Crash, Bang, Boom

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.

Day 4 - The Horse with No Name

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.

Day 3 - Puebla to Queretaro

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

Pictures, Finally!

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

Stupidity

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

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!!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

Day 6 - Aguascalientes to Zacatecas

Besty continues to run great and is in 4th place after today. If she has a good run on Thursday she may make the podium.

The residents of Zacatecas threw a great fiesta for the La Carrera contingent. A band marched through the city picking up followers and dispensing Mezcal. As an FYI Mezcal is to Tequila as Schiltz is to beer. In other words not good. The march ended in the towns old bull fighting ring were the participants were treated to a dinner, cerveza and tequila. Zacatecas is by far the nicest, cleanest and most hospitable town that we have stayed in so far. We would highly recommend visiting for a vacation.

Day 5 - Morelia to Aguascalientes

Freddy had a hard day yesterday. He entered the day 4th overall and was in 2nd overall after the morning's speed sections. Unfortunately he broke a valve spring and rocker arm during the last section. A repair was attempted during the service break but there was too much damage and too many unknowns to risk the motor so he is out of the race. A real bummer because with his speed and the expert driving of Tom Silver and Gerry Bledsoe we had a real shot at winning the race. Thats all part of the game and sometimes stuff happens.

Besty continues to run strong in the Historic C class and has a chance at placing. Marty and Dick further solidified their position yesterday in the Original PanAm.

The picture of the bent up car is of the Jaguar that barrel rolled down the mountian on Monday. The roll cage was demolished during impact. The driver is ok but the co-pilot is still in serious condition. They do not think he has brain damage but he is under sedation for the next week in order to control brain swelling.

Day 4 - Queretaro to Morelia

If you would like to track the race cars real time via GPS go to:

http://panamericana.waypointinfo.com/

Freddy continues to dominate the race, improving to #4 overall today with Tom Silver's excellent driving skills. Besty dropped slightly to #37 overall and #4 in the Historic C class. An unexepected player is Marty Schneider who is running #2 in the Original PanAm class. Marty and his team mates hail from Orono, MN.

The roads today were trecherous. The route passed through Mil Cumbre National Park and was filled with wicked turns. A mid-day rain caused the roads to turn into an oil slick and caused several accidents. One in particular was very serious when a Jaguar barrel rolled down the side of a hill about 400 feet. The co-pilot was in serious condition with a severe concusion and face trauma.

For some unknown reason the State decided to log portions of the Park. This has resulted in severe erosion that washed away over 1/2 the road in 5 or 6 places. Where there was once asphalt there is now a 300 foot drop off with minimal signage or warnings. The van chased the race all day and the passengers were subjected to a couple of white knuckle turns. We have some great video from the trip down the mountain.

Tomorrow we race back up through Mil Cumbre an on to Aguascalientes.

Day 3 - Puebla to Queretaro

No pictures today, sorry. For more race information including a GPS tracking of the cars as they race go to:



And don´t forget to visit the La Carrera website. Go to the photo gallery for pictures.

http://www.lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx

Freddy entered the day at #5 overall. We have been disqualified from the Historic C class due to an issue with the fact that Freddy has aluminum heads instead of iron. The racers of the Turismo class are really upset that Freddy is doing so well and are raising a lot of objections. He will continue to race an hopefully will be in the top ten at the final flag.

Betsy is also doing well and started the day at #32. Julien and Stan are racing really well and are in the top 3 for the Historic C class.

Day 2 - Veracruz to Puebla

We apologize for not updating the blog for the past couple of days. Evidently someone cut the Internet wire going to Veracruz because most of the town has been without service for the past several days. Everyone is doing fine and we have not had any crashes (except for the Van incident yesterday and Juliens 180 spin out).

Today we raced from Totula down to Tehucan and then back-up to Puebla, about 380 km. No crashes today, that we know of, but the road was a lot less technical and there were only 2 speed sections. No results as of 11 pm.

The pictures above are from a fiesta in Tehucan that was thrown for the rally. Everywhere we have gone the people are universally friendly and go out of their way to help us. There must have been at least 20,000 people packed into the town square to look at all the cars and join in the festivities. Our drivers and navigators have developed carpal tunnel from signing so many autographs.

Freddy is feeling a little ill and keeps running a temperature. Doctor Todd worked on him tonight and hopefully he will be feeling better in the morning.

Tomorrow we leave a 7 am for Mexico City. Hopefully Freddy Van Buren will be in attendance and sign the Freddy car.

Today

Day 1 - Veracruz

Day 1 started like the Qualifying round with several crashes and mechanical breakdowns. The race took place between El Carrizal to Huatusco and back for a total of about 300 km.

The Lincoln above had an engine fire that Todd and Al Hagen were able to put out before the car blew up. We have some really good video of that one. At least 6 cars crashed although several were able to get back in the race later in the day. Unfortunately the Studebaker at the bottom of the ditch was not one of them.

What an exciting day. Betsy did a 180 turn in the middle of a speed section. Luckily her skilled driver and navigator were able to get the car turned around and only lost a small amout of time. Later in the day the support van, driven by Mr. Todd Landon, crashed into the back of a cargo pick-up who in turn had hit a small car. The van and passengers were unscathed but the other two vehicles did not fare so well. A not so small amount of pesos was exchanged and we went on our way. Definately a better alternative to trying to explain our side of the story to the local police while sitting in a jail cell. For the record Todd was innocent in the entire affair.

Freddy and Betsy continue to run strong with a #9 and #34 finish respectively.

Day 0 - Qualifying Round

Besty finally appeared today dressed as a pirate and covered in skulls and demons. What has happened to our sweet innocent Cow Car)? Freddy is not sure what to think about his cousins new image.

The qualifying round of the race took place between El Carrizal and Jalcomulco about 50 km outside of Veracruz. The 11 km stretch was trecherous and poorly marked in the route books. Freddy finished in the number 7 spot and Betsy the Pirate finished in the top 25 for the day. The Studebaker above suffered a tremendous crash and is out of the race. A Mini Cooper crashed into the Studebaker and rolled.

This could be a very long week with these roads.