Carreras
News –
UPDATE
June 24,
2013
--ROAD AMERICA
PAN-AM EVENT SCRATCHED
--DATES FOR
CHIHUAHUA ANNOUNCED, APRIL 4-6, 2014
--CARRERAS
FIESTA, CALIFORNIA NORTE, AUGUST 17
--PAN AM ROUTE
-- UNCHANGED
--PAN AM RULES
POSTED—UNCHANGED?
--COYOTE
CONVOY
--PAN AM TOUR
ANNOUNCED
--LEGAL
--CONTACT
INFO
--ROAD AMERICA
PAN-AM REUNION SCRATCHED
Our efforts to
get a group of Pan Am cars to show up at “The Hawk with Brian Redman” at Road
America on July 18-21 did not succeed, primarily because the invitation was issued too
late. Too many Pan Am cars are still in
pieces, being slowly put back together for the Big Show in
October.
However, another
attempt will be made next year to attract these cars to Road America, so
consider this the initial invitation.
By the end of the summer, detailed plans will be available. It would be great to see a dozen of the Pan
Am cars running this magnificent track in Elkhart Lake,
Wisconsin.
**DATES FOR
CHIHUAHUA ANNOUNCED, APRIL 4-6, 2014
The dates for
next year’s Express have been tentatively set for April 4-6. Registration will be April 2-3 and the
qualifying run will be April 3.
**CARRERAS
FIESTA, AUGUST 17
For those who
plan to attend the Historic races in Monterey this summer, remember to join us
at the Carreras Fiesta on Saturday night, August 17. We usually have over a hundred people show up
for these events and a dozen or so Pan Am cars or other interesting “rides.”
The show starts around 5:00 PM and
continues into the evening.
**PAN AM
ROUTE
As announced
previously, the overnight stops in October will be:
Veracruz
Oaxaca
Mexico City
Queretaro
Morelia
Guanajuato
Aguascalientes
Zacatecas
It seems that we
will run a speed stage or two in the foothills of the mountains in Veracruz and
stop for a mid-morning service in the city of Orizaba, before heading up on the
central plateau toward Tehuacán and Oaxaca.
It seems that we
will not run the stage to San Joaquín, where five cars went into the ravine last
year. Instead, reportedly, we will run
two laps around the Bernal area.
**PAN AM
RULES
The rules for
the 2013 Pan Am are posted on the official web site at http://lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx/index.php/participa/reglas.
The rules for
the cars seem identical to last year.
Competitors should take the time to review them, just in case I missed
something.
New cars or cars
that have never been inspected at the Pan Am should apply for pre-approval by
sending in a complete technical description, plus photos, including photos of
the roll cage.
**PAM AM
ENTRIES
As of this past
weekend, 75 entries were posted on the official web site, an increase of
four. Unfortunately, two North American
entries had to withdraw leaving us with 29 entries from the U.S. and
Canada.
Turismo
Production (8)
Turismo Mayor
(8)
Sports Minor
(5)
Sports Mayor
(2)
Historic A
(5)
Historic A+
(9)
Historic B
(9)
Historic C
(24)
Original Pam Am
(3)
Exhibition
(3)
All three
Original Pan Am cars are from the U.S. and Canada:
David Buchanan
and Raffi Najjarian will be back in their Chrysler, along with Christian
Reichardt and Daniel Roche (Canada) in their Hot Rod Lincoln. And the returning champions of OPA, Carson
Scheller and his beautiful daughter-copilot, Lauren Scheller will be driving
their ’54 Ford.
Clearly more
cars are needed in OPA. To encourage
more participation, the Organizers agreed that cars that did not come from the
factory with manual transmissions, like ’54 Chryslers, Lincolns, and
Oldsmobiles, could install a three or four speed transmission from the era. The event is simply too hard, it seems, on
automatic transmissions. However, this
rule change and another allowing one ‘30’s street rod in Turismo Mayor with a
305 c.i. engine seem to be absent thus far from what has been posted.
There may be a
category for street rods next year.
Maybe the spirit of Ak Miller’s Iron Horse, the famous “special” of
1953-1954, will be revived.
The exhibition
cars include a modern V8 BMW M3 and two 911s.
Go figure.
Want to
participate this year? Rent a
Falcon from Mats Hammarlund Racing mats@mhracing.com.mx or Euro-Latino Racing heyermatthias@gmail.com in San Miguel de
Allende. They may also have cars for
sale.
**COYOTE
CONVOY
As announced
last month, the 12th annual Coyote Convoy will congregate in Laredo, Texas on
Friday, October 18, 6:30 PM, at the Residence Inn del Mar, and cross the border the
next morning for the 560 mile trip to San Miguel de Allende. It will spend two nights in San Miguel,
before going on to Veracruz on Monday, October 21. A party and car show are planned for the two
days in San Miguel.
**PAN AM
TOUR
Rosa Mondragón,
the former public relations person for the Pan Am, is offering another Pan Am
Tour this year. Rosa has a lot of
experience helping family and friends of the racers, and others, such as
photographers, get close to the action, as they follow the Pan Am across
Mexico.
**LEGAL FINE
PRINT
You
all know by now that road-racing in Mexico can be deadly, dangerous, and
addictive. Furthermore, I should point
out that CARRERAS NEWS is a spasmodic, idiosyncratic publication that does not represent the
official views of the organizers of the Pan Am, Chihuahua Express, or any other
event.
**CONTACT
INFO
Gerie Bledsoe, North American Coordinator
La
Carrera Panamericana and Chihuahua Express
USPO
address: 220 N. Zapata Hwy Ste
11
PMB 68B
Laredo, TX 78043
1-650-525-9190--Home
office, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
1-224-999-7292--Home
office, Evanston, Illinois-mid-July-mid-September
1-650-867-9488
(mobile, only in US)
Number
in Mexico +52-415-185-8470
Email: gbledso@aol.com
Carrera
HQ, Mexico City 1-310-860-6959 (dial as a U.S. number)
Email
general info and registration: gaby@lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx
For entry fee and hotels: monica.grossmann@yahoo.com.mx
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