Day 1 - Getting acquanted

We survived Day 1, the run to Madera and back. The first and last of the 10 stages were 35 Km long (same road up and back). It appears that we are first place in the Historic B Class after the other three (or four?) cars in the class suffered problems. There is one other Porsche that has posted faster stage times, but we think they have picked up some lateness penalties.

Race cars lined up prior to the start of Stage 1.

 As we left Chihuahua on the transit we encountered the first dropout of the day. The Flog-It team's Dodge Dart hit a high curb after the quik-release on the removable steering wheel failed and it came off in the driver's hands. The frame and front suspension were damaged and they were done for the weekend.

We were about 20 minutes early for our check-in time at the first stage so we got out to stretch for a few minutes; it would be the last chance we had before the lunch break. That was where we had our first moment of panic. As Tim was putting on his helmet and HANS, he lost his glasses. It took a few minutes to locate them as they had fallen on the ground, but we were still in the car in plenty of time.

The route book for Chihuahua Express is a bit different in that nearly every turn is given. The instructions are similar to organizer supplied stage notes on U.S. rallies, but the numbering system is the opposite. Turns are graded by a scale of 0 to 4. There are actually a couple of others which are barely curves, "flat" and "full", then a bit of a turn is 0. A 2 is about 45 degrees, a 3 is 90 degrees, and a 4 is any acute turn. In addition, there are the terms "short" and "long" to give an idea of how long the turn lasts. As a result the co-driver is constantly busy calling out turns and crests. On the downside, not every slight turn is included so the driver may be looking at a left bend when the next instruction is a Right 3. As a result, it is necessary to maintain a bit of caution in following the instructions.

The beginning of the first stage.

A couple more cars were out on the first stage. A yellow Porsche 911 hit an embankment, and Taz Harvey's Datsun 510 suffered a failure of the clutch slave cylinder. The Plymouth Barracuda dropped out after a couple of stages with transmission linkage and clutch problems. Another 911, a silver one, was reported to have not finished all of the stages on Friday, but will start Saturday's stages.

Tim passes out Hero Cards in Madera

The next four stages were on twisty roads, though not quite as tight at stage 1, each about 10 Km in length.

We made it to Madera for a 40 minute service and lunch. As soon as we were out of the car we were surrounded by kids begging for "fotos". Tim had foreseen this and had hero cards printed. Over a hundred were passed out in a matter of minutes.

Back on the road the same way we came in, doing the same five stages in reverse direction.