California's Best hopes they all come home safely

Alfred Hitchcock has nothing on us...

Racing in Mexico is nothing short of an adventure, one that any race driver get's excited just thinking about let alone actually doing it. It seems there are far more obstacles there than almost anywhere else in the world. They have obstacles coming from the road, the side of the road, the middle of the road, hell even under the road, off-road and yes even from the air.

Remember back when I mentioned something about buzzards going thru windshields? Well, I wasn't kidding. It has happened on more than one occasion during the La Carrera Panamericana and keep in mind, you would have to be going like hell to connect with one of these big boys. If you have never had the privilege of seeing how big a vulture up close trust me, they are huge. In fact if Alfred Hitchcock were alive today he would be jealous as the thought of a Mexican vulture crashing thru a windshield of a high performance race car would send chills up even the bravest of the brave.

Back in 1952 The Carrera Panamericana soon lived up to its burgeoning reputation as a car-breaker, something the teams’ preparatory outings had also indicated. Nobody was more keenly aware of this than Kling and Klenk, who felt the full force of the rally’s destructive potential during the opening stage. Kling, thundering towards a long right-hand bend at 200 kilometres per hour, spotted the vultures lurking by the side of the road too late. One of them promptly took off, smacking into the windscreen of the 300 SL on its ascent. Co-driver Hans Klenk sustained an impact to the face and was briefly knocked unconscious. However, he reacted like a true professional: this was no time for peaceful convalescence – there was a race to be won. Klenk’s first words on coming to confirmed as much: ”Let’s get going, Karl!” And Karl Kling duly put his foot back down. Some 70 kilometres down the road, Klenk then used the opportunity presented by a tyre change to wash down his face, willing helpers picked the fragments of glass and bird from the car, and without further ado the pair were back on the road and heading for the stage finish in Oaxaca.

After completing the stage, Hans Klenk was given a quick once-over, passed fit and sent on his way with an encouraging ”vaya con Dios” [God be with you]. Clearly some form of protection was required in the event of a similar impact, and to this end, Kling and Klenk bolted eight vertical steel bars over the new windscreen. They also discussed the species and size of the dead bird, agreeing that it was a bird with a 115-centimetre wingspan and weighing as much as five fattened geese. If anything, the incident seemed to spur on Kling and Klenk, and with passing years it turned the victory and the Carrera Panamericana itself into the stuff of legend.

A driver can't help being concerned with the knowledge there are vultures already waiting along the path of this race!!!

How in the hell do I stop this thing?

As race car drivers we spend most of our time trying to find ways to go faster but as any great driver will tell you, "If you want to go fast, first you have to learn to go slow." I know it sounds crazy but it's a fact and if you want to be fast you have to learn how to go in at the correct speed and many times that begins with setting up at slower speeds so you can accelerate out faster than you came in.

Having talked to many drivers who have driven the La Carrera Panamericana the three most important things they talk about the most are brakes, brakes and brakes. Phil Hill told me, "If you think you have enough brake, get twice that much and still you will need to prepare by saying your prayers."

This car we are building will without any doubts be a very fast car with the ability to turn on a dime. Now it's time to make it stop on one as well. Unlike most racetracks, there is no safe run-off area or sand traps while racing on the La Carrera Panamericana. There are however plenty of cliffs, narrow roads with few or no guard rails, and just about every reason in the world why this is not a safe place to run a race. Needless to say brakes are now the key issue.

The major problem with getting great brakes is the fact that the rules require us to use 15 X 7 inch wheels. Anyone who races can tell you that with a 17 inch wheel you can install calipers large enough to stop the space shuttle from taking off however finding the ultimate brake setup for 15 inch rims is another story and took lots of research. After speaking with all the major players in the brake world some of which were actually the engineers whom design and build their brakes I finally found what I was looking for with CNC. They are setting us up with an awesome brake caliper set up that works so well that if I hit the brakes hard enough a spatula comes out, removes my navigator from the inside of the windshield and places him back in the seat.

Call me superstitious

Or even false belief, fear, apprehensive, credulous or afraid, I don't care. For years race car drivers have been superstitious. Show me a driver that says he isn't superstitious and I'll show you someone who doesn't really race cars. It can range from all sorts of little idiosyncrasies such as the order in which a driver gets dressed, the gloves he wears, not stepping on a crack or God knows what but we all have them. A few weeks ago my partner in crime and navigator called me to tell me he had just returned from dinner with his beautiful wife. I asked how dinner was but he all he wanted to tell me about was his fortune cookie. Afterwards he emailed me a photo of it I could only smile as I said to myself, "Yep, omens are a good thing."

There is an old saying that says, "A picture is worth a thousand words." In this case I couldn't agree more and this one says volumes.

Plant it here

For some, a place to hang your hat would be enough but for me, a place to put my butt seems more fulfilling and that's just what I found today. The seats arrived and we tried out a fitting. They sure made me feel at ease.

We'll take two tacos and a diet Coke Por Favor...

Today I was at Maier's Racing and had Bill build me an extra light rear trunk lid to match the hood. I also ordered a new Flaming River steering gear box which is extra fast and an original Shelby "quick steer" pitman arm and idler arm also for a faster handling suspension system.

While all this was going on Jon is taking care of ordering our new navigation/intercom system which will not only allow us to talk to each other but in fact stay in contact with our crew as well as have the capabilities to make phone calls. Ya never know, we may need to order up a few cold ones along the way. I wonder if they have drive thru taco joints down there? Can you imagine the look of their eyes when some race car come screaming up to the take-out window!

Best car chase scene of all time

Anyone who is an aficionado of automobile chase scenes will tell you this is one of the all time greats. But then again we all knew that the minute we saw it was a Mustang fastback. But if you want to have some fun, count how many times they pass the very same VW bug as they fly over the hills in my back yard, the streets of San Francisco.