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.
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.
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