A Gentle note-

Every time F and R get back from a days racing the immortal words of Mr Bridger from the Italian Job, spring to mind ‘are those the ones that broke my car!’ but with blood, sweat and beers (thanks to Top Shelf) we seem to be able to put it back together again before the next day’s racing,(by we- I mean Mr Nick of course) but F seems determined to keep us busy by destroying the car from the inside out, and after seeing the footage of the speed sections I now know why we have been so busy. I know which car I’d rather be in, even if Darrell (El Guapo) is driving but hey, I’m sure the kerbs and taxi drivers of Aguascalientes will recover from his visit.

We keep ourselves amused on the long night under the bonnet (hood I’ve been informed our American cousins call it) by communicating with each other in outrageous German accents which can be a little awkward as we always seem to be surrounded by them in our service areas we also have an inflatable spitfire hanging from the back of the van. I would like to think they are doing the same to us but as yet have seen no inflatable Fokker’s.

So we carry on and all going well ‘ze vaw vill not be over for us’ until we reach Zacatecus.

The Gent.

F's Update

The last couple of days have been a blur driving I don’t know how many KM’s, no idea how many speed stages. We have climbed thousands of meters through beautiful country. We have come on so much, we are now getting there. The last couple of days we have been fast, safe and together. Richard and I are ‘dancing’ and the Jag has been an unlikely Carrera success although I think our service team would disagree.. I have so much to tell but I’m a little burnt now so I’ll tell you about this afternoon when we did a speed section on a NASCAR banked oval circuit. Madness. This is something to it for sure and the Jag was quite a weapon but at 100 MPH round an oval? I won’t be queuing to do it again. Let hope the video worked. This race is amazing. We have made it through to day 6. Just one more day to go and the big finish.

F

Day Six: Co Pilote Has No Voice

Six days of calls in 36 odd speed sections, marinated in fuel and oil mist
in our 47 year old Jaguar has rendered my voice so husky I sound like Marlon
Brando. Which is appropriate given the horns of the lady sound ‘The Godfather’
sound track. Somewhat tiring after 2600 kilometres but there you go…Today we
left the stunning caves and castles of Guanajuato to head to Aguascaliantes.
450 km and no fewer than 9 speed sections. Straight into Delores Hidalgo: a
6.55km blast through the dusty plains. Lots of ravines and edges..spooky.

We were a good team today, all worked our socks off: impeccable time
card, no fines, never late; everything spot on. We have been fighting all week
since the drama of a troubled car on day one but are cutting our way through
the pack [which includes Jocham Mass- the ex F1 driver]. Some of the cars
[different classes prevail] have 600Bhp and way the same as ours. Rockets.
Called the turns well, F drove beautifully [other than a brief second on the
edge [my edge- naturally] so we were on the money.

Last speed section after 300km of transito at 150km/ph was on
Aguascaliantes Nascar racetrack: an oval bowl. I do not recommend being a
passenger in a car in such an event. Gravitational pull and concrete walls
change one’s mood quite quickly. Finished it, held our own with a Mustang and
an Alfa and screamed into town with police escort and absolutely no regard for
any laws whatsoever. Only in Mexico.

r

The Road from Morelia to Guanajuato

Day Five: The Road from Moreilia to Guanajuato

Another punishing day but then again every day is a tough day on La Carrera. We started the day reversing the speed sections of Mil Cumbres. Every day has 6-9 speed sections adding up to around 110km. In between these we are in 'transito' of c 350-400km per day. The Rally allows just enough time for petrol stops and a sneeze to get to the next speed section if one travels at 150km per hour. We have Route maps detailing every 150 metres for every day and I live on these and the trip metre. It is a full on endurance event for everyone: driver, co pilote and crew. We are absolutely bushed.

A speed section is something else and the times determine the placing. However if you get lost or are a second early anywhere or more than a minute late then the team incurs heavy time penalties.

In addition you fill in your time card and must work the mental arithmetic of 60 minute plus/ minus extremely quickly. A mistake is another heavy fine. Feels like a tax return.

When you reach each time control for a speed section you must have your harnesses so tight you cannot breath, nets up [to stop arm being lost in a roll], Hans devices on [to stop head smashing on dash/ neck brake]; helmet on, fire suit and gloves on, intercom on, transponder checked and the right time on your card. 100% adrenalin courses every corner of one's compressed body. Driver and co driver work together in a rythym of calls and curves , distracted only by the sight of crashed cars here and there. Today, on the Mil Cumbres two Studebakers [american vintage supercars] left to join the forest and a mini was in such a mess that Fraser and I were silent for twenty minutes. Our plan was and is to stay on the road.

These roads are something else though.

Our day ended in Guanjuato. One of the most amazing 16th Century Towns you must visit one day. Without doubt. Look it up. Unbelievable. 100 odd race cars roared into the heart of the place to uniquely Mexican fanfare.

Passed out...

finaly a clip....

We (support team) have spent the last week wrenching on the Bell day after day- It all seems to be bits  that F seems to has beat to shit in only a few short 10-20 minute sections. None of us can understand how he and Rich can beat up the car so badly.

This clip puts it all in perspective I guess. The boys are driving hard-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjVJhMlLStI

The car is running about as good as the team- finally.

1/3 of the team is ready to run it next year.

1/6 of us is ready to move here

100% of use are having a blast.

¬el guapo.

 PS- thanks Monkey Boy.

Ding Dong: Move closer to the front of Class, Bell..

Queretero, Day 4 of 7

Breakfast overlooking a champagne pink sky as far as the eye can see. Queretero is a huge sprawling city with an amazing historic centre. Typical of what we have enjoyed through Mexico. The people are amazing, the streets dusty and beautiful . La Carrera circus rolls on through, every start and finish a cacophony of roaring engines, blowpipes, screaming kids and pumping bass from the ever-present public address system. Visually incredible too with early or late sunkight piercing through gaps in thick mulberry trees. The locals seem to love La Carrera, c 3million of them [apparently] crowding the squares and streets. It seems like more..

Off the Morelia today- a short day however one populated with the famous Mil Cumbres speed section [s]: twisting ravines through forest. My eyes and lips are red/ burnt from oil/fuel that mists through the car. Got to the edge of my nerves c 3.12pm yesterday [every day is lived to the absolute second], as we screamed downhill with some panache as a team. We were up there with the best in class, which was nice. I am thinking of returning to a low 'C ' student today , so will encorage Fraser to adopt a 'Miss- Daisy- goes- to- the- Tea- Shop 'driving style.

Apparently. Ding Dong the Bell is about to chime.

r

Night falls and the cars apart, again

Just been up to the car park on the Crown Plaza Queretaro where were staying to find Nick, D and Jim with the bonnet off the car in the air and the engine in pieces. The front grille has been modified to flow more air and they are fixing (the many) oil leaks. Tea stain Tony is off down at the Holiday Inn looking for Dave who has promised us a new distributor. He cant find him at the moment so he's waiting for him in the bar.. sounds like a plan doesn't it? Its 8:30 PM now and the boys have got at least 2/3 hours work ahead providing they can find the parts. They haven't eaten and the race start is 08:00 tomorrow morning. I know Nick was working on the car a little after 5AM today. Doesn't sound much like fun does it?

F

The highs and lows of day 3

After some TLC 304 left Puebla for a massive transit to the first stage. Navigation was hard work and I was again amazed by R's navigational abilities all the cars turned right ; Richard knw they are wrong, straight on was his call, a tough call to make. He was right. Arrived at the first stage in time and we did OK. It was fast zeros and ones and to be honest I didn't like it. Zero means virtually flat out and one means back off a little. I don't expect us to be quick. This was my fault, just didn't like it, too fast, didnt have my head in it. Second stage [Minerel De Chico] was totally different, very tight, very complex undulating through a forest. I loved it, the Jag loved it and I think R loved it too. You will have to ask him to be sure. Off to lunchtime service and a visit from Juan Manuel from Casta Motorsport and his delightful family. Juan sent us some disks for the car (he's raced the Carrera before) and dropped by. We're grateful he did because he made some adjustments to the Jag for the high altitude were at and she was far happier. After service we headed to the first speed section La Culata!!!! It all came together here and I have a feeling we were quick. As I type I'm trying to upload the in car video of the stage. We cant edit the video here as D's mac has died so you'll get the whole thing so start from about 4.5 Mins in. Today really was - Fantastic stuff. We worked as a team together today. Enjoyed it. A lot... Nick and the boys have got the service together but they dont seem to be getting much sleep....

Did I mention on the next stage the Jag overheated, I got anitfreeze in my face we had smoke inside the car and we limped home for another refit and missed the rest of the day but lets not talk about that shall we?

F

Dai Three Puebla- Queretaro

What a difference a day makes..

Amazing day yesterday following successful rebuild of the
car in Oxacaca, screaming through cactus filled valleys, falling into Tehuacan
where a Fiesta consumed the race. We moved through the pack carefully, having
been stapled to the back by mechanical issues and ended the day 65^th
from 114. Short nights sleep, two hours of prep very earl this am in the books
and off we head to some wild speed sections today: caution is the name of today
with many cars falling by day by day. s

Rich

short and sweet, just some pics- Day 2

In the Queue ready to head out on Day 2

Good Luck Duck

F loving every minunte of it

Tricky signing autographs

Mr. Nicks hard work finally starting to pay off.

wake up and go

Mr. Nick is doing a few last minute tweaks to the Bell, she seems to be ready to run. The rest of us are packing up our gear and getting the support truck, The Red Bourbon packed up and ready to go. Hopefully everything goes well and we can see them off and get to the first check point on time.

Here is our Service route for Today.We have some sections that overlaps with the race- so timing is everything. We can't be on the same roads as the cars for obvious safety reasons.


View Larger Map

~el guapo

go go go!

The Blue Bell has been fussy about driving under the pressure of such a mixed up team I think. She is nice to one of or 2 of us, and a dogs back to the rest. much tweaking and turning of bits and bolts and we are finally ready (maybe) to start racing.

We spent the day getting to Oaxaca, wit the team in the Suburban, and the Bell on a tilt tray. Sorry for Tricky who road with the Bell and made taco's along the way with 2 other grease monkeys.

6 other cars have crashed,

2 of the 6 are no longer racing

all out of ICU.

More to come...

~d

Two and a half hour Co Driver briefing last night in a nearby hotel. Interesting statistic no.1: greater than 50 % of all incidents happen on first two speed stages of first day ie on fewer than 10% of total speed section distance. Many others fall by the roadside trying to get to the front of their respective class grids. With memories of our 2006 campaign and this to hand I slept well.  A rare occurence.

Thursday morning welcomed us with glorious sunshine and 32 degrees of heat. Perfect conditions for donning a two layer racesuit, gloves , helmet, untold strapping devices and sitting in a 50 year old car cooking on gas. Off to the prequal road following our first tulips and thankfully not getting lost. Trip meter all over the shop so am somewhat blind in some ways. Hopefully we can recalibrate today having spoken to a bloke called Dave . The speed sections feel somewhat like riding a bike,it all came back. A little rusty but we will get there. Car was not 100% so the combination was not a perfect start but it was a safe one. Which is our game plan. To have any position we must finish. Which is far from easy.

Unfortunately some fell off their bike, there was an unreasonable snigger from some in Team 304 who muttered something about Germans. Our Class, Historica 'B' is filled with 911 Porsches. Bring on the rain and a few goats. Apparently...{!] two Porsches did not stick to the tarmac. We find out more this evening in the driver's briefing.

Apparently.

word of the day is OK.

We all packed up the support truck, and followed F & Tricky down to the inspection first thing this morning. The queue wasn't too long to get safety inspection done. We had some last minute tweaks to make to the Blue Bell and by 2:30 we had our to race number put on along with the stickers for the sponsors of the race and of course the "OK" in on the window to race.

It was a long day, but we made it thru. More tweaks to the car, trying to get it just right.  Pre Qualifying is tomorrow... I think its a 10k run with a few other things mixxed in. More to come.
~d

Nick has been a star today. He's starting to get his head round race engines and today we started to find some power. New disks arrived from MEX but no time to fit them before pre qualification at early O'Clock tomorrow. Everyone worked hard today and caught a fair bit of sun doing it. It 9:50 PM and not had dinner yet, everyones shattered. Big day tomorrow. F

Been busy...

Its been a busy day at the office, everyone up before 7 and working by 8. After a full day were (almost) ready for scruteneering tomorrow. Nick's worked wonders with the engine and torque has returned, few more tweeks tomorrow and we should be good. It's been as humid as hell and were all feeling it. The place is beautiful but not much chance to see it or explore. Looking forward to getting the paperwork out of the way and getting started. Keep thinking during the day of stuff to write but seem to forget it all when it comes to the blog. Must try harder... F

Co-Pilot Update

Back to school this morning, head down in the route maps: page upon page of 'Tulip' diagrams signposting the speed and transit sections of each day. Day one is 401 km of which a quarter is on closed roads at speed. The morning presents 5 speed sections at +/- 25m above sea level. The afternoon a climb of 1700 metres into the cloud and into Oaxaca. 5 more speed sections in the afternoon. Maybe 2 fuel stops. Out on the coastal road to Salina Cruz this afternoon having a look at the twisting roads which are something else. Pot-holes the size of a cow. Other teams back in Huatulco show up with pantechnicons and 8 or so crew with gleaming Maserati's and a beautiful Mk 1 Escort Mexico. Let's hope they stay beautiful. 105 teams or so and we are still, 'apparently' the only British contingent . It is a long way from The Bell in Ticehurst and a long way from Rosie, Hunter and Sienna.

Huge thanks to Gary at the Motor Sport Association for sorting my Competition B Licence .

Scrutineering and practice runs tomorrow, sorting left 3's from left 2's..missing pot-holes..

a note from F

Mexico. Were here. I’ll just do the car…. We went out for a drive today with R which was good. First thing that hit me was I had forgotten just how hot the Jag is. And that was in shorts and a T Shirt. It’s going to be much warmer in a Nomex race suite.. On the up side the intercom system is really good (we have head sets so we can talk when we don’t have helmets on). When you take them off its really loud. The car feels good but the engine needs work to sort the pinking issue which makes it really hard to drive. We’ll change the brake pads to a softer compound as although the brakes stop well they seem to lack feel. We have new disks being delivered to the hotel so we’ll change them as we’ll (if they arrive in time). I have a list of stuff to do but it’s all small stuff. I will be happy when the engine issues are sorted at the moment that’s my big worry.
-f

Getting Orginized

Nick and I recovered the car from the shipping company. I guess Keys are over rated here in Huatulco. The guys had to jump the fence and figure out a way to get into 2 more locked gates so we could get the Car out of the warehouse.

After a bit of a late wake up, Mr. Nick and I went to pick up the rest of the crew at the airport. F was on a 2nd flight about an hour after everyone else. We had a couple of pints and waited for F to land. Getting to know each other and a little bit of our backgrounds. Remember that F is the only person on the team of 6 that knows everyone else.

We got back to the hotel and sat around and started going over what needed to be done. Lots to do still and I already feel like we are out of time to get it all done. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like next week.

We had dinner at the hotel and the night finally ended later that anyone thought it would. But like the true professional that Mr. Nick is, up and ready to start working on the car.

Tricky and F took the Jag out for their first run this afternoon. Tomorrow, there will be lots of things to tune and bits to tweak. I am starting to feel like we are out of time already and the race is still days away.

More to come…
~El Guapo

pre-race preparations continue...

Mr. Nick and I found a beater of a Suburban to run as the support vehicle. Balding tires, check engine light blocking all odomitor functions- so we have know idea how far we were actually driving- No Maps, No Pesos, and spotty español skills at best we venture off on our road trip to get to ahead start on the race preparations here in Mexico.


After a short 16hour drive from Mexico City- Mr. Nick and I finally got to the starting point. We have a busy day getting the car here to the hotel and sorting out some last minute shopping for the bits we didn't ship. Hopefully we are done before the pool bar closes.

I took a few snaps on the road yesterday and will get them posted.



View Huatulco, Oaxaca in a larger map


~El Gaupo

making my way down south.

Just wanted to let you know that I should be in Mex tonight around midnight. Working on getting a movie edited so I can post something. See you all soon.

~el Guapo