Colmanarejo (Madrid)
 Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia)
 Cervelló (Barcelona)
 Los Montesinos (Alicante)
 Tineo (Asturias)

29
27
23
19
-
-
-
-

Additional Information

In the second game - 'The Nursery' - the team of Yepes was penalised on their first run as one of their competitors did not use the correct path to play the game. Despite this, the team won the game by a landslide, winning both heats.

The events of the fifth game - 'Hot Potato' - were very reminiscent of the 1999 final of Grand Prix, with Yepes team patron Goyo Jimenez having a lot of trouble getting the number right while the potato kept inflating. However, he finally managed answer correctly and passed it to Carolina Iglesias (Brión's team patron), who couldn't do anything as the potato exploded before the question was even asked. In the second round, the potato again overinflated, with the mayor of Brión struggling this time. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to get the answer despite the long time he had and Yepes won both points.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Spanish Archives

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Grand Prix 2023

Heat 3

Event Staged: Sunday 16th July 2023
Venue: Studio 2, Elamedia Estudios (Elamedia Studios),
c/ Río Tormes, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
TVE La 1 (E): Monday 7th August 2023, 10.45pm-12.35am

Audience Figures:
TVE La 1 (E): 1,719,000 viewers / 20.6 share

Teams: Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) v. Cervelló (Barcelona)

Team Members included:
Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) - Ana Morgade, TV host (Team Patron), Raquel Gonzalez (Team Captain), Jaime Maestro, Leticia Caballero;
Cervelló (Barcelona) - Xuso Jones, singer (Team Patron), Dani Úbeda (Team Captain), Enrique Blanco, Nancy Nicolau.

Games (Official Titles - Translated): Crazy Logs, Climb the Way You Can, The Pilot-Puppy, Jurassic Prix, Hot Potato, Basketball in Nappies, The Mathematician Penguins, Hamster Race, The Super Bowling Pins, The Dictionary (3 rounds).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) ● ●
 Cervelló (Barcelona)

26
20

Ranking

 Team

Points

Rankings Table

1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
-
-

 Yepes (Toledo)
 Alfacar (Granada)
 Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia)
 Brión (Coruña)
 Cervelló (Barcelona)
 Colmanarejo (Madrid)
 Los Montesinos (Alicante)
 Tineo (Asturias)

29
27
26
23
20
19
-
-

Additional Information

In the first game - 'Crazy Logs' - two of Cervelló's salmons were deducted. The first because the player did not touch the last log, and the second since the player did not finish the course within limit time. Even with the deduction, the team narrowly won the game by 8 salmons to 7.

Cervelló's female competitors the second  game - 'Climb the Way You Can' - were mother and daughter. Perhaps surprisingly, it was the mother who secured the win for the team!

Both team captains took part in the fourth game - 'Jurassic Prix' - and both had to deal with problems during their runs. The Aguilar de Campoo captain nearly had to retire from the game after he suffered a small injury while negotiating one of the obstacles, while Cervelló's captain lost one of his sports shoes in another. Despite that, both won their heats and consequently the game ended in a tie.

During one of the rounds of the sixth game - 'Basketball in Nappies' - in which the Cervelló team played one of their Jokers, the 'vachette' impeded one of Aguilar de Campoo's players, trying to prevent him scoring a basket. The player, visibly frustrated, threw the ball back to the 'vachette'. Miguel Del Pozo, the person in the vachette outfit, declared on social media that there were no hard feelings and that he understood the player perfectly. No penalties were applied.

The seventh game - 'The Mathematician Penguins' - finished in quite an unexpected way. The game, played in elimination rounds, started with what was apparently a runaway victory for Aguilar de Campoo, after they had eliminated three of their oponents. Marc, the remaining Cervelló player, managed to remount the game and ended up playing a 1-1 final. Surprisingly, both players got the answer wrong to a simple mathematical problem, and only after several seconds had passed did the Aguilar player answer correctly. The catch? Both players were engineers!

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Spanish Archives

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Grand Prix 2023

Heat 4

Event Staged: July 2023
Venue: Studio 2, Elamedia Estudios (Elamedia Studios),
c/ Río Tormes, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
TVE La 1 (E): Monday 14th August 2023, 10.45pm-12.35am

Audience Figures:
TVE La 1 (E): 1,198,000 viewers / 15.8% share

Teams: Los Montesinos (Alicante) v. Tineo (Asturias)

Team Members included:
Los Montesinos (Alicante) - Arkano (aka Guillermo Rodriguez), rapper (Team Patron), María Martinez (Team Captain), Moisés Pizana, Natalio Martinez;
Tineo (Asturias) - Belinda Washington, TV host (Team Patron), Jorge Escaladas (Team Captain), Álvaro Menendez, Celia García.

Games (Official Titles - Translated): The Ki-monos, The Nursery, Crazy Bees, Hamster Race, Hot Potato, Shoot the Penguinducks, Alice in Fallsland, Crazy Logs, The Super Bowling Pins, The Dictionary (3 rounds).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 Tineo (Asturias) ● ●
 Los Montesinos (Alicante)

26
25

Ranking

 Team

Points

Rankings Table

1st
2nd
=3rd
=3rd
5th
6th
7th
8th

 Yepes (Toledo) ●
 Alfacar (Granada) ●
 Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) ●
 Tineo (Asturias) ●
 Los Montesinos (Alicante)
 Brión (Coruña)
 Cervelló (Barcelona)
 Colmanarejo (Madrid)

29
27
26
26
25
23
20
19

Returning Teams and Competitors

Belinda Washington, Team Patron for Tineo, is a half-British, half-Spanish TV host and actor. She is the first 2023 patron to have featured in the original incarnation of Grand Prix, as she appeared several times during the FORTA seasons of 2007-2009.

Additional Information

The Tineo team made a complete mess of the ninth game - 'The Super Bowling Pins'. Team patron Belinda Washington did not help by giving the player some completely inept directions, which almost caused her and presenter Ramón Garcia to receive a hit from the ball. The Tineo team ended up not getting as much as a single pin and obviously lost the game.

The semi-final allocation - with Aguilar de Campoo playing Tineo in Semi-Final 1 and Alfacar facing Yepes in Semi-Final 2 - was determined by a drawing of lots after this fourth heat.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Spanish Archives

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Grand Prix 2023

Semi-Final 1

Event Staged: July 2023
Venue: Studio 2, Elamedia Estudios (Elamedia Studios),
c/ Río Tormes, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
TVE La 1 (E): Tuesday 22nd August 2023, 10.35pm-12.50am

Audience Figures:
TVE La 1 (E): 1,169,000 viewers / 13.6% share

Teams: Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) v. Tineo (Asturias)

Team Members included:
Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) - José Mota, comedian (Team Patron), Raquel Gonzalez (Team Captain), Jaime Maestro, Leticia Caballero;
Tineo (Asturias) - Elena Furiase, actor (Team Patron), Jorge Escaladas (Team Captain), Álvaro Menendez, Celia García.

Games (Official Titles - Translated): Crazy Logs, Climb the Way You Can, The Pilot-Puppy, Game of Dragons, Hot Potato, Basketball in Nappies, The Mathematician Penguins, The Disturbing Seagulls, The Dictionary (2 rounds - see Additional Information).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) ● ●
 Tineo (Asturias)

29
16

Additional Information

The transmission of this Semi-Final contest was put back by a day to make way for a special programme on TVE on the evening of Monday 21st August. This last minute addition to the schedule was to celebrate Spain's victory in Australia in the Women's World Cup Final on the previous day. The team beat England's 'Lionesses' 1-0 to win their first Women's World Cup.

Despite the Tineo competitor getting one flag in the first round of third game - 'The Pilot-Puppy' - he was stopped by the referee due to the fact that he was illegally holding on to one of the sides of the playzone. Therefore, his score on the first heat was 0 as he was unable to retrieve any further flags. It should also be noted that the power of the fans impeding the game was substantially higher than in the previous heats, making the game much more difficult to complete.

A non-scoring game was played to earn the towns 1000 euro. It simply involved a team of three "chefs" per team preparing ham sandwiches in 1 minute. Aguilar de Campoo won it by making 13, compared to Tineo's 8. This game was sponsored by the Interporc, a company in the meat export business. Sponsored games like this were the norm in the original seasons of Grand Prix.

Unfortunately, this non-scoring game brought RTVE into dispute with the regulatory body Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC - National Commission on Markets and Competition) which interpreted the ham sandwich game as product placement for Grand Prix sponsor Interporc, a meat company. Product placement is illegal on Spanish state television and despite RTVE's protestations of innocence, the ruling went against them and they were fined 405,000 euro on 31st October 2024.

Elena Furiase, Tineo's patron, is the daughter of the singer Lolita Flores, who was involved in Heat 1 as the patron of the Alfacar (Granada) team.

As Aguilar de Campoo had accumulated sufficient points to win the Semi-Final after the second round of 'The Dictionary', it was decided not to run the third round and the programme ended at that point. However, Aguilar de Campoo had already won when Tineo's failed to answer correctly in the second round of this game.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Spanish Archives

E

Grand Prix 2023

Semi-Final 2

Event Staged: July 2023
Venue: Studio 2, Elamedia Estudios (Elamedia Studios),
c/ Río Tormes, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
TVE La 1 (E): Monday 28th August 2023, 10.35pm-12.50am

Audience Figures:
TVE La 1 (E): 1,444,000 viewers / 15.9% share

Teams: Alfacar (Granada) v. Yepes (Toledo)

Team Members included:
Alfacar (Granada) - María Peláe, singer (Team Patron), Juan Francisco Extremera (Team Captain), Reina Vilchez, Israel Fernández;
Yepes (Toledo) - Fernando Romay, ex-basketball player (Team Patron), Pablo Pascual (Team Captain), Roxana Santiago, Andrea Mohino.

Games (Official Titles - Translated): The Ki-monos, The Nursery, Crazy Bees, Hamster Race, Hot Potato, Shoot the Penguinduck, Alice in Fallsland, Crazy Logs, The Super Bowling Pins, The Dictionary (2 rounds - see Additional Information).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 Alfacar (Granada) ● ●
 Yepes (Toledo)

23
16

Additional Information

This Semi-Final marked the Yepes Team Patron Fernando Romay's ninth participation in Grand Prix, having been a patron in all the different iterances of the show. He was a Grand Prix patron in 1996, 1997, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2009 and 2023, and holds the record for the greatest number of appearances as a patron on the show - his nearest rival for this accolade is Yvonne Reyes, who has made seven such appearances. The seven-foot-tall Fernando had a very successful career in professional basketball, playing between 1976 and 1993, mostly for Real Madrid's basketball team. He was also part of the Spanish basketball team that won a Silver medal at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984. Since his retirement, he has participated in a great many television programmes, and his playful and relaxed attitude has made him a popular celebrity.

In the first round of the second game - 'The Nursery' - the Alfacar player was disqualified for hanging on to the wardrobe while grabbing the last object. The referees permitted the Yepes player to continue and win the round.

As with the first Semi-Final, when Alfacar had accumulated sufficient points to win the contest after the second round of 'The Dictionary', it was decided not to run the third round and the programme ended at that point.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Spanish Archives

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Grand Prix 2023

Final

Event Staged: Monday 31st July 2023
Venue: Studio 2, Elamedia Estudios (Elamedia Studios),
c/ Río Tormes, Fuenlabrada, Madrid, Spain

European Transmissions (Local Timings):
TVE La 1 (E): Monday 4th September 2023, 10.35pm-12.50am

Audience Figures:
TVE La 1 (E): 1,483,000 viewers / 16.3% share

Teams: Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) v. Alfacar (Granada)

Team Members included:
Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) - Camela, music duo (Ángeles Muñoz and Dioni Martín) (Team Patrons), Raquel Gonzalez (Team Captain), Jaime Maestro, Leticia Caballero;
Alfacar (Granada) - Eduardo Casanova, actor (Team Patron), Juan Francisco Extremera (Team Captain), Reina Vilchez, Israel Fernández.

Games (Official Titles - Translated): The Disturbing Seagulls, Climb the Way You Can, The Pilot-Puppy, Jurassic Prix, Hot Potato, Basketball in Nappies, Crazy Logs, The Super Bowling Pins, The Dictionary (3 rounds).

Game Results and Standings

Result

 Team

Points

Final Scoreboard

1st
2nd

 Alfacar (Granada) ● ●
 Aguilar de Campoo (Palencia) ●

27
25

Team Personnel

The patrons of Aguilar de Campoo were the members of the music duo Camela - Ángeles Muñoz and Dioni Martín. In order to ensure parity in the games, only one of them took part in the Patron's games, with Dioni playing in the sixth game - 'Hot Potato' - and the eighth game -  'The Super Bowling Pins'. Ángeles participation was in the three rounds of 'The Dictionary'.

Additional Information

The non-scoring 'Ham Sandwiches' game from the Semi-Finals was repeated in this Final. However, this time, the prize was bigger: 3000€. Aguilar de Campoo won by making 13 sandwiches, while Alfacar could only manage 10.

Gloria Ramos and Sergio Olmos, actors with intellectual disability, appeared in this Final as guests to promote their new film, Campeonex (2023), the sequel to the hugely successful sports comedy-drama film Campeones (Champions, 2018). Asun Langa, Grand Prix's referee, also appeared in both films as a basketball referee.

This was a very close final, with most of the games being tightly fought and the scores often tied during the competition. It all came to a nail-biting climax in the three rounds of 'The Dictionary' game, with Aguilar coming close to victory in the second question. Some debate has arisen since some members of the audience spoke during the Alfacar's participation in the third round as silence is obligatory during the dictionary game. However, no penalties were applied and Alfacar won the final.

By winning the final, Alfacar won a prize of 10,000 euro for their town's municipal council.

The final score was not shown on screen, so our Final Scoreboard shown above has been mocked up for this website.

Made in Colour • This programme exists in Spanish Archives