A LOT Of Unhappy Campers

I recieved a letter from one of my very good friends who I shall leave nameless for obvious reasons. But I will say he is a very good piloto and one I respect very much. In fact he told me I could use his name but a lot of what he is writing is the way MANY teams and fans feel.



Gary

Yesterday La Carrera arrived at my hometown Queretaro. So of course I went to say hello at the arrival.

I can report to you and your blog followers that your frustration of not knowing the daily results is shared by all crews I talked with.

One USA pilot with a lot of Carrera experience told me that every year he knows the organization will not be the best but this year is by far the worst. Namely it looks like the organizers implemented a new electronic system for the timing. However “either the system does not work or they do not know how to use it”. He ended our conversation saying that he was now considering not returning next year…

A top Historic C crew was telling me that from Oaxaca to Puebla they had a pretty good run. Nonetheless yesterday they found themselves in place ninthly something because in every stage they were assigned the maximum time like if they hadn’t run the day.

Another crew told me that the organizers ran out of morning cards in Oaxaca (the ones provided to each copilot every morning for the time control). So they were told to “fabricate their own with a blank piece of paper”. They did and ran the day. However yesterday, coming out from Puebla, they were told that their starting place was at the back because the organization didn’t have their times. So they asked how that was possible and were told “don’t worry… you are not the only ones with this problem” (!!?) This kind of things made some furious. A Mexican crew was so fed up with things that actually were quitting and going back home. “This is not free you know. We paid 81,000 pesos as entry fee and for that money we expect at least to know how we did!”

Some went from being upset to trying to make the best out of it and I heard a lot of jokes about the situation: “Be careful with this guy! He is a wizard! He didn’t run 2 stages yesterday and nonetheless he was 2 minutes faster that us!!!”

Some were suspicious that the only ones not having any issues with the timing system were the well known/famous pilots and some celebrities. Some body told me, for example, that the 1st day was officially won by Jorge Pedrero (any one that knows Pedrero and his car will not doubt that). However the Jerry Churchill prize to the fastest car of the day was given to Rovanpera and when somebody asked how was that possible if Pedrero was faster he was told that “that’s how things are”.



And I agree. After being involved in La Carrera since 1994 and with 8 races under my belt I can confirm that “that’s how things are”. Pity.