In the 29th year of the long-distance race through Mexico, Porsche was dominating the starting field of 71 cars with 18 historical sports cars. On the last day, the drivers were looking forward to the crowning leg of the race.
Eight 356s, seven 911s, a 912, a 914 and an RSR are competing in the motors-marathon spanning seven days and 3700 kilometres. As usual, the pilots focused on only one thing from the very beginning: speed! On the road from Queretaro (located 200 kilometres northeast of Mexico City) to Puebla in the Sierra Nevada, the race drivers completed seven very demanding and extremely curvy speed-legs and mastered a transit route of over 527 kilometres. All in all, the first race day took the drivers through 635 kilometres of mountains and jungle. Depending on the altitude, temperatures varied between ten and 30 degrees. The visual highlight of the day: The view of the 5426 meter high volcano Popocatepetl outside of Pueblas.
Several race cars strayed from the road, grazed the rock face or overturned. However, there were no serious injuries thanks to the high security standards with roll cages and nets – and the teams’ many mechanics will probably be able to fix most of the mechanical, material and car damages overnight.
German Carrera-debutante Frauke Feess, 41, who is on the road in the yellow Porsche 356 B with her pilot Christian Jäger, 53, is full of enthusiasm: “The Carrera is just the way I dreamed it to be: There are great people here and I love the spirit. I am having lots of fun and I think that the roadbook and I are getting along splendidly.” Pilot Jäger smiles. He knows that there are many more challenges still coming up for the two of them and their 53-year-old sports car. This is his third Carrera adventure. And this time, he wants to finish to the front of his category (Sport Menor). His biggest rivals: the other 356s.