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Thread: Mexican Road Race
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05-26-2006 #1
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Mexican Road Race
Has anyone been here?
www.theunlimitedclass.com
La Carrera Panamericana, traditionally an event for historic cars, has been opened up to modern cars.
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05-26-2006 #2
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Open road racing in mexico sounds scary. It's bad enough doing baja in a truck with massive bumpers, huge tires etc. But in a car at 180mph.... I dunno about that one
05-26-2006 #3
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I've raced in the off-road events in Baja for many years on a bike, so.......... a road race in Mexico doesn't seem that spooky! They've got hot rod Lincolns and Studebakers down there that have been hitting 180 for the last ten years, so I can't imagine a Porsche or a Ferrari are going to change the picture very much. Hey, speaking of 180- sounds like maybe you have something that goes 180?!!
05-26-2006 #4
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180... is that all? 210 with the top off was easy
Originally Posted by Slider
shooting WAY beyond that 
I dunno, after going through some of the baja stuff, thats what scares me. Silver State is bad enough with the birds and what not, don't need to come around a corner at 200+ and find a cow in the road.
05-26-2006 #5
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Yeah I'm with you there. Cows at speed are not a good thing. I've run it pretty hard all my life and kind of go with the philosophy "when it's your time, it's your time". I was pre running in Baja one time and had a head on in a blind corner with a 2-seater Buggy going backwards on the course. I wadded my bike on the front of their car, took out the windshield and one of the "A" pillars with my body, and landed some distance off the road out in a rockpile. 3 days later I was racing (not without a few pain killers I must admit). Anyway.....I guess my point is that if you really enjoy whatever it is you are doing, the danger aspect is a non issue.
05-29-2006 #6
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Looks like a cool race. I saw Boxster hit a deer at 120-130 MPH yesterday at a race track in GA - it was ugly - especially for the deer. 180 MPH in a Stude or 50's Lincoln
2002 Z06 and 1999 FRC Corvette current track cars in NASA TT. 1978 Nova g-machine running the road with the weathered paint look...
05-29-2006 #7
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I don't think a deer would be much of a match for a 50's Lincoln at any speed. Maybe more like a hippopotamus.
05-29-2006 #8
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some day i plan to race in mexico.... once the camaro has the bugs worked out ill be there. I hear its smart to have a vehicle that can run on crappy gas? any one know any thing about this?
05-29-2006 #9
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I saw that guy posed with a porsche in some car rag the other day... he was walking with a cane and the porsche was beyond totalled.
05-29-2006 #10
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I've been playing down in Mexico and Baja all my life, and 15 years ago it was a bit touch and go with their fuel. The main problem being that "Premium" (92 octane) was not readily available everywhere. If all you could find was "Magna Sin" (86 octane), you better have some boost ready if you had any compression at all! Nowadays the Premium is pretty much everywhere, and I find it actually behaves better than the fuels we have in California here, as it doesn't have all the oxidizers and other BS to make it more environmentaly friendlier.
05-29-2006 #11
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Matt
Maybe he hit a cow. LOL
05-29-2006 #12
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so the 92 is better then all the other cat piss thats available down there? well thats good because my engine can run on that im sure
05-29-2006 #13
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Rob
I had a 9.5-1 smallblock chevy that made almost 600 horsepower on the dyno down there running on Pemex Premium with no problems at all. I know there is no lead in their fuels anymore, but the tailpipe would turn that beautiful light grey/orange just like if you were running race fuel. But yeah, it does stink.
05-30-2006 #14
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A local guy has done it two years in a row with a 53 Stude - in fact, he's the guy I bought my Stude from...... Anyway, from his account, some of the roads are on par / better than the US. Through some of the larger towns where they run all out the roads are 4-lanes paved w/ no crown. What an adventure though! Would love to put a car together to do it!
05-30-2006 #15
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my cars back under the knife getting some major change and i think it would be a good car for mexico. A black car must get hot down there though. better bring the gatorade
05-30-2006 #16
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does any body have any information on some proven setups that race? also what kind of medical attention do the drivers get if they wreck?
05-31-2006 #17
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The only rule that I know about is that you have to letter your blood type onto the side of the car next to your name. Here are a few pics of the Stude that was built locally usint our chassis with their suspension: Originally Posted by RobM
05-31-2006 #18
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Wow, now that's an engine set back. Do you just prey you don't have to pull the distributor?
05-31-2006 #19
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looks like fun, but 14.5K to enter???
WOW, I need to get a better day job!
05-31-2006 #20
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Hi guys, Bret H aller here from www.theunlimitedclass.com
I was looking through our web traffic and saw some coming from here so I decided to investigate! Nice site! Nice thread!
In response to some of the questions raised here (In no particular order)
Yes, We will be racing 20 modern production cars at La Carrera Panamericana this year.
Since this is not a straight line event, the speeds of the new cars should be roughly the same as the historic racers. (The top end ones, that is.)
Animals are not permitted on the race course! In all seriousness, the Mexican Highway Patrol does a great job of keeping the racing sections clear. They keep the spectators out of the apexes, etc.
Premium 92 fuel will be readily available. The reason that we are not permitting race fuel is that transporting so much of it the distance of the race is just not safe.
The roads that we race in the Speed sections are impeccable! Think of your favorite stretch of road, and imagine legally racing it. Because we run for seven days and through many different climates, your favorite stretch of road should be represented! You can use both lanes and get your race on!
Since this is the first year that we are running the new cars, there is no proven race set up. We are going to limit the amount of Porsches that enter, as we do not want a Porsche parade! Where one car may have an advantage in the hills, another may have one in the straights .. obviously!
Yes, Adrian who is pictured with his 800 hp 993 crashed that car. Broken back and foot. He did not have the 5 point harness completely tight at the time of impact. the 993 is now the size of a coffee table. He is working on a purpose built car right now for this years race!
In regard to Medical attention, La Carrera has doctors and ambulances along the course, obviously. Response time is very speedy. You also have the option of getting Air Medical insurance through a broker such as www.airmed.com . They will fly you anywhere in the world in medically staffed jets. It is a quite affordable service. (250 a year for personal insurance- I would recommend a service such as this for any seasoned traveller, let alone racer.
About the entry fee: The breakdown of our costs is on our website. The Unlimited Class is not making any profit from our drivers, our fees simply cover our insurance costs. Keep in mind that 5k US of every entry is going to the prize money, which will be awarded in daily increments and 50k to the overall winner. All of this is laid out in on our website. In future years we hope to have a sponsor take over the prize money burden.
I hope this helps! Feel free to ask more questions, that is what we are here for!
Here are some great video links that we have found of the Historic Races to give you a feel for what the Unlimited Class will be all about!
La Carrera Panamericana 2005: 50 Minute French TV Special by Jack Febus
http://tinyurl.com/pycxw
Gary Bayless piloting a beautiful Porsche 904 in the 2003 La Carrera Panamericana. Camera view is in car for this time trial section. (Skip to 3:00 - focus improves @ 3:02)
http://tinyurl.com/pnp6v
Kevin Ward (of The Unlimited Class) driving La Carrera in 1995:
http://tinyurl.com/rsadw
http://tinyurl.com/rrdbx
All the best, I hope to see some of you racing with us in Mexico!
Bret
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