Carrera Panamericana

The 37th revival of the famous Carrera Panamericana took place on 11-17 October, following a 3,352-kilometre route that included 540kms of timed stages, from Oaxaca, the cultural heart of Mexico, to San Luis Potosi via Veracruz, Mexico City, Querétaro, Michoacán, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes.  

After the shakedown stage, where first-day running order is determined, five-time winner, Ricardo Cordero started at the head of the caravan, followed by Benito Guerra, and last year’s winner, Hilaire Damirón, all three in Studebakers.

Fastest on all six of the day’s stages, Cordero and co-driver Marco Hernandez took control on day 1 to take a lead they would never lose over the seven days.  In fact, the three Studebakers, of Cordero, Damiron and Emilio Velazquez/Jorge Bernal were to dominate each day’s leaderboard to the final victory arch, most days separated by mere seconds once Guerra had dropped down the order with various mechanical problems in one of the most closely fought Panams in recent years.

Hilaire and his navigator wife Laura Damirón had to settle for second place, while Emilio Velázquez and Jorge Bernal continued the fight to the end, but finally finished in third. 

A highlight for the drivers came on the second day when the cars rolled in to the centre of Mexico City and parked up at  the Palace of Fine Arts to a rapturous welcome by the local population, who treated the drivers like pop stars, asking for autographs and selfies.  A similar atmosphere was experienced in the main square of Tehuacán, Puebla, where entire families, with children, parents and grandparents organised parties in celebration of the race. 

Many of the stages were run more than once, and on day 4, on the road from Morelia to  Michoacán, the famous Mil Cumbres stage, one of the most thrilling stages in all rallydom, was run no fewer than six times!   There were also some new stages this year.

The rally finished in the city of San Luis Potosí from which Cordero hails.  As the Studebaker crossed the finishing arch, the entire city erupted in celebration, knowing that one of their own had made history by becoming the first Mexican to win this challenging event six times, only one victory short of the legendary Frenchman Pierre de Thoisy.