Getting down to the start of La Carrera Panamericana in southern Mexico gets a little easier each year, but it is always an adventure.  Instead of everyone trying to get to starting city on their own, ten years ago we started the Coyote Convoy.  Strength in numbers seemed to make sense.   It also makes clearing Mexican customs much easier.

Leaving together from Texas and perhaps stopping in San Miguel de Allende, a good first day's drive, also means we get to know each other on the way down.  During the race, we hardly have time to say hello.

The Coyote Convoy will  leave Laredo, Texas this year at 8:00 AM on Friday, October 14, 2011, and will stop in San Miguel de Allende, which is 550 miles south, around 8:00 PM.   No car show is planned for the main square this year.  The convoy will then leave early on Sunday, October 16 for the long drive down this year to the starting city, Huatulco, on the Pacific coast in the state of Oaxaca.  It will arrive on Monday, October 17. 

If you plan to drive down or fly down, you should arrive in Huatulco on October 18.  Registration and inspection opens that morning and you will have two days to complete the registration and inspection process.  The “pre-qualification” run is the afternoon of October 20, and he race starts the next morning, Friday, October 21.

TRAVEL INFORMATION - GETTING TO HAUTULCO

Can you find Huatulco on the map?  It’s in the south of Mexico, in the state of Oaxaca.  It is a resort area on the Pacific coast, not really a town. There is an airport with that name, too, but it is 30-40 minutes from the hotel area.

All roads lead to Rome and Mexico City, but you really do not want to go through either, especially Mexico City, with your tow truck and racecar.  First, there are days that you cannot drive your car or truck in Mexico City, based on the last number of your license tag.   Second, to enter Mexico City in the morning on a workday, you need a special permit.  Third, it is illegal to take a truck or trailer on most of the freeways and elevated roads in the city.  Fourth and most importantly, the police are underpaid.  An Escalade pulling a racecar with Texas plates is an immediate $500 “fine,” paid in cash on the spot.  Make sure that in the negotiations you get an escort out of town, so you won’t get busted buy another patrol car two miles down the road.  
The only other option is to go through this huge city late at night (1:00-3:00 AM) with a full tank of gas and a guide who is the cousin of the chief of police.  Even then you must stay off the road called Viaducto.

This is why the Coyote Convoy goes around Mexico City on the new Arco del Norte, a new toll road around this huge city.

CROSSING THE BORDER - THE JOY OF BUREAUCRACY
Obtaining your tourist card (FMM visa), and the tourist permits and windshield stickers for your vehicles at the border is pretty easy, if your paper work is in order. It does require patience, however.

Bring the original title and/or current registration for your racecar, tow truck, and trailer.  Nothing else, like a photocopy or affidavit, will suffice. 

The basic rule is: one foreign visitor can bring only one vehicle into Mexico.  Thus, one of your two vehicles (racecar or tow truck) must be titled in the name of another member of your travel party.   (The trailer goes with the truck, as one unit.)  If your vehicle is leased or financed, you should have written permission to bring them into Mexico.

It takes an average of an hour to get your personal tourist card and vehicle permits. Think DMV.  These are the four big steps in the process:
1. Obtain your tourist card (visa) at the Immigration Office at the border crossing.  Show your passport, fill out the visa (tourist card) form, and have it stamped. 
2. Pay $22 for the tourist card at the closest bank window and change some dollars for pesos.
3. Step over to the photocopy booth to have copies of all your documents made—passport, driver’s license, car title or registration, and your new tourist card.
4. Stroll down the hall to the “Banjercito” window (looks like a bank window, because it is) to get the tourist permits and stickers for your vehicles.  There is usually a line. 

You do not need to say anything, as the clerks know how to do it.  Give them your passport, driver’s license, tourist card, vehicle title or registration, and credit card, and one copy of each, except your credit card.  After a lot of punching data into their computer, they will print your permit and ask you to sign it in two places.   The permit has a hologram sticker on it, which goes on the inside of your windshield behind the rear view mirror.

Save all the documents they give you and keep them in the tow truck.  Do not lose the permit, as you will need it to exit the country.   The permits may also be checked along the way! 

You may also register your vehicles via the Internet or at certain Mexican consulates, like Chicago, LA, Sacramento, Phoenix, Austin, etc.  To use the Internet, learn how to disable your popup blocker in your browser, and then go to www.banjercito.com and click on "tramites."  Find the English version.

Remember where you got your car stickers when you crossed the border, because you must return to this place before you leave Mexico to have the stickers removed.  Do not go across the bridge into the USA without having these stickers removed and getting a receipt.  At most border crossings, like Laredo or the Columbia Bridge, there are roadside booths where the stickers are removed.  Do not remove the sticker until the attendant tells you to or does it for you.

Going across the border in Nuevo Laredo is highly recommended because the officials there know La Carrera Panamericana and they will bend over backwards to get our cars and trucks across.  Things may be much different at other border crossings, like Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, and Matamoros.  And each place has slightly different rule about obtaining vehicle permits.

IMPORTING VEHICLES WITH AN F.M.A.D PERMIT
If you do not have a title to your race car, have a huge tow truck, have a lot of spare parts. or have all the vehicles in one name or the company’s name, you should import your vehicles by going through the Mexican Federation of Auto Sports (FMAD) and hiring a licensed Mexican customs broker.  Do not confuse this process with what was described above–the tourist car permits and stickers.  These two processes are very different.  You will use one or the other, not both. 

Here’s the FMAD process:
1.  Register for the race, and then download and fill out the application for the FMAD vehicle permits and your racing license.  Express mail these applications to the FMAD office in Mexico City with the required payment.  (You need only apply, not pay for the racing license, at this point.)
2. Secure the services of a Mexican customs broker in Laredo. (I can supply names.)
3. FMAD will verify that you have entered the race, and will send the approved permits to the Mexican customs broker who you have selected.  They will also send you a copy.
4. You go to the broker’s office on the U.S. side of the border on October 14-15.
5. The broker’s staff member jumps in your truck, takes you across the border (over the commercial bridge), and handles the transaction.
6.  The broker’s staff person hands you the paper work, jumps out of your truck, and you head down the highway to the custom checkpoint at mile 15.  After your papers are checked there, you are free to head south.
The FMAD permit costs around $150 each for the racecar, the truck, and the trailer.  You must also apply for the FMAD rally license issued by the same organization ($280).  See the Entry page for information on contacting FMAD, or go to www.femadac.com.mx.

The services of a licensed Mexican customs broker will cost between $300 and $1500, because it is a negotiable fee for service.  You must also provide the broker a list of all the spare parts, extra tires, and equipment and their cost that you are taking into Mexico—and that you will return to the USA when the race is over.

If you use a customs broker, you must stop at his office in Nuevo Laredo on the way back to the USA to reverse the process above, or he will forfeit his bond that guarantees the return of your vehicles and spare parts.  He will not be happy if you fail to stop.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
When you register for the Pan Am, a hotel reservation for a double room is automatically made in the name of the listed driver of the racecar for the eight nights of the race (October 20-27).  This room is paid by the entry fee.  If you plan to arrive in Tuxtla a few days early, as most do, it will cost you more.

Since most competitors will arrive in Huatulco before October 20, they will need extra or early hotel accommodations.  Most probably will need an extra room for their support crew.  If so, email your needs to info@lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx.  You may call 1-310-860-6959.   Make sure that you send her a clear message about your room needs long before the event.  The office will confirm your reservations and accept your money, but  not tell you the names of the hotels until right before the race.  Hint: try to make your travel plans early and avoid changing them.

The Carrera Office normally charges $165 for each extra night in or along the way, taxes included, or $1300 for a room during the event (tent. October. 20-27).  Rooms in luxury hotels costs around $150 extra.  There may be an increase this year.  Note:  Once you pay the Carrera Office for your hotel rooms, there will be no refund or transfer of the rooms to someone else.

The North American Coordinator has nothing to do with making or changing hotel arrangements.

GASOLINE AND FOOD WHILE TRAVELING
PEMEX gas stations are plentiful on most major highways in Mexico. Most stations carry non-leaded 87 octane regular (green pump) and non-leaded 93 octane premium (red pump).  Quality is OK.  Diesel fuel is also generally available.

Take enough cash and buy pesos at the border, since most stations do not accept credit cards.  Regular is about 9 pesos a liter or around $3.60 a gallon last year, premium is 10 pesos.  If the attendant cleans your windshield, tip him a peso or two..  Sometimes it is necessary to tip the bathroom attendant 2-3 pesos, but it is worth the money.  The bathrooms are a lot cleaner than they used to be!

There are small restaurants along the roads and at the larger PEMEX stations throughout most of Mexico.  If the place looks clean, then it's probably OK.   Just eat hot food and drink from a can or bottle.  A case of bottled water in your truck comes in handy. 

Remember do not brings guns or drugs into Mexico.  Mexican jails are not nice places.

The Mexicans that you meet along the way, especially the children, will be friendly and curious about you and your vehicles.   Everyone will try to be helpful if you are having a problem.  However, if you spend the night at a motel, it's best to park your rig inside a locked or guarded compound.  Most of the better motels have one.

And yes, getting there is half the fun!  It is always an adventure!
Viva la Carrera!
Gerie Bledsoe
North American Coordinator
gbledso@aol.com
12/3/2010, 7/14/11