Race Report from the QuickSilver Porsche 914 Racing in La Carrera Panamericana

Sarah Bennett-Baggs, QuickSilver's social media guru has just returned from her adventure in Mexico and files this report:

La Carrera Panamericana has been a monumental adventure for me. As my first trip to Mexico I was apprehensive, and not helped when asked if I would be, 'packing heat' - not funny!

In fact I found Mexico a fabulous country. The scenery was breathtaking and the locals were friendly and welcoming, even the Police were great.

My partner in the car was Motorsport Journalist, Johnny Tipler (nicknamed 'El Pelon' by the locals) who proved to be a safe pair of hands behind the wheel. With me calling the corners and working the maps we were quite a pair.

Our Porsche 914 was provided by PanAm Motorsport out of San Francisco and managed by Bill Hemmer, whose team worked brilliantly to get us to the finish.

The pre-event briefing reminded everyone that 50% of all Carrera accidents happen in the first day and usually the first 3 speed sections. Sure enough, these first sections were fast, twisty, technical roads with lots of crashes. We saw Porsches backed into cliffs, a car up side down in the ditch, several bad incidents.

We were the 95th starter out of 120 -  at the back of a large group of 1950's & 60's American Iron. The sound of our little Porsche dwarfed by this V8 brigade's muscle.

Our Porsche's handling proved ideal for the twisty mountain sections of Mil Cumbres but in the towns the roads were punishing. Cobbled streets, huge potholes and monster tope (speed bumps) were literally trying to shake the Porsche to pieces. Searing temperatures and the constant change in altitude effect the car & driver’s performance, power outputs and tyre grip.

The race covered 1800 miles in 7 solid days driving. It included 50 speed stages covering nearly 500 miles and passed through 8 beautiful cities.

We eventually finished in 95th place – the Porsche 914 limped it's way home in exactly the same place we started. Many of the competitors return year after year to compete and I can see why. The opportunity to drive flat out, uninhibited on empty roads with banked; sweeping curves is a refreshing change in this day and age.

The big finale on the last day was an epic celebration. Most of the population of Zacatecas came to cheer the cars into the city with all finishers posing under the arch for photos and autographs before the party unfolded. The Teams were all treated to a parade through the streets following the ‘burro’ (mule) and led by a brass band. The drivers were each given a small cup to be filled with Mescal carried by the donkey. Followed by dancing in the streets and then into a converted bullring for a huge celebration dinner and awards ceremony, helped along by tons of Tequila. What happened after that? No idea...

We met competitors from all over the globe; Belgium, Holland, Germany, USA, Canada, Sweden - united to share in their passion for driving adventure and competitive spirit. We have made friends for life and had some great fun with them along the way.

One of the high points was our police escort into Puebla - picking my hero policemen up after he fell off his Harley and him saying, 'Hey I'm OK, lets go!'

To win the Carrera you need to drive fast enough to push it to the edge, but not beyond. The LCP challenge deserves respect and comes with an emphatic health warning, that you may become addicted.

Look out for Johnny's account of the race in forthcoming issues of Octane, 911 & Porsche World, Porsche Post and others.