Road Racing in Mexico!

KDF Racing has once again entered the Chihuahua Express rally, a three-day event based out of the city of Chihuahua in Mexico. Team principal and driver Paul Fruchbom and ace mechanic Ray Stephens, along with co-driver Tim Winker, will be taking on the challenge of the Mexican highways in a classic 1968 Porsche 911. The Chihuahua Express runs from April 19th through the 21st.

Fruchbom will drive the Porsche on the first two days, Stephens will drive on day three. Winker will be the co-driver for the entire event. All three have extensive motor sports experience.

The rally takes place on paved highways not far from Chihuahua. The competition road sections, called stages or "etapa", are closed to all other traffic until the rally cars have cleared the stage. In between are transit sections where the road remains open to regular traffic and where the rally teams must follow the traffic laws.

The route is described in a book provided to all competing teams, which gives the distance and severity of corners in the stages. The co-driver, who has an accurate odometer and clock mounted in front of him, reads the directions to the driver so that there are no surprises along the route.

Each day the rally route heads in a different direction to the mountains that surround Chihuahua. The stages make use of the twisting roads in order to limit top speeds and to allow drivers to test their skills. After running four to six stages, the teams take a break for lunch and to service the cars, then return to Chihuahua by the same road, running the same four to six stages in the opposite direction.