For the first time, the Czech team achieved significant success on hot Mexican soil in the La Carrera Panamerica race. All three cars were able to finish the competition the first time. Vojtěch Štajf won in the Historica A Plus class classification and Petr Kačírek finished fourth in the Historica B class. Even in the seventh stage, Jaroslav Petrásek rode steadily with times around the 32nd place, absolutely. More detailed results are yet to be known.
The colonial architecture of downtown Durango in front of the grand cathedral witnessed the grand finale of the Carrera Panamericana . It was a positive course for Vojta Štajf – with the exception of the opening race, in which he lost to Karmann of home Raul Gonzáles , he was able to increase his lead from yesterday and deservedly won the classification of the stage for the third time. Of course, this was enough for the first place in the two-liter four-cylinder class, although Vojta had to cope with a certain performance handicap. "Today there were really nice tests on the program, but the longest one again went up to 2900 meters above sea level and the car was desperately unable to drive on it. We thought we had something with the engine, but everyone there experienced it. We have already enjoyed the other tests, and even more we are enjoying the delightful feeling of reaching the finish line of Carrera, among thousands of enthusiastic fans!"
Petr Kačírek once again drove an excellent stage without fluctuations, unfortunately he was only about 5 seconds short of the overall third place in the Historica B class classification. "Really powerful machines are already starting in our largest class. For me, fourth place in this competition is just as valuable as victory for Vojta. If someone had told me that before the race, I would have thought them crazy. After all, we didn't test the amount of kilometers we wanted. And the car held relatively reliably all the way to the finish line, and we thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of reaching the finish line of such a difficult race," added Petr at the finish line.
Jarda Petrásek drove his Porsche reliably to the finish even in the last stage and, as he said himself, he thoroughly enjoyed the last stage. More detailed information about Jard's overall ranking will be known the next day.
So the Czech team succeeded in Mexico, even though it was starting here for the first time, following in the footsteps of the famous compatriot Jaroslav Juhan and with a very specific and not completely tested technique. It turned out that the preparation went in the right direction. So there remains a solid base of vehicles and a view of the next Carrera Panamericana ! Not only the fans, but especially the rivals appreciated the professional background, approach and readiness of our team's vehicles – years of successful experience from racing in Europe showed. The design of the vehicles was particularly well received, but so were the clothes and helmets. Representatives of strong competitive teams often went to the Czech camp for advice on how to solve a specific problem. So, after rough beginnings and a phase of some looking around, a successful end came.
After the evening announcement ceremony, the whole team was still waiting for an extremely grueling one-day crossing to Mexico City , over 1000 kilometers long. There, the competition vehicles were on display throughout Saturday at the Santa Fé Mall. Part of the expedition will travel home and the other part will complete its Mexican mission – the vehicles will cross to Veracruz and be loaded into containers again to meet them again in the Czech Republic in a month.
Source: Czech Panamericana
