South to Old Mexico

Time to head south of the border for a little car racing adventure. The 2013 La Carrera Panamericana is already upon us. I know I said last year was my last but, well, I lied. Dad talked me into another year because it’s really simple – life is short and this is a tremendous experience so GIDDY UP!

Those of you who’ve followed along with us before know what to expect – the unexpected. If this is your first time following along, hang on – it’s a wild ride!

Dad and I head south tomorrow to Veracruz, meet the cars and our fellow racing friends, the cars go through a technical inspection Tuesday and Wednesday, pre-qualification is Thursday and the official first day of racing is Friday. 7 days and 7 different cities across central Mexico to the finish line in Zacatecas.

Here is our 2013 “hero card.” Each team has these cards made to hand out to the enthusiastic race fans along the way. I’m not joking about being enthusiastic – we sign the cards (or shirts/hats/babies) at each stop. The racers are treated like rockstars and some fans go crazy for an autograph and a photo with a racer. It’s a rough task but someone’s got to do it! When else are we going to be treated like rockstars?

Our goal is the same as last year: run a smooth, safe race, have fun and make it to the party in Zacatecas. I struggle to put into words the experience of La Carrera Panamericana. We will experience ever human emotion from the highest highs to some low lows…each day for 7 days. Racers who were once strangers are now as close as family and we all support one another as we forge on through this marathon together.

Despite facing a few challenges last year (some power steering issues, a lost iPhone, some very bad accidents and one fatal, losing a harmonic balancer) we finished in the top place for our class! We compete in Original PanAm – cars that would have run in the original years of the race (early 1950s). This was quite an accomplishment as we battled back and forth with legendary Dutch F1 driver, Gys Van Lennep.

What is this event? It is NOT the Baja 1000. You can read history of La Carrera Panamericana {aqui}. Racers from across the globe come to Mexico to compete in this historic event. This will be Dad’s 7 time racing and my 4^th time navigating for him. We are again in the ol’ gal – 1954 Ford Victoria. This is the 26^th anniversary of the modern race.

I think everyone brave enough to brave La Carrera is a rockstar in his/her own right but there is an additional truly famous driver this year in Memo Rojas, Jr. He is a professional Mexican race car driver who is 4-time series champion in the Rolex Car Series and a 3-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona. Memo was the voice of the latino race car in Cars 2. His car is not in our class but he’s sure to be a top contender.

I will do my best to post here daily but as you know from past years, that sometimes is a tall order. Keep up with other teams:

Kristin Stewart: funksterwtf.blogspot

Marcia’s http://roadrallyrhythms.com/ that will feature photos from Rene Ranchilonga Ortega.
Martin's El Taxi Perdido

We are very grateful to our generous sponsors:

Road and Track Magazine

Baja Bound Insurance

Fortaleza Tequila

Calderon Tires, Santa Maria

Dad and I are dedicating our race this year to the memory of Vannessa Ramirez, the daughter of Jo Ramirez. Jo will not be racing this year but we want to recognize his loss and send him our support. Jo has been a very kind friend to us on our previous Pana years. Jo has many ties to Formula 1 racing, including many years as coorinator of the McLaren team. If you would like to read an insight into Formula 1 racing and this very sweet man, Jo Ramirez: Memoirs of a Racing Man is a wonderful read.

Dad and me with Jo at last year's finish in Zacatecas.

Vaya con dios, amigos. No sleep 'til Zacatecas!