Picture from Rene Ortega - Rana Chilanga
Day 1 of the Carrera has ended, but only in the speed sections. Right now for many teams the long night of repairs its on the peak, or the first time with their feet on the ground after knowing what this race is all about.
You have to at least have driven once the Oaxaca highways to try to imagine what they were confronting. I know first hand what those roads are like, as my father is from there and many times I have driven carefully thru the curvy and steep roads, where you dont want to go over 40 or 50 kmh. But for these men and women, where the goal is first to finish the speed sections, and then to be the fastest in their class or overall, their goal is to race. And thats why they are here for.
But the roads wont make it easy on them, and the cars cant be trusted. If anything can go wrong it will. And the day has taken its toll. Some cars have been taken to Oaxaca on a trailer. Some to be repaired and continue tomorrow or the next day. But others, after an accident, cant continue. Or after engine failure or transmission, the question its not if its worth it, but if it can be repaired soon enough.
Some info I got from different places along the way:
Gerie Bledsoe´s car arrived in a trailer to Oaxaca
Araceli and Paco´s Hudson arrived in good shape and fast.
El Jefe - TBZ Ford from Zacatecas was fast and in second place.
Triviño´s studebaker was the first to race and the first to arrive too. Thank God no gloves rules like those in the WRC apply to the Panamericana (WRC fans should know this one about Triviño from some years ago)
El Indio (Emilio Velazquez VW its fast and was received as a hero in its homeland Oaxaca)
Michel Jourdain blew the engine in the first speed section.
Johnny Tippler still has issues with the porsche, no news yet on what happened.
Im just following information from many blogs available this year from people that its already there taking advantage of almost instant communication via facebook, twitter and blogs. Some of Panamericana veterans that reaced in previous years, or from fans of photographers.
Cant wait for the race to be at reach here in Queretaro so I can participate with keeping information and pics of the event available to everyone. In the meantime, follow it with me thru some of them:
Francisco Ortiz - OGB BLog
http://datsunpanamericana.blogspot.com/
Rene Ortega - Rana Chilanga
http://ranachilanga.blogspot.com/
Kristin Stewart - Funkster WTF
http://funksterwtf.blogspot.com/
Via Facebook:
Pepe - Keiphoto
Rene Ortega - Rana Chilanga
Michael Emery - Lucha Libre Racing
Francisco Marquez - Araceli Ramirez : The Hudson
Look for them, follow them and enjoy info first hand.
Or thru the official website, which seems to at least report more information than previous years:
http://lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/
