El Taxi Perdido's Blog

We just finished Day 4 in the fantastic town of Morelia. This place is very special with an aquaducto that runs about a mile and a half bordering the Historic town center. Our hotel is right on the main square and it couldn’t be nicer. Except – that I’m exhausted and all I can do it fall on the bed and sleep. But I must not do so or we’ll miss the awards ceremony for today’s speed stages. And speaking of awards, our results from Day 3 netted us a 2nd in Class as we lost out by several seconds (11 or so) to Taz Harvey in his super quick Datsun 510. His car is great and he and his co driver, Rudy are really nice guys. We beat them in some sections yesterday but Taz was considerably faster on the track section of at Queretero. Not surprising given that he raced World Speed Challenge for 8 years! But I’m not making excuses, he won the day fair and square and it couldn’t have happened to a nicer couple of guys. As a result of placing 1st in class he stared the day in 9th position overall and we started in 11th. It was a lot of fun having two, small, foreign, econoboxe, four cylinders up there with the big V8 boys. We had a great day and although Taz was faster off the line each time, Conrad drove one hell of a day and when they announce the winners of today’s sections, I think we might have edged him out by a hair. That will keep us in first place for our class as we currently lead by about two minutes, thirty seconds in our class and we’re running 11th  overall out of over 125 cars. Tomorrow, I drive and we start the day at the Morelia racetrack or Autodromo as they call it. This will be tough since all we don’t get any practice. Just three fast laps and off. That’s why I’m hitting Google maps and/or YouTube right after this to see if I can do a little virtual drive practice.

I’ll post again later tonight with the official results from today after the awards ceremony.

Well, today was my turn to drive again and as luck would have it we had a small mechanical issue. That, and they canceled three of the speed stages due to dangerous conditions. In fact, three cars went off the road and a fourth burned up in the middle of it. (no one seriously injured) We, however stayed on the road and only had some cracks in the headers that caused an exhaust leak. And that leads me to the reason for this post; to tell you about how Conrad and Bill are at this very moment welding the offending headers in a hotel garage with a borrowed welder and using a borrowed Alfa motor as a jig. They are amazing! And in case you think I’m not helping, let me assure you that I found the welder, the spare motor and a way to get that motor from its trailer to our garage spot (the bellman was not happy with me for stealing his luggage cart for two hours). Anyway, we had a good day all in all, some fast times and hopefully we’ll be on the podium again tonight. Stay tuned.

Just a quick post as we wait to race down a mountain we just raced up. All 128 cars must complete the first leg so we’re all cued up in the middle of this cobblestone street in a quaint little mountain town called Mineral de Chico, named after the small but prosperous silver mine that uses to fill the dinning rooms of the rich and posh in Spain. I think. Sounds good, right?

So we just finished Dia 2. Oaxaca to Puebla. It was a great day. But before I get to that let me tell you about last nights awards ceremony in case the late night post didn’t go through.
We took First in Class and finished the day 12th overall. Not bad for the first day! Conrad did a great job calling the corners and, while I scared him a few times, my driving was pretty solid. Not to brag but it’s not everyday you finish ahead of Jochen Mass, former F1 driver and European Hill Climb Champion.
Now on to a recap of today. Conrad drove today and I called the corners. He did a fantastic job despite my losing my place a few times – as in – “Martin, is this a left or a right coming up!?”. Thank goodness for Conrad’s quick reflexes and that there were only two choices.
We had fun signing autographs at the mid day welcoming party in Techuacan and then blasting 155 kilometers in under 45 minutes on our way to Puebla at the end of the day. Now I’m resting in the hotel and everyone is exhausted and a bit cranky so I’m laying low till tonight’s awards ceremony. Conrad doesn’t think we’ll win our class again but I think he’s just being modest. He kicked ass and I think we’re going to win again tonight. Stay tuned…

It’s 12:33 am. Just got back from the awards ceremony for day 2. Okay, the ceremony ended hours ago but the drinking didn’t.

Just wanted to let everyone know that Conrad drove us to our second First In Class. That makes two, and as one of our new Mexican friends said tonight; “You change de driver and you get de same result. That is consistency.” Nice going Conrad!

It’s 7:45pm. Just checking into the Hotel Victoria in Oaxaca Mexico. Today I drove and Conrad navigated. Tomorrow we will switch places. The driving went well and the performed flawlessly. Since we started 82th we passed slower cars in the Speed Stages so it made for some fun corners two wide!
We managed to stay accident free but several cars were in the side of the road or on their sides on the road. No one was hurt, thank goodness.
Our crew led by Christine and completed by Bill, was awesome. When we arrived at the lunch Service Stop they were waiting for us with tacos, waters and smiles. A few little teaks to the car and we were on our way again!
The day ended with a police motorcycle escort into Oaxaca’s gorgeous old centro. There we were met by huge crowds and well wishers.
Now I need a shower.
Later tonight, we’ll attend the awards ceremony to see how we placed in our class. Wish us luck!

It’s quarter to 11 and I’m about to “try” and sleep. I say try, because I don’t expect to get much. I’m that excited. Tomorrow is the big start of our seven day race. We line up in qualifying order at the Starting Arch in downtown Tuxla at 7am and every thirty seconds another car leaves the Arch. We qualified 82nd out of 125 cars so we’re quite a ways back there but hope to be in the top 30 by the end of tomorrow. The qualifying today was at a race track and either we drove one too many laps or the officials counted one too many laps because our times and several of the other competitors times were quite slow which put us way back in the qualifying. Not sure how that happened but it’s really just a formality. We’ll start 82nd and hopefully our times will put us up higher by the start of the second day.

The car is running quite well and handles great. Conrad was quick on the track today in qualifying and our position does NOT reflect his effort or ability. Again, I think it’s a glitch in the timing…already.

Anyhow, got to get some sleep. Wish us luck and look for an exciting post tomorrow night.

Saludos!

Its, 8:15 am on Wed. Waiting for the others to join me for breakfast so ill do a quick post.
Yesterday we got the car through tech inspection after a few bumps in the road (metaphorically speaking). They had three issues with our car; 1) we were missing a second fire bottle, 3) we were missing red flags in the trunk and lastly, our race seats were “loose” according to them. In reality they were not loose but rather they are adjustable. The flags and the fire bottle required a quick trip to AutoZone. This last situation required an official liability waiver signed by yours truly. When the waiver turned out to be a hand written note on a piece of binder paper, I thought of all the lawyers ( hi John Anderson) I’ve known over the years and how they’d howl at this legal security blanket. Anyhow, my simple signature and problem solved. But Wait! One last tech issue – Conrad’s suit is too old (according to them) so he was told to borrow or buy a new one. A quick trip to paddock to beg borrow and/or steal and we had a spare suit for Conrad. Photo to follow. Let’s just say that it’s the flashiest suit he’s ever seen.
Tech completed we turned our attention to more pressing matters like getting the car’s nose painted.
Oh yes, and Tech Inspection included a brief physical exam for both of us. Turns we identical blood pressure. Go figure!
We ended the day with dinner at the loudest restaurant on earth. But the food and entertainment were great. And so was the company as we were joined by my favorite aunt and uncle, Irma and Siegfried Kohler all the way from Salama Guatemala. They drove here just to see us off on Fri.

So yesterday, at 10pm we arrived in Tuxla after a 650 mile haul from San Miguel de Allende. I drove most of the way by myself in the Taxi while Conrad and Christine drove the mini van and worried for my safety and sanity. The road we took from Vera Cruz to Tuxla has been hammered by tropical storms for the last several weeks and, well let’s just that it was so bad in places that my iPod skipped.
But arrived safely and spent today getting set up in what called the Park Ferme. I think it means closed or secure parking area. Basically it’s where all the race cars will be staged for a few days. We were early so we got a prime spot along side our friend Bob Jett and Bob Paltrow – The Bobs. They have a beautiful Alfa Spider Veloce awesomely prepared by Andy Funk from Connecticut.
Today, we fixed the fuel vapor issue, hooked up all the electronic time and distant equip and realized that the car was overheating because our fan was blowing in the wrong direction. Conrad graciously left that rather obvious mistake rather obviously out in the open so that I’d have something to discover and thus feel like I was helping.
Tonight we had a great dinner and then met up with some friends from last year including Angelica Fuentes who is Doug Mockett’s co driver. They are so good and competitive that they pre running all of the speed sections in a rental car (hopefully not from Thrifty) and writing their own route book. Wow!
They’re a favorite to win and we’re happy to ply her with rum and coke (the liquids) and steal any trade secrets. Just kidding, Angelica and Doug are great competitors wonderful people. They offer advice freely and it’s always spot on.
Tomorrow we go through tech inspection and await the arrival of out teammate Bill Mertz and my aunt and uncle who are driving up from Guatemala to watch the race start.