Race Photos

The following are photos that were purchased from one of the independent photographers that followed the race. Enjoy!

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This is the group photograph. Hey, that's me in the middle just right of the Race President.

The track was definitely our best show. We will have to search to see who else might have photos there.

Matt posing before a run.

Hope you've enjoyed this ride through Mexico.

On the road again

Even though the final driver's meeting went late into the night, the beautiful Nuevo Laredo morning forced us out of bed and reminded us that we still had yet another target to reach. Home.

With the race over, everyone is frantic to leave Nuevo Laredo. Taxis are difficult to come by. Everyone is either catching flights or running for the border. Of course once we reached the border, we realized that racing through rough terrain and steep mountainsides would be easier to bear that this. After a grueling 2 hour wait, we finally crossed the Rio Grande into Texas.

This was another exciting and eventful race. We thank the race organizers and coordinators for their hard work in making this happen, the Federales and all the Mexican police for the watchful eyes and assistance and most of all we thank all the people in Mexico that cheered us on, encouraged us and made it all worth while. Mil Gracias!

Side note: The team participated this year in a fundraiser for the children in San Miguel de Allende "Feed the Hungry" and would like to thank all those who contributed to this wonderful cause.

Day 7 Zacatecas - Nuevo Laredo (Thursday)

I know Bill mentioned that we had the driver's meeting and spent the night at the bullring hotel (Quinta Real) in Zacatecas. The center of the bullring was set up similar to a grand wedding, very elegant and with delicious food. Before the official meeting began, Bill and I took some time to walk around the hotel. Quinta Real has taken care to set up period furniture and artwork throughout the hotel. Modern sculptures and paintings blend seemlessly with antique furniture and truely unique architecture.

The city's 16th century aqueduct sits next to the hotel. It greatly adds to the City's charm. I do foresee spending some romantic evening here some day.

I don't know if I've mentioned this about some of the other cities, but Zacatecas, like several other cities in Mexico is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Mexico has a total of 27 World Heritage Sites among them are cities like Zacatecas, Puebla, Oaxaca, Morelia...sound familiar, also the many well known archeological site and even the beautiful and dramatic agave landscapes of my native Tequila.

Just to give you a little background, Zacatecas was founded in 1546 and was a mining city rich in silver. The Cathedral was was built in the 1700's and is a beautiful example of Spanish baroque architecture, more specifically known as Chrrigueresque Architecture. The fascade is made of elaborate cantera carvings.

So like with every other city, we felt the hours we spent there were no where nearly enough to true appreciate their beauty. But this is not a tour, it's a race, right? So onward... this is the last leg of the race and definitely the longest. This tends to be the most trying day for most of the vehicles. Engines blow, clutches fail and the long days on the road simply wear on the both the cars and the drivers. After the morning speed run over La Bufa, we far goodbye to Zacatecas and continue north through its barren landscapes.

The long drive gave us time to pull out the camera and photograph some of our fellow competitors. Below are Oliver and Toni (German Porsche team) on their way to Nuevo Laredo. They were a very successful team placing 1st in class for the entire race.

Nuevo Laredo is in the horizon and we are already celebrating. We can't explain the relief that is felt when you know that the finish line is right around the corner. It's been 7 long and tiring days. We drive into the City and realize that the instructions that were provided in our race route don't apply any longer. This may have been explained in last night's meeting but Bill had asked if I wanted to get checked into our room and I never really realized how many seconds after I sat down on the bed it took for me to fall asleep...race suit and shoes on, remote control in hand. We circled around the City guided by a patrol car. Sirens going, ignoring all traffic lights, for those few kilometers the world seems to stop to take a look at us. It's wonderful.

We pull into the crowd of cheering people. With beers in hand, we are greeted at the finish arch by the Corona girls. They place the final medal of the race Nuevo Laredo. Yes, I think at some point in their life, this is probably every man's dream.

After congratulating our fellow drivers, Bill celebrated the arrival to the finish line with the "Modelo" girls.

We must report that our fellow team of the Porsche 356 Coupe had engine problems and were unable to finish the race. It was a valiant effort but the Great Mexican Road Race got the best of the 356.

Day 6 Aguascalientes - Zacatecas (Wednesday)

Finally a little rest. Today we were given a little extra time to relax, the race would not being until Noon. Regardless, we woke up at 7 am to persuade the hotel laundry to wash our racing suits. Bill was now better known as pig pen...he had a cloud of dust all around him. Needless to say, although the off-white vintage racing suits looked great on the rack they didn't hold up too well to an open car through the Mexican countryside. After a couple of hours, the suits came back looking almost as good as new. In Aguascalientes we stayed the night at the Fiesta Americana, it is a chain hotel owned by Grupo Posadas, a Mexican hotel company. This hotel is located in the heart of the city with a view of the cathedral and sits close to the bullring (a popular attraction in this city).




Thus far I think that the states of Guanajuato and Aguascalientes have had the most police coordination that we have seen in the race, this reminds of the 2004 race. They are placed throughout the highways and city streets coordinating traffic to facilitate our transit. When I say placed..... I mean there are patrol cars parked at all the major intersections for stretches up several hundred miles radioing each other to guide us. It is a very coordinated effort and we are very thankful of their assistance.

The drive to Zacatecas was quick and painless. We sped over and back on La Bufa for our final speed runs of the day. Below is a photos of the chaos caused by cars trying to find their place at the start up line before the speed run.





We entered Zacatecas to one of the largest crowds to date. Zacatecas is one of the most beaufiful towns one can see. It is an old silver mining town built on the side of a mountain. The architecture is wonderful and can be described as very much like Spain.


Car #151, the Porsche Coupe drove into town after their first time on La Bufa. La Bufa enables the cars to reach their highest speeds to date on the race. Only one accident this time. The 1954 Chevy exited the roadway and rolled over down the hill. The drivers were OK but the car was a toal loss.

Adriana and I stayed in the Bullring. The Quinta Real is a very old Bullring that has been tranformed into a 5 star Hotel. This is the location of the drivers meeting and the awards ceremony for the day.

As "Dia de los Muertos" approached the altars were built in many of the Hotels. This is one at the Hotel Emporio. They are quite detailed and are made to honor the dead.

A traditonal Callejoneada, or "Mezcal Walk" like we like to call it, occurs in Zacatecas each year. The drivers and crews walk thru the streets of Zacatecas with a band playing and Mezcal being served in small cups. Just to give you an idea Zacatecas is a colonial city, one of the most beautiful in Mexico, with narrow streets and lots of alleyways. The group walks down the streets led by the Tambora (the band) and stops at key locations for dancing and for the party to build. It's a party like no other and one that makes most drivers yell out "I Love Mexico!!".

Day 5 Morelia - Aguascalientes (Tuesday)

It was a long, long day. The day started with four speed sections back over Mil Cumbres. Both cars did well.
It was the first time in 5 years that there were no accidents on Mil Cumbres.

The coupe suffered a mechanical problem. This time it was the throttle cable. Fortunately it was at the end of the day prior to the last two speed sections. It was unable to finish the day but was able to limp in to the Servicio area. Ted, Paul and Don worked the evening on the car and sorted out the problem. All should be good for tomorrow.
Ted was able to pick up on not one but TWO local girls. The local people take a great interest in the cars as they are are very attrctive and historical. We have also met a few older men who remember the actual cars that were raced over 50 years ago. The smiles we put on their faces make the effort all worthwhile.


Bill and Darell tried to move in on Ted's girls bt were quickly rebuffed. There is no substitute for age and skill.

The servicio area was a large well lighted permanent tent. it was a great opportunity to go thru the cars and fix the little problems. The support crews work well together. Swapping tools or small fittings make the difference on whether the car can or not.

Day 4 Queretaro - Morelia (Monday)

Directly below are the remains of a Corvette that crashed and caught fire. A fiberglass body and aluminum / magnesium engine components fueled a fast/hot fire. Fortunately, both drivers survived and suffered only minor burns. There have been quite a few crashes but no major injuries.

The Coupe was unable to run today due to a failed clutch able on the way to the starting arch. The disappointed crew was unable to catch up with the race but was able to run on Mil Cumbres in the afternoon as a review for tomorrow morning's stage.


Below is a view of a lake in Michoacan. The weather has cooperated the whole race and the scenery is unbelievable.

The Spyder ran with Don and Bill the entire day although one of the speed sections was closed due to the amount of gravel on the course. The City of Morelia is beautiful. The main entrance to the city is bordered by an ancient elevated aqueduct. The police close the streets and escort the cars into the Zocaolo. The welcoming street fair was quite large and as always the Spyder drew lots of attention.

The Zocalo has restaurants on two sides with views of the Cathedral. The lighting of the cathedral was completed by the same lighting designer on the Eiffel tower. It is truly stunning at night.

Day 3 Puebla - Queretaro (Sunday)

The Spyder's team was back on their feet and ready to race. After that setback, we wanted to make sure things went well.



Today was the dreaded day when we'd cross Mexico City.


The race was to include a speed stage at the Periferico (one of the main arteries of the Mexico City road system)...at Friday night's driver meeting, Lalo (the race President) compared this move to shutting down the 405 freeway in LA. The group was to navigate through major construction and then to the starting point at the Periferico where the run would be for only 5 km. We left Puebla about a 1/2 hour before our official start time thinking this will allow us time to get to the starting point. It was 9 am when we were trying to make our way through Mexico City traffic.



It was horrible...backed up for miles and creeping along with every car on the road wanted to push their way into a better position...yes, this is 9 am on a SUNDAY morning.


I can't imagine what it's like during rushhour on a weekday. Needless to say, we missed our speed run. By the time we reached the starting line, there was no starting line. We later learned from our Coupe team that the speed run was only completed by a few teams.


(This is a shot of how we fit the helmets and legs inside the Spyder...not exactly a comfortable ride.)

Having missed a day and half for the brake problem and now missing morning running would only push us farther back on the line up. We needed to push longer and harder. Before entering Queretaro, we were instructed to head into the hills. There we ran though 3 of the most challenging speed runs. Turns out that the person that defined the course (giving degree of difficulty to the curves) was not the same one who had put together the front end of the route book. The curves was defined to be MUCH easiler than they really were. We ran the course scared that what the book many times defined as a Number 1 or Number 2 could have easily been defined as a 3 by the previous route writer and us. We ran the course well. Bill managed to pull ahead of a couple of cars. Feeling the adrenoline pumping, we headed to the race track for our final speed run for the day. It was great! This car definitely has more power on the straight courses than our previous 356 (in which we raced in 2004). We managed to pass 3 cars and the crowd cheered as we roared past them. It felt great. We finally drove through the finish arch and received our first metals of this race.

This is of course the other side of the race and one of Bill's favorite.




I had never been to Queretaro. It is beautful. This will definitely be a city that I will come back to visit in the future.

Day 2 Tehuacan - Puebla (Saturday)

Race? What race? The only racing that the Spyder team participated in was running around Tehuacan trying to find a brake drum to fit the left rear wheel. The morning was spent watching a couple of seasoned mechanics go head to head. Neither one spoke a word of the other's language. In the end they were both right. We ended up machining (drilling for studs and brake pad depth) an old VW brake drum. The repair shop was unbelievable. We used their shop, their employees and a few miscellaneous parts. They were sincerely happy to help out a team whose car was representing a Mexican company that so many here are familar with. Thank you Pedro Lozano and group.

(Side note: There is a old saying that says: Cara vemos vidas no conocemos...or something like that basically tells you that you don't know people by what you see. Pedro Lozano's (shop owner) son, Pedro, has an amazing and extremely impressive collection of butterflies. Better than any natural history museum and they are in museum exhibition condition. Check out his website: http://welcome.to/tehuacan )

After working on the car until midnight the 356 Coupe set out from Tehucan to Puebla. Paul and Darrell had a good day but ended up with a few things to fix. The carburetors are still being difficult and and the rough roads are taking their toll on the suspension. There were many, many topes (speed bumps) to contend with.

A bad accident cut the the last day short and they brought the car into Puebla early for repairs.

Don and Matt have been great and have kept the cars and the service vehicle on the road. Our service vehicle is an F-350 Crew Cab 4WD Turbo Diesel dually pickup with a service shell and a 28 foot Pace Shadow Race trailer. Try pulling and parking THIS setup in the streets of the colonial towns we staying in !!

Not easy. Their turn at driving and navigating the cars will start on Monday and Tuesday.

Our "Mecanico Principal", Ted Blake has been keeping up with both cars. Without him these cars would not be on the road. His knowledge and experience is invaluable. A couple of the other 356 car crews have come to us asking for Ted's help and advice. He has helped all of them.

(this blog was mostly written by Bill, could you tell?)

Here's a shot of the coffee shop we hit upon arriving to Puebla. It's a great place very close to the center square called "Cafe de las Americas". The owner was generous enough to let us park the truck and trailer in from of his shop in his exclusive street parking...a commodity in Puebla. We apologize for not having many images of Puebla. It really is a place that you must see for yourself. The coffee shop building was gorgeous; an old spanish style colonial building that used to be a residence, built in the 16th century.

Day 1 Oaxaca - Tehuacan (Friday)

The day began very hectic we didn't managed to get back to our hotel until late following the driver's meeting on Thursday night. Without lights we were unable to complete the last of our "official" Carrera task: put the official race sponsor's stickers on the car. This morning we managed to pack up all of the gear, suit up, have me get sick from pre-race stress, place stickers, get lost on the way to the starting arch and go through the arch only 2-3 minutes late (acceptable within Carrera standards). It was madness. So much for my navigating skills you would say...well, you haven't seen the streets of Oaxaca.

We began the race at a good pace. Although like always, the few minutes that you have to prepare are never long enough. We are racing with closed face helmets and I don't like it. We didn't have time to get our headset gear set up and I found out that I now had to yell the calls along with trying to gesture each turn during the speed stages. The day's race was a 9 section run. Of this 6 had speed stages. The morning's runs were somewhat of a warm up for us. They felt good, we tried to get familiar with the changes from the previous race (car, helmets, gear, etc). We ran the morning well but found out we were rubbing our tires onto the car. At our service pit stop our crew managed to lift the car to help the problem.

By the 6th stage, we were warmed up and ready to run. We managed to pass two cars (woohoo!) and were on our way to start pulling up the ranks. Day 1 always tends to be a very difficult. The roads are very challenging and day is long. We were swinging around a number 2 to the right when Bill yelled back that something just wasn't right. We saw a clear spot next to road, pulled off and ran back up the road with our red flags to warn the oncoming racers that were stopped there. The gears didn't seem to be catching and he wasn't sure what was wrong. Soon a group of Carrera officials drove by. They asked if we had been in an accident and we said no so they drove off. It was about 2:30 pm when we pulled off the road. We found ourselves sitting in the middle of the moutains with no phone service somewhere in Oaxaca about 170 km from where we needed to be and several hours from where we left. After some time a couple of Federales drove by and we flagged them down. They flagged down a tow truck that unfortunately was unable to help. They stayed with us for a while concerned for our safety. We tried to put together several plans with them as to how to get to where needed to be but they didn't have any communication either in this area. Thanks to the Federales we had some water to drink (they asked the tow truck driver to give us his water before leaving and left what they had behind with us also). A buzzard circled above us and few cars drove past. It was 8:00 pm by the time we pulled into Tehuacan thanks to the help from another Porsche team that picked us up. We were tired, beaten down, filthy and starving when we finally made to our hotel (which was not in the same hotel they were in). Bill dropped me off at the hotel and went in search of our service crew to get some clothes and supplies.



A weather update: the rain that was predicted never came. The weather has been rather pleasant...not too hot nor humid. There has been a good breeze and the evenings are actually rather cool.

Day 0 Prequalification Stage (Thursday)

What we hoped would have happened didn't happen. Murphy's Law, I guess. We expected to have the Spyder's modified roll cage in time for the Prequalification Run. We unfortunately didn't. We missed Prequalification which simply meant that we would be ranked at the back of the list after everyone who did run this stage. We ran around town most of the day trying to get some last minute, somewhat unexpected, items for the cars (by the way did I mention that we are running a two car team). We are driving a Porsche 550 Spyder and our teammates are in a Porsche 356 (similar to the one that we raced in the 2004 Carrera Panamericana).





Paul and Daryl (our 356 teammates) ran their prequalification stage and we were told that they had big grins after their run. They had a good run got their hearts going. The didn't push too hard but were able to get a good feel for their car and the race.

We have now covered the Spyder for fear of damaging our route book in case the rain predications were true. With the car completely ready, we still needed to pass tech inspection before we could possible show up at the start line. It was after 6pm when I was running into the hotel where I had heard the main tech inspector would be running the last of the inspections. The inspections of course were over.

We figured we needed to pull all the stops to have him inspect our car so I had reception connect me to his room and begged him to come out with me. 15 minutes later we had a tech inspection stamp and now the task was to complete the process to qualify for the race the next morning.

8:30 pm was the first of the driver's meetings. This was held in the municipal palace next to an amazing cathedral. The group of 96 teams was welcomed by the City Mayor and City Manager. We ran through all the welcoming by the race officials and the top ranks for the different cars racing. Our buddy Daryl and his son Roger, placed 1st for the prequalification stage. Amazing job considering the competion. After some hustling and lots of chasing after officials, we managed to get our "ok" stamp. We were finally ready to race.



This is a view of Oaxaca from our hotel. The hotel is a 50 year old hotel that is built on the side of a mountain overlooking the city. It has a unique design and has that golden age feel to it. The bar was also great...it has the best of the hotel. There we managed to get some "meet and greet" time with a couple of guys from Germany that would make a great stand up act given how hilarious they are.

Prepare your engines

Before we begin, let me give you our route for this up coming event.



We are currently in Oaxaca (City), Oaxaca preparing the first official racing day of the event. We will be running the qualification stage this afternoon. Just to give you an update the crew went through tech inspection (a modification to the roll cage was requested and tech inspection is not complete). The Spyder is currently at the moffler shop getting the modification to the roll cage. The crew now will need to get the car back to tech inspection before noon today in order to qualify for the race. The problem came with changing rules for roll cages. There are a handful of cars in this predicament. Other than the roll cage, the car passed inspection with flying colors.

Salvador Lopez Chavez

In October 2005, the Porsche Excellence magazine (yes, for those of you that don't know...this subscription is a must have for any Porsche afficionado) published an article on the first racing Porsche that competed in the Carrera Panamericana in 1954. After reading the article, Bill wanted to recreate the cars that Salvador Lopez Chavez raced in the 1953-54 Carreras.


Salvador is better known to most Mexicans for his family business. He was the founder of Calzado Canada (Canada Shoes). I know that I had some Canada shoes as a kid...as did every other Mexican kid in town. Along with being a business savvy man, Salvador also had a passion for racing.

Salvador was an innovator having taken an aluminum car (Porsche 550 Spyder) and rebuilt it to create one of the first known fiberglass race cars. This car holds the number 001 according to Porsche and it's considered to be the first true racing Porsche.

In order to recreate and officially enter this year's Carrera Panamericana as an Original Panam car, Bill contacted the family of Salvador Lopez to ask permission for the use of Salvador's design. We had the honor of meeting Tomas Lopez Rocha, son of the late Salvador Lopez Chavez. Tomas, also a racing legend, participated in the LeMans and Daytona races and was the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) World Champion in 1991.




Having received a welcomed approval from Tomas and his family, we look forward to seeing the eyes of the of those young and old as we as we drive into town with an old favorite. Calzado Canada.