The Mule Team: Vintage Mustang Road Racing in Mexico

Live Action Video! Richard and Simon dance on top of the car!

2008-11-16T14:14:00.000-08:00

Skip to 2:15 min on the video to see Richard and Simon dance on top of the Bag O'Nails to celebrate their 1st place Historica C victory in the 2008 La Carrera Panamericana:

Pictures, Finally!

2007-10-28T15:13:00.001-07:00

Guide:

Picture 1 - Gypsy Wind, Pre-Qualification

Picture 2 - Service, Day 1

Picture 3 - Simon Jefferies

Picture 4 - Bag of Nails, Day 1, Section 3

Picture 5 - Oaxaca Fiesta

Picture 6 - Oaxaca Fiesta

Picture 7 - Doug, Grady & Gypsy Wind

Picture 8 - Richard, Simon & Bag of Nails

Day 3 - Puebla to Queretaro

2007-10-28T18:51:00.000-07:00

Today was a very long day. Last night we discovered that a rocker arm was cracked on the Bag of Nails. Five hours later we had the car fixed and ready to run another day. Unfortunatley that was at 3:30 am and we had to leave for the mid-day service stop at 5:30 am.

Jason, Todd and Shaemus left early and took a back route up to Queretaro that avoided Mexico City and the killer bee traffic cops. Bobbie and Fernando had to sweep behind the drivers and were escorted through Mexico City by the local Mustang Club. Unfortuanately the got pinched twice today for a total of $500 US. The first time was in Puebla for supposed making a right hand turn on a red light without coming to a complete stop, that shakedown cost us $300. The second pinch came in Mexico City while they waited for the escort. They were on the correct "truck" road but were in the wrong lane, that one cost the remaining $200.

The racers had a great day overall. The cars are running really well and we hopefully gained some ground on the top racers. The day started with a long transit section into Mexico City. They Federal Police shut down the main highway through the city for the race. Imagine closing a road that carriers hundred of thousands of cars per day . . . There was a speed section right through the heart of downtown and then another long transit to just south of Queretaro to service. The day ended with three more speed sections in the mountains by Queretaro and six laps around the local race track. To view the route click here: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/ruta/nvo/4_PUEBLA_QUERETARO.pdf

The Bag of Nails is currently running 5th overall and 1st in their class with over a 1 minute lead. The Gypsy Wind is running 30th overall and 5th in their class.

During service we saw a corovette that crashed yesterday and caught fire. As you can see below there is very little left. The fire was so hot it melted the transmission case, valve covers and completed melted all the fiberglass. The car went off the road during a speed section and punctured their fuel cell. The drivers escaped with minor burns. We supposedly lost 5 more cars yesterday due to crashes and breakdowns.

This is a race of endurance and consistency as much as it is about speed.

Tomorrow we race to Morelia and the famous Mil Cumbre route. This is one of the hairiest sections in the race, sharp curves, steep drop offs and heavy jungle if you go off the road. Check out the race section here: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/ruta/nvo/5_QUERETARO_MORELIA.pdf
More pictures can be found here: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/galeria07_preclasificacion.asp
Visit our TBZ friends La Carrera blog at http://funksterwtf.blogspot.com/ for more stories and pictures.

Picture 1 - Burnt Corovette

Picture 2 - Richard and Simon

Picture 3 - Todd and Sheamus

The Wrecks

2007-10-31T09:53:00.000-07:00

Pictures of a few of the wrecks to date. . .

The Results are In

2007-11-08T18:36:00.000-08:00

The final results are in . . . The Bag of Nails finished 2nd in the Historic C class and 6th overall. If they would not have incured the 10 minute penalty when the car spun off the road and later blew its engine they would have easily won Historic C and would have finished 4th overall. Not a bad showing.

Check back next year for a new race and new adventures.

Day 4 Results - 1st and 2nd in Class!

2008-10-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

This is Kristin posting for Richard. It has been bloody difficult getting on the internet, even though we are staying at fancy hotels.

As of the end of Day 4 of racing:

Richard and Simon 1st in class and 6th overall (Bag O,Nails).

Marc and Rupert are 2nd in class and 7th overall (orange Falcon).

We are not sure where the Gypsy Wind is placed with Martin and Jon, but they are also doing very well and have been on the podium, placing in their class.

Everyone is smiling, having a blast and the cars are running very well. Hopefully Richard and I can get on and blog tonight, but you never know in Mexico.

Richard and Simon 1st in Historic C!

2008-11-01T08:40:00.000-07:00

I'm posting for Richard since he's on a plane back home to the UK.

Richard and Simon won 1st place in Historic C and 6th overall!

Marc and Rupert were just 2 seconds behind Bill Shanahan clenching a 3rd place in Historic C and 9th overall!

CONGRATULATIONS!

Pictures of the final day here: http://funskterwtf.blogspot.com/.

Kristin

Front page of the Nuevo Laredo, Mexico newspaper.

Videos of Speed Stages

2008-11-03T17:49:00.000-08:00

Richard and Simon on Day 0 Prequalification speed stage finish:

Marc Devis and Rupert Clevely on Day 0 Prequalification speed stage finish:

Jon Gross and Martin McGlone on Day 4 speed stage start:

Celebration Photos

2008-11-03T07:37:00.000-08:00

Home Sweet Home

2008-11-02T03:58:00.000-08:00

It's Sunday afternoon, 1 pm to be precise, and I am back home in Wales after a very tiring trip back.
Slept in the car all the way from Heathrow to Chepstow, so poor Sarah had to drive me back in silence, apart from my snoring, without me telling her a thing about our adventures, and I went to bed at 7.30 pm and slept till 9am this morning.
What an adventure, and what an event, and I am sorry I was not able to update the blog on a daily basis, it was too difficult to do due to both the schedule and the difficulty of getting web access.
Last time I was able to post was Thursday AM with 2 days to go, so to continue the story, here goes.
Thursday was a fairly short day, only 350 KMS with 6 stages all run at altitude on very twisty up and down hill stages which were all very scary, especially the down hill sections with large drops if you got the call wrong, we did 3 stages twice to make up the 6 and after the first runs Simon and I decided to ease off a little as did Marc and Rupert - when we checked our times we were all faster which goes to show that a little knowledge is rather dangerous, but we all drove the stages in a smoother fashion which gave us our improvement, then in to Zacetecas for the night and the infamous Mescal drinking party and dance through the streets - every one follows the band on a parade from the town to the drivers party and day prize giving which of course goes on till about midnight, and then we had to be up at 5.45 to prepare for the final day.
Friday - the final blast from Zacetecas to Nuevo Laredo,a truly bad ass town, was a run of 700KMS using the original PanAmerican Highway, and the morning was bitterly cold as we set off, you forget that at altitude the desert is freezing until the sun is well and truly up. then it gets hot, past the tropic of cancer marker, past lots of mean looking Mexican drugs control posts and on to do 6 really fast stages, where they simply close long stretches of the highway for us to drive like hooligans, imagine a 2 lane rather lumpy version of the M4 and you have the picture - some fast bends but nothing you need to brake for - we were pulling 222KMH but were easing off as we wanted to save the engine, Stig Blomqvist running just in front of us was pulling 290KMH, some were going even faster - all this on road tyres!
Last year when we ran this section the heat nearly killed us, but this year it was much cooler and we found it far easier.
Then a re-group for a controlled convoy to the finish in Nuevo laredo where they will kill you for a packet of fags - and to the finish arch, where we came in to a rapturous crowd, and were photographed dancing on the roof and bonnet of our car Bag o Nails.
We finished in 6th place overall - behind all the 600hp Studebaker's, and 1st in Historic C which is exactly what we wanted to achieve, so Simon and I are over the moon.
Immediately after the finish ramp our car was pulled aside as was Marc and Rupert's car for a tech inspection - carb off- rockers off, and a capacity check - we all proved to be legal, so after a long shower and complete re-pack of all of our clothes ( we had to leave at 6.30am to catch our flight to Mexico city) we went to the final prize giving which was the usual crazy affair - too much noise and chaos.
Marc and Rupert did really well for beginners, and I think over the next few weeks they will realise that experience on this event really does count, we were much better at coping with all the problems that faced us this year than we were last year, and even after what seemed a retirement moment when we split the sump open in the middle of nowhere Simon and I knew in our heart of hearts that we still stood a chance.
Martin and Jon had a great time, and drove the Gypsy Wind which had more problems than us, but still finished well, they enjoyed them selves and I think that they will be back next year.
What you don't know is that Marc Devis our team mate from Belgium arranged for Alexander Davidis of John Galt Films Inc from New York to come down with a crew of 5 technicians and fit our 3 mule team cars with cameras and full sound kits that were live for 9 hours a day, giving them 189 hours of live action, this is now being edited down to either 45 mins or hopefully a 2 hour 2 part documentary to be screened world wide by discovery TV in the new year, Alex and his crew were a delight to work with, and they said it was one of the most exciting events they have ever covered, so watch out for it!
Post race thoughts from home.
Mexico - the people are really wonderful, humble, happy, polite and will do anything to help you.
The food is awful, we are all still suffering from Montezuma's revenge after 12 days!
Topes or speed bumps can destroy your car - at any time
and La Carrera really is the one adventure all petrol heads should do at least once before you die.
True friendships are built in the face of adversity.
Memories of this event will live for ever.
Simon and I would like to pay tribute to the Mule Team crew of Fernando, Sean Kristin, Dave and especially our crew chief Todd Landon.
Will we go back?
may be - but not to defend our title, we can only get knocked off our perch, but possibly in a different car for a new class win, we will keep you posted.

Here I am!!

2008-10-29T07:12:00.000-07:00

God, its day 6 and this is the first opportunity I have had to do the blog - excuse the spelling, no time to correct.
Qualifying went well, we were 12th overall and 1st in class, so pleased with that, Rupert and Mark Devis were a little slower but well up.
The first day was a crippler, we did over 550kms of really tough road sections high up in the mountains, betwen 6 and 8 thousand feet,with 7 special stages, and temps of 35 deg, we were just shattered at the end, and finished the day in 3rd pos in historics - Martin Mc Glone was very ill and had to stop driving, a combination of heat , exhaustion and dehydration, it was the hardest days rallying we have ever done.
Day 2 was just as hard, we came down a long straight hill at around 120mph and hit a dip , marked in the notes but not cautioned and the car launched in the air and we split the sump - luckily it was at the end of the stage so we got a quick time and limped to a village were we found a mechanic who was able to solder up the crack, it´s an ali sump so could not be welded, this took 2 hours and cost a measly 700 pesos, about 40 quid, fantastic, and only in mexico.
Our times on the stages now moved us up to 1st in the most competitive class Historic C and we have won every day so far with the exception of the first day were we were beaten by 2 germans in a quick Mustang, sadly they crashed out.
The mule team are all still running, Simon and I are 6th or 7th overall and 1 st in class and Marc and Rupert are not far behind us.
We are pissing off our arch rivals Bill Shannahan the yank with Brit Murray Smith as his Co Piloto - they were determined to beat us gringos this year but we are still far faster than they are.
Anyway,we are now about to start day 6 and we are all very tired and rather smelly, Montezuma has attacked us all with dire consequences, especially Marc and I who had the most embarassing moment in the centre of Mexico City at the start of the special stage - we were lining up to go, and we literally had to, then and there, bit like having a poo in regents park with loads of people walking around!
got to go now, off in a few minutes and I need food, have lost a couple of kilos, rupert has droped 4kgs thanks to old Monty.
We really really want this win, fingers crossed go to do the infamous mille cumbres this morning - you translate it and you will understand,
bye,
8.30

here we Are

2008-10-22T17:14:00.000-07:00

After a long and tiring 12 hour flight we all arrived safely in Mexico City, very tired and stressy. We spent the night at the airport and then flew in to Tuxla the following morning when we went straight down to meet our Guru Todd landon who has built and prepared all three cars that form the Mule Team.

We are 5 Brits and one Belgian, Marc Devis, who thinks he's British, and we go along with that.
We then have 3 days of boredom and stress which is the tech spec and documentation plus fitting the global sat nav that tracks the cars on route, in case of accidents, of which there are plenty. So, a long hard day, and you should click this link from Kristin who is our major team blooger: http://funskterwtf.blogspot.com/.

-Richard

Second time lucky... or not? who knows

2008-10-15T01:53:00.000-07:00

How exciting, at the tender age of 60 this is my first blog, and it's all about the infamous La Carrera Panamericana - the totally non PC road race from the bottom to the top of Mexico.
Simon Jefferies, my Co Driver, and I leave from Heathrow on Monday morning to fly to Mexico City, we will be accompanied by our old pal Rupert Clevely who will be joining our Belgian friend Marc Devis in Mexico city, and after a good nights sleep we will all fly down to Tuxla on tuesday morning to meet the other members of our driving team, they are John Gross and martin Mc Glone - also from the UK and the 6 of us make up The Mule Team.
Simon and I did this event last year as rookies, and we sprang a big surprise on the establishment, we were leading Historics by a massive margin and had the class win in the bag plus a fourth place overall untill I made an error and plonked our trusty Mustang GT 350 R off the stage and over the edge.
Luckily there were large trees to prevent our descent, and we suffered very little damage, apart that is, to our pride as we lost our lead and finished 6th overall and second in class.
At the time we were both gutted, and so were the team lead by our Guru Todd Landon, who had worked so hard to not only build and prepare the car, but to keep it flying during the event.
So - here we are back again to see if we can go one better.
Todd and his gang are leaving as I write this, wednesday 15th October, for the massive road trip from Minnesota all the way down to the bottom of mexico, and we expect to meet up on Tuesday 28th in Tuxla, so i will file a report when we arrive.

The Long Lonely Road

2007-11-01T21:02:00.000-07:00

I apologize for not writing last night but things were kind of hectic and the hotel did not have a business center. Below is the update for the last two days.

After the terrible day from Morelia to Aguascalientes we have made a lot of progress. The heads and valve train were replaced on the Bag of Nails and they are back in commission. After day six they had moved back up to 6th overall and 2nd in Historic C. Going into Nuevo Laredo it is expected that they will finish in a similar position as the 1st place Historic C car has almost a 3 minute advantage on them.

The Gypsy Wind continues to run consistently after the water pump issue and is running around the 20th place mark overall.

The truck and trailer that Jason, Todd and Sheamus were in was broadsided by a race car yesterday. The jerk was driving dangerously in town and would have taken out a group of spectators if he hadn't of hit us first. We heard him lock up his breaks for almost 30 meters before getting hit on a corner. No damage to the trailer and a dented rear fender on the truck.

We were hosted by Vance and our friends at TBZ last night. They graciously let us part the rigs and work on the cars in their shop.

A belated happy anniversary to the Tysacks and a belated happy birthday to Simon's daughter.

Today marked the long, boring journey to Nuevo Laredo, see attached. Imagine 400 miles of bleak terraine on a arrow straight road with few cars. Kind of like driving through west Texas. See attached for the route http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/ruta/nvo/8_ZACATECAS_NUEVO_LAREDO.pdf

The cars arrived tonight at the Zocolo with no issues. The Bag of Nails was immediately tagged for inspection. We had to pull of the carburetor and have the pistons checked for displacement to convince the officials that we did not have an illegal car. At the time of this posting the final results are not available yet.

Tomorrow morning we part ways. The consensus from past Carrera participants in our group is that this has been the best event ever. We had a fabulous set of customers this year, top notch support and a new found confidence that we can put the right cars and drivers on the road to win this event.

More pictures and the final results will be posted this weekend.

Day 4 - The Horse with No Name

2007-10-29T20:18:00.000-07:00

Today the cars raced from Queretaro to Morelia over 4 speed sections, including the dreaded Mil Cumbre mountain. Mil Cumbre is famous the world over for is difficult turns, hostile terrain, a local populous that finds it funny to through boulders and trees into the road during the race to see *big crashes* and several deaths. Last year a car went off the road and barrel rolled over 200 feet down the mountain. The Navigator suffered severe brain trauma and is never expected to recover. The 3rd speed section started with the course car taking off and shortly after the 1st driver leaving. Richard and Simon could hear the cars shifting around the corners and suddenly a huge dump truck with a snow plow on the front end came rolling down the race way around a blind corner. The 1st car avoided a collision and the Federalies move the truck to the side so the race could continue. Later in the section Simon was amazed to find a dead horse in the middle of the road, surprisingly it was not marked in the route book.

The Bag of Nails (Bolsa con Clauos in spanish) struggled with inigition problems all day which hurt his time a little bit. The crack service team has the problem fixed and tomorrow the car should be back on track. Today he finished in 5th place overall and 1st in Historic C. Evidently someone thinks we are cheating as the car was pulled aside at the final arch today for a surprise inspection. We have little doubt that if the car places in the top five or 1st in Historic C at least one driver will protest the results. If that happens they need to pay $1000 to the car owner and then the engine is completely disassembled to ensure that it meets specs. As the owner you end up with $1000, a box full of parts and hopefully your trophey.

The Gypsy Wind is running in 27th place overall and 5th in their class, Unlimited. Doug and Grady recovered nicely yesterday and today from the spinout they had in Day 2.

Tomorrow we race from Morelia to Aguascaliente. The day includes conquring Mil Cumbre a second time, 500 km in transit and several laps around the local race track. You can view the route here: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/ruta/nvo/6_MORELIA_AGUASCALIENTES.pdf

Tomorrow I will post a series of pictures from some of the more spectacular crashes to date.

There is a marachie band playing and free drinks so it is time to sign off for today.

Crash, Bang, Boom

2007-10-30T23:27:00.000-07:00

Today was not a good day!

On the first speed stage the Gypsy Wind blew out a water pump seal and was down for the count. Bobby and Fernando backtracked almost 200 km to pick them up and trailer the car to Aguascalientes.

On the 2nd speed stage the Bag of Nails slid off a corner, narrowly missed a tree and slid down a slight embankment. The car was undamaged but they had to wait until the entire speed stage was complete before a School Bus towed them out of the ditch. They missed the 3rd speed stage entirely, ran the 4th from the back of the back and got to the mid-day service. By that time the rocker arm that bothered us in day 2 had completely disinigrated. Rather that destroy the motor Richard decided to trailer the car to Aguascalientes and put in our spare motor. Because they missed 4 speed sections and the final arch they placed 42nd for the day and are pretty much out of the running for a Historic C placing.

The place where we put the Bag of Nails onto the trailer was the exact same location that we loaded Freddy last year. Very depressing.

Both cars are now fixed and will be running tomorrow for the race to Zacatecas. See here for the route: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/ruta/nvo/7_AGUASCALIENTES_ZACATECAS.pdf

Other highlights of the day:

1) The racers saw two additional dead horses on the Mil Cumbre route.

2) Jason, Todd and Sheamus saw a pick-up truck leading two cows down the wrong way of the interstate at high speed. One cow couldn´t run fast enough and was being dragged.

3) We once again stayed in a beautiful hotel and town that we saw almost nothing of.

Keep your fingers crossed for good luck on the last two days.

Stupidity

2007-10-27T20:37:00.000-07:00

Today we raced from Tehuacan to Peubla on some of the twistist roads in the race. It was a very long day with the cars leaving at 8 am (the service vechiles left at 6) and getting in at 7 pm. There were seven crashes today with five cars permanently disabled. The low point was a Belgium passing during a transit section on a blind corner. He ran into a civilian car at 175 kph. She is in intensive care and he and his co-pilot are in a Mexican jail where they will stay until at least the end of the race and potentially much, much longer.

Results for the day are not in yet (it is 11 pm here) but we believe the Bag of Nails moved up one position to 3rd place overall.. Richard has proven to be a superior driver and Simon´s navigation is spot on. The Gypsy Wind is maintaining her current position in the top 1/3 of the racers.

The drive today (for drivers and service vechicles) was pure hell. On one 60 km section alone there was over 100 topes (speed bumps on steriods). Not fun and very hard on the vechiles.

Tomorrow the mid-day service vechile (Jason & Todd) leave at 4 am for the long trek up to Quartario, our next stop. The drivers and the other service vechile leaves at 6 am. Racing will finish around 7 pm.

Day 1 - Oaxaca to Tehuachan

2007-10-26T20:06:00.000-07:00

We could not have asked for a more exciting start to the race. We began this morning at 8 am by leaving the starting arch in the Oaxaca Zoloco (town center). You can view the route here: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/ruta2.asp

Five speed sections on twisty roads left 8 cars crashed or out of service. The Bag of Nails is now in 4th place over all and 13 seconds out of 3rd place and they are leading the Historic C class. The Gypsy Wind is running in 20th place. A couple of major crashes have helped the Bag of Nails move up on the rankings.

After the race the town held a huge fiesta for the racers in their zocolo. There must have been several thousand people that turned out to welcome the drivers and crews.

Tomorrow we race from Tehuachan to Puebla.

Fiesta!!!!

2007-10-25T21:16:00.000-07:00

Today was pre-qualification and both cars did very well. The Bag of Nails qualified in 6th place over all and well ahead of any of their Historic C competitors. The Gypsy Wind posted a time that placed them in the top 1/3 of the field.

We capped of the day with a Fiesta thrown by our new friends at the Oaxaca Mustang Club. They brought all the fixings for homemade tacos and lots of cerveza. It was a nice way to cap off our stay in Oaxaca. We are truly grateful for everything that they did for us. Their support turned what normally would have been chaos into a stress free three days.

Sorry for not posting pictures. Having a lot of trouble with internet connections and uploading large picture files is out of the question for now.

Tech Inspections

2007-10-25T07:30:00.000-07:00

A quite last day before pre-qualification begins. Richard and Simon passed their safety, health and tech inspections with no issues. They will be running in the Historic C class with other Mustangs, Falcons, Corvettes and similar style cars. This year there are almost 18 cars in this class and it should turn out to be the most competitive class. After tech inspection they took the car out to today's pre-qualification route and ran the car for a couple of hours. Everything is running well and only a few minor adjustments were needed.

Doug and Grady also passed their safety, health and tech inspections. Because the Gypsy Wind has aluminum heads it will be running in the unlimited class with 6 other cars. This class is desiged as a catch all for cars that do not meet the specific specifications for the other classes. They will be running with 6 other cars.

For a detailed explanation of the classes you can go to: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/reglamento/2007/ultimo/(IV.-%20Elegibilidad%20y%20cat.pdf

Pre-qualification is designed to ensure that the cars are in the proper order in decreasing speed for the race. This keeps the race safer by minimizing the amount of passing that takes place during any given speed section. The individual times from today do not count in the overall race total.

In the upcoming days the drivers will leave around 8 am for the starting arch. From that point they will follow the prescribed route through a serious of speed and touring sections. Speed sections are measured for time and the roads are cleared of all traffic. Touring sections are the roads in between speed sections and have regular traffic. The drivers only have a limited amount of time to reach the next speed section. Everyday there is a mid-day break at a predesignated location.

We have two service vehicles this year. Bobby Johnson will be driving the chase vechicle, a F250 truck with an enclosed trailer, and will follow the racers along the entire route. We sweep to ensure that no one gets left out in the jungle with no support in the event of a crash or breakdown. Fernando will be riding with Bobby for navigation.

Jason Eckert will be driving the other support vehicle, a F150 truck with a flatbed trailer, and will drive ahead to the mid-day stop and again to the final destination so that the drivers have full support when they arrive at both locations. Todd Landon and Sheamus will be riding with Jason for mechanical support and navigation.

We postponed the Fiesta with the Oaxaca Mustang Club until tonight due to a 3 hour drivers meeting that took place last night.

The pre-qualification route can be viewed at: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/ruta/nvo/1_PRECALIFICACION.pdf

A link to this years participants can be found at: http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/participantes.asp

The Pony's Have Been Corraled

2007-10-24T06:49:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Oaxaca yesterday and were met by our gracious hosts, the Oaxaca Mustang Club. They guided us to the staging area, provided translation to the officials and served as drivers for the errands we had to run. Their fabulos support made the day stress free.

Unfortunately we had a few mechanical problems. The Ford truck blew out the gear box and is currently getting repaired. It should be finished tomorrow.

Richard and Simon hooked up with us and we have begun the minor adjustments that they requested to make the car more driveable.

Today will focus on getting both cars though their tech inspection, allowing both drivers to take the cars out for a test drive and finishing up the race paperwork. Tonight we are having a fiesta in honor of our new Oaxaca friends from the car club. Their families will be bringing food for a feast next to the cars and we will provide the cervesa. Check out their website at http://www.mustangcluboaxaca.com.mx/. Check back tomorrow for pictures of our drivers with their cars and tonights fiesta.

The Big Squeeze

2007-10-23T07:23:00.000-07:00

Another day down and $400 lighter in the wallet. Yesterday we made the 450 mile trip from San Luis Potosi to Puebla. During the trip we had to make our obligatory route through Mexico City (there is no other way to get here) and we ran into the usual hassels with a twist.

Traffic and the roads were a nightmare as always. We nearly blew out the front suspension of both trucks when we hit a huge bump in the road at a bridge transition (it looked like a skate boarder half pipe). The trucks and passengers survived without any damage. We then entered the city and managed to get squeezed by the local traffic police 5 times in the course of less than two miles. Total damage, 400 USD. The second to last stop involved a fight between our last protector and the next band of thugs that were trying to hit us up for more cash. Evidently it is illegal to drive in Mexico City on a Monday if your license plate ends with a 5 or 6. You have to love this country.

The day ended entering into Puebla where one of the trailers was clipped by a bus when we were stopped at a traffic light. Minor damage to the fendor was the only result. We kept driving.

Today brings the last leg of the journey down to Oaxaca. A quick 4 hours, hopefully. We are being hosted by the Oaxaca Mustang Club. They have graciously provided a gated compound to park the cars and rigs, logistical support and interference with any locals.

The Start of the Journey

2007-10-22T06:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning we departed San Antonio, TX to begin the long trek down to Oaxaca, Mexico. We covered almost 1000 miles and reached our destination of San Luis Potosi, Mexico around 10 pm. San Luis Potosi is north of Mexico City about 300 km. Clearing customs and the drive was for the most part uneventful. As usual we get stopped at every state border crossing for an *inspection* which is just a cheap excuse to look at the cars. We are up to nearly 1500 pesos in tolls with one day done.

The highlight of the trip so far was driving by the snake skin vendors. As a refresher you can visit last years blog but in short there is a series of road side stands (about 50) in a short 1 km stretch 150 km before San Luis Potosi that sell snake skins, birds that look like small falcons in wicker baskets and some type of animal in jars of liquid (we think that it may be pickled snake). This year we had the pleasure of driving by at night only to find the stands still open with huge bonfires in front of each stand for lighting. The whole thing was more than a little spooky, we decided against stopping.

We are also out of (for the most part) the *let your cows and mules roam free on the road* country so that is a relief. Nothing like dogging a 1500 pound animal when you are doing 110 km per hour.

Today we leave for the long trek around Mexico City to Pueblo.

21 Days and Counting

2007-09-27T11:54:00.000-07:00

In 21 days the crew will leave Minneapolis for the long trek down to Oaxaca, Mexico for the 2007 La Carrera Panamericana race. Unfortunately I will not be able to make the race this year. I am currently in litigation with GM and will be called as a caracter witness sometime during the race.

With that said Todd Landon & his crew will be supporting two of my cousins in the race. The Gypsy Wind will be driven by Doug Allen (Aspen, CO) and co-piloted by Grady Olson (Colorado) and Bag O'Nails will be driven by Richard Tyzack (Wales, England) and co-piloted by Simon Jefferies (Wales, England).

An update on Betsy . . . she regrets missing the race this year but is enjoying her new home in Paris, France.

Check back often beginning November 20th for daily updates and pictures.

Day 7 - Zacatecas to Monterrey (The Last Day)

2006-11-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

Besty entered the day in 4th place for Historic C and had a good run in the morning. Unfortunately during the last speed section of the race she tore out a rear shock and mount. Julien and Stan were able to finish the race, abit at a slower speed. This took them out of medal contention. As the race draws to a close we have the following reflections:

1) This is easily the most unorganized event in existence. No one knows where they are supposed to be at any given time. The support crews are given almost no assistance and the race organizers have a habit of picking hotels with no parking. Imagine 10 - 20 trucks and trailers trying to park on a busy street or blocks away from a hotel.

2) The people of Mexico have been universally friendly and always willing to lend a hand. They are an extremely hard working people and it has been a real joy interacting with them on a daily basis.

3) Street food in Mexico is some of the best food you will ever eat. Some favorites include Sonoran Hot Dogs (A hotdog wrapped in bacon on a sweet bun with grilled onions, peppers, mayo, mustard, ketchup and corn), Carnitas from road side taco stands (imagine a dirt floor, plywood walls and a tarp roof), grilled corn on the cob slathered in mayo and dusted with ground chipolte pepper and scrambled eggs with grilled onions, grilled corn, pobolno pepppers on a sweet hot dog bun.

4) The Mexican highway system sucks. Their version of an Interstate will routinely dump you on a one lane goat track through a major city, street signs are non-existent and pot holes abound. To cap it off they have tens of thousands of speed bumps that will tear out the underside of your vehicle if you go over them faster than a couple of miles an hour. With that said there is nothing with a 4 lane highway made with 2 1/2 lanes where everyone shifts over to the side as someone passes down the middle of the road driving 120 kpr.

5) The event is what you make of it. If you have a good attitude and are here to have fun there is nothing like it in the world. If you let the stress take over (2 weeks of constant travel and little sleep) it will seem like a never ending hell. All in all I would highly recommend the experience.

In the upcoming weeks we will be posting hundreds of photos on www.carreraracer.com.

Tomorrow begins the long trek home.

Freddy