Another Very Exciting Battle in Original PaAm

One of the battles I have been really enjoying is between my good friend Carson Scheller and F1 driver Jan Lammers.

We first met Carson during the 2007 La Carrera Panamericana and have been friends ever since and have stayed in touch as well as seeing each other once in a while at various get-togethers. Besides the likable personality another reason I like Carson so much is when he races he's there to win come hell or high water. Gotta like a guy with that attitude.



One of the drivers who is trying to teach Carson how it's done is Jan Lammers. Here's a small piece of Jan's resume... He participated in 41 Formula One Grand Prix races, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1988 and is the seatholder of the Dutch A1 Grand Prix team. After winning the 1978 European Formula 3 Championship he
began his F1 career. In 1982 he tried IndyCar racing before turning to sports car racing. In 1988, Lammers, together with Andy Wallace and Johnny Dumfries, wrote history at Le Mans. In a Jaguar he drove 13 out of the 24 hours, and beat the Porsche team who had remained unbeaten since 1982. Lammers and the team managed to finish first despite a broken gearbox. It was the first victory for Jaguar since 1957. For this feat he received the title Honorary Member of the BRDC a title rarely awarded to non-British residents. Enzo Ferrari and Juan Manuel Fangio have also received the award. In 1990 Lammers won the 24 Hours of Daytona driving a Jaguar XJR-12 along with Davy Jones and Andy Wallace.




The next time you read where someone has written that the La Carrera Panamericana is just a bunch of fat old CEO types do me a favor and send me a note so I can contact them.

Anyway, here's Carson driving his beautiful Ford Victoria #433 and co piloted by Shields Richardson battling against world class Formula One driver Jan Lammers in a beautiful, nibble footed #405 Porsche and a battle it's been. Jan has taken 1st in class numerous days but as any good endurance racer knows it's all about consistency and consistency has been Carson's middle name for the last 6 days. All he has to do tomorrow is maintain. Take care of his car, don't be stupid and make mistakes and pray there are no donkys and he'll bring home 1st place.


Oh by the way, did I mention that Lammers co-piloto is a rockstar and has been to stunt driving school among other things? No kidding. (I wonder what Shields has done lately? LOL)

Women of La Carerra Panamericana

A lot of men have been immortalized since the beginning of La Carrera Panamericana but it's equally important to remember there have been some amazing women pilotos and co-pilotos as well. I stand in awe of those women as well as the ones I have had the privilege of racing with in La Carrera Panamericana. I will be posting some stories about these amazing women and the teams they competed with and to get things started here are some interesting facts about the first women to drive in La Carrera Panamericana.

Her name is Jacqueline Evans de Lopez an English-born film actress who had married a Mexican and became a well known Mexican actress, often playing gringas in Spanish language Mexican films and soaps including a career spiced with the occasional Hollywood outing. She is also remembered for her help in establishing and funding the archive of Mexican and foreign magazines and newspapers, "La Torre del Papel" in Mexico City. Jacqueline died in Acapulco in 1989.

In the early '50's, Porsche's reputation for reliability in racing hadn't yet been established. By the end of 1952, about 2,740 cars had been built; only about six percent of them had made it to the U.S., primarily to the sports car-rich Northeast and to car-crazy California. Porsche owners reasoned that if a Porsche could beat a Cadillac it most certainly could do the same for a longer distance, like La Carrera Panamericana.
















By 1952, the annual event had been placed on the international racing calendar and had captured the attention of some very fast factories and it was also the year Porsche made its first appearance in Mexico. In 1953 Porsche which was barely five years old but busy building a reputation. They had won their class at both Le Mans and the Millie Miglia in 1952 so Porsche wanted to make an all out attack on a victory at La Carrera Panamericana and so they sent ten Porsches to La Carrera Panamericana in 1953. It was this year that Jacqueline Evans de Lopez would make her fourth attempt to finish Carrera in her personal coupe unfunded by as where the factory Porsches. Unable to complete any of the races she was given the nickname Jacqueline "did not finish" Evans de Lopez.

It is said, only the strong could survive La Carrera Panamericana but in this writer's opinion she was as strong as they come. I can only imagine what determination and guts it must have taken a woman competing against men in that day and age must have been like let alone coming back four years in a row. Partially because of the stubbornness, courage and perseverance of Jacqueline Evans de Lopez, Porsche commemorated it's wins and rightfully gave the name Porsche Carrera to honor their success in La Carrera Panamericana.

As seen in the photo of a commemorative model of Jacquelene's 1954 Porsche below, Jacquelene dedicated the race to Eva Peron by having Eva's face painted on the hood of her car. On the subject of women, talk about an interesting lady.... check out Eva Peron's bio.




Be sure to check out the interview with the beautiful Angelica Fuentes who co-piloted Doug Mockett in 2007 in our up-coming HD DVD.