Monday 22 October 2012

Day Three Puebla to Queretaro

After surviving our red eye cattle car flight on an unmentioned airline from Bay Area, Milena and I arrived at the Leon airport at 6am, sadly without Brenda, Taz's mom.
We got through customs without much incident, Milena got the green light and I got the red light after pushing the button, which meant my bags got a little extra attention.
Our reserved rental car was waiting for us outside...a Hyundai I10! Picture a Smart Car holding its breath with wheels that look like new spares.
After much back and forth with the various rental companies, we managed to get into a safer car for following this kind of event, a Nissan TIDA. Hardly any power but not snack material for the double trailer trucks all over the carreterras! After a well deserved cat nap, we headed for the zocolo to see the cars come thru the arch...



Gabriel Pérez and Ignacio Rodríguez arrive in first place in Studebaker.



Emilio Velázquez and Elizabeth Tejada arrive in second overall in a Studebaker.



Doug Mockett and Angelica Fuentes arrive in third place in an Olds.



Taz Harvey and Rudy Vajdak arrive in eighth place overall in a Datsun 510.



Everyone's favorite, Jo Ramirez, is first in Historic A class in a Volvo.



Historical center of Querétaro has several amazing backdrops for photographing cars... And friends.




The news of the day began swirling around all conversations in the square about a five car pile up. After sifting through many recountings, here is what seems to have happened...
Paul Hladky and Adrian Gerrit in a Studebaker lost it on a corner and stopped , when a Porsche hit them and pushed themabout a off the road on the hill. They were fine, until another Porsche lost it and hit the first Porsche, who hit the Studebaker and stuffed it down the rest of this small hill you see below.
But then, the story gets crazier. An Alfa driven by Trevor Pettennude and Joshua Finkleman spins out at the same turn and stops, both driver and navigator get out just in time to have a Mercedes lose it and hit their car, bringing the car collection at the bottom of the hill to a ridiculous toll of FIVE cars!




Incredibly, everyone is fine, only one broken ankle to report.


Huge thanks to Pepe Gonzales at Keiphoto for the photos of the car collection. Check out his amazing coverage on Facebook at Keiphoto, and on Twitter @keiphotoMX.



The evening drivers meeting took place in the historic Art Museum in Querétaro and included a poignant speech by former F1 driver Jochen Mass, suggesting that drivers who are going into a turn MUST look for the next turn and be prepared for it. "Senseless driving wins you nothing but bills. Take it easy."
Organizers stressed that the police are getting increasingly frustrated with the event due to all the accidents. There is an underlying fear that this event's days may be numbered.



Historic A plus awards ceremony: First place to Taz Harvey and Rudy Vajdak the Datsun 510, Second place to Martin Lauber and Mark Colbert in THE Alfa Taxi, and Third place to Roberto Servalli and Diego Berhard in a BMW.

Day four tomorrow, Mil Cumbres!!!! One thousand turns! ¡Suerte!

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