In the driving schools at the time, whether in small local rallies or in uphill racing, Alberto began to make a name for himself as a promising new driver in the motor sports world. This would lead him to excel in the FASA Renault team in 1968, as the official driver of a Renault 8 Gordini, which he drove to victory at the end of the season, in the Spanish Car Rally Championship.

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At the same time, another driver was also making a name for himself. Eladio Doncel, a driver who had begun his career at the wheel of the BMW 700 which would later be driven by practically all the Abarth of the period. However, in the end he would declare himself a firm follower of Porsche, the brand which would accompany him in his greatest successes in the sporting world. In 1968, having enjoyed success in some of the most significant rallies of the time, such as Rally de Orense, or the Firestone Rally, Eladio Doncel finished the season winning the sub championship of Rallies in Spain.�

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The 18 year old Jos� Manuel Lencina was yet another of the young drivers to gain fame at that time. He stood out for his decisiveness, his daring and his passion for motor sports. A passion that was inherited from his father and his older brother, daring evident in the fact that even before reaching the legal age to obtain his driving licence he was competing in uphill racing, for the first time in Sotillo, in the province of Madrid. Once he had obtained his driving licence, he began to participate in Spanish championship rallies, driving a Mini Cooper 1300 which, following various victories, carried him to triumph in the Castilla Rally Championship and the Spanish Car Sub championship.

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These three rally drivers, Alberto Ruiz Gim�nez, Eladio Doncel and Jos� Manuel Lencina, along with the circuit drivers Jaime Lazcano, Jos� de La Pe�a and Julio Gargallo would be responsible for laying the foundations of the Repsol-Jolly Club and its sports activities in the 1969 season. It was a team principally made up of drivers from Madrid, perhaps too centrally based, but inevitable given that all efforts a the time to recruit the Catalonian driver, Juan Fern�ndez.