I am looking to try and get to Rally Mexico this March, from Tulsa, OK, and was wondering if there were any forum regulars from the Guanajuato area that might provide input on accommodations, vehicle rental, pre-paid tours, etc.
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I am looking to try and get to Rally Mexico this March, from Tulsa, OK, and was wondering if there were any forum regulars from the Guanajuato area that might provide input on accommodations, vehicle rental, pre-paid tours, etc.
Hi, I'm not from Guanajuato, but I am on the Organizing Committee. There's a lot of the information you need on the website http://www.rallymexico.com Let me know if you need anything beyond what's published there.
Cheers,
Eugenio Perea
I am not fro Guanajuato but I have been to the event many times and also will go this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by olschl
There is a direct flight from Houston to Leon with Continental Express
Hotel, lots of choice, go via the organizers , or via booking websites...
Tour ? Check with the organizers
Rental car ? bit tricky but also via the booking websites....
Any detailed news from the Opening Stage???
Hi, there's some info here http://www.rallymexico.com/content.p...=opening_stage but nothing you might call 'detailed', yet. What exactly did you want to know? Perhaps I can help.Quote:
Originally Posted by Motorsportfun
Cheers,
Eugenio Perea
Communications
Rally Mexico
Rally Mexico 2011 Google Earth Map is out http://bit.ly/eEro30
According to the official website, the entry list will be published tomorrow. ;)
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/mediacentre...tries_mex.aspx
1loeb
2ogier
3hirvonen
4latvala
5henning
6östberg
7villagra
9kuipers
43block
No Kimi.
His experience last year must have really put him off!
maybe sales of redbulls in Mexico are good enough so they do not need their personal advertisment slave for that country.... and i guess the 45 billions he made last year are not enough for him to make the entry possible for the sport he loves and is here to conquer....oh well at least we can hope for wilson.
First stage is run underground? in tunnels?
This engine sound would be greate!
Does Kimi do manufactuere championships aswell? this list is manufacture championships only.Quote:
Originally Posted by rallyfiend
Not to start it all over again, just ignore.
Yeah, the SS1 will be run in the former mines of Guanajuato... take a look to Google Street View! =)Quote:
Originally Posted by rallyfan+
Here you can find some pictures and videos from this tunnel - http://www.autosport.cz/clanek.php?cl=11493 (article was written 1,5 months ago)
I'd like to know exactly where the underground stage will pass... I saw on Google StreetView that there are some places quite narrow!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugenio Perea
some hints from my side (was there in 2007):
- if you plan to go from Mexico City to Lèon, it´s about 3 hours driving - try to stay South of Lèon during the event (near Poliforum)
- Shakedown: good place to watch cars would be from village center ´San Juan de Otates´about 1km in direction to finish - left downhill to right uphill junction
- be in Guanjuato in time - we were there 2 hours before, but already too late - roads are very confusing and crowded there
- enjoy Rally Mexico: very friendly people, good beer, good steaks - what do you want more ;-)
It starts right in front of the Alhóndiga, where the Ceremonial Start usually is (or the 2nd stop of the Ceremonial Start, rather. It changes from year to year). It goes directly into the tunnels right there, and yes, it's narrow : ) It's going to be LOUD.
Kimi Raikkonen/ ICE 1 racing is a manufacturer entry, but Mexico/Argentina /Australia are not on his kalender. And still no Petter Solberg (World Rally Team) in the manufacturer entry?!Quote:
Originally Posted by rallyfan+
Hello Olschl
Im not from the Guanajuato area but I´ve been to the rally 6 times and I am mexican so I know my way around quite well.
Getting into Leon is quite easy, as someone else mentioned there is a direct flight from houston with continental, also I think there is one from Dallas with American Airlines but Im not sure if its still running. You can also fly to Mexico City and then drive (4 hours) or fly to Guadalajara and then drive to Leon (about 2 hours). I would not recommend driving all the way from the US right now, It would take you at least a day and roads are quite dangerous at the moment up north, so I would say no.
On accomodation, I've tried different things during the years but I find it better, cheaper and nicer to stay near the town centre. Hotels near the polyfirum (service park) get booked months in advance and even if you find a room, pricing will be ridiculous (for mexico prices), as these dates always have great demand. If you still want to stay near the service park there is a very nice Cityexpress hotel which I think has fixed prices most of the year, (around 80 dolars per night). There is also a hampton inn, but I guess the Holiday Inn and other hotels near by are already fully booked. My choice is Hotel Rex, just next to the main square in Leon, its an old hotel but the top floors have been refurbished recently so they are quite good, prices are really good as well, and its only about 10 minutes away from service. (check out their website http://www.hotelrealrex.com/uno.htm). I find being next to the main square a plus, as there are more things to do and better places to eat at, after a long day at the stages.
About vehicle rental there should be no trouble with that. Budget, Alamo and other companies have agencies in Leon and at the airport and prices for compact cars are quite good, specially if you book in advance. Just beware of the roads, If you can book a small SUV or a Pick Up, you will have a much better rally than with a compact...
As far as I know, pre paid tours are not available in Mexico, during the years I've met people in tours from France, Belgium, Germany and the UK, but none of them with a local company.
My advice would be, fly into leon, rent a car and go for it. The rally guide is quite good and if you have a GPS you will have no trouble finding your way around the stages. The street stage and ceremonial start is in Guanajuato, about an hour away from leon, in the past few years it has been very crowded, and now with a stage running through the historic city and the tunels, my guess is that is that crowds will increase, get there early!
A few tips: plan the stages you want to see with plenty of time in between, some roads can be in quite a bad state so it will take some time to get there.
Carry plenty of liquids and some food, some stges have taco stands and sell corona, but this is not the rule
Print a few maps from the rally guide, they are usually quite good
Buy your tickets for the street stage and service park online, it can be a pain buying them once you arrive.
other than that, hope you have a great rally, enjoy the stages, the food and the beer.
I will be there from thursday to sunday, and will have media accreditation, if you need any help, let me know or PM me.
offtopic: I thought Petter was doing all rounds...??
Nice job Jonas!
I think, Mexico Rally is one of the best event in the season!
Thanks Fri, what a great event we had last year, see you in march!
Petter is planning to do all rounds, but he is not secured of the necessary budegt, so he is probarly not acting as a manufacturer team, because if he fails in doing the last rallies, it will cost him money due to FIA sanctions. So Petter will only do the WRc as an individual driverQuote:
Originally Posted by jonas_mcrae
If I can recommend, the best way from Europe is direct flight from Paris to Mexico City and then by car or by another plane to Leon. I would like to return back to Mexico once again...
As far as I know there are also direct flights from Amsterdam, London, Frankfurt, Madrid and Barcelona. But dont fly Iberia, horrible service!Quote:
Originally Posted by PLuto
What about the entry list?
Entry list is up! http://www.rallymexico.com/content.p...Notice%20Board
Is it final? Only 25 cars?
Nice to see Novikov back but that's all about positives :(
Yes, 25 only. The WRC is in the middle of a rebuilding process, and the future with Mini, Hyundai, VW, etc. looks bright, so we're not TOO concerned, but we would certainly like a few more.
I'm more worried about the lack of interest from privateers. WRC teams HAVE to participate.Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugenio Perea
25 is a record low, obviously something wrong there.
WRC and Rally in general are becoming more and more an European sport, and that's something I really wouldn't like to see.
Most of the drivers, Teams, and Manufacters associated to the Sport are European, or atleast they are focusing on European Market, and that I think is closing the championship.
Most drivers choose European rounds because they're cheaper, if they live in Europe of course, the locals from Mexico and Argentina for example dont even bother to participate in their home rally because they wont be able to compete with European top drivers since they simply wont be there.
Is there national event running beside the WRC again? Is there eny entry list for that?Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugenio Perea
One of the things that have always been a challenge for us is our spot on the calendar. Being so early in the season means we are usually the first to face new rule changes. It happened with Flexi-service, with SuperRally, with WRC Cup and a host of other evolutions to the Championship. It's happening again with the new cars. Allow me to copy/paste some information Martin Holmes sent me today:
It is inevitable that such drastic changes (22 categories!) cause genuine uncertainty in privateers. We'll probably see an upsurge of competitors in World Rallies within three months. WRC Academy, for instance, is filling up very quickly, and that will fill up the ranks and provide a great show.Quote:
"Welcome to a new year that brings a welter of changes to the sport and most of all to the world rally championship. The most significant and biggest change in the WRC is the new formula for cars! The successful 14 year old rules for 2-litre turbocharged car, the flagship of the sport, have gone and world rally cars must now be physically smaller and powered by 1.6-litre turbo engines, fitted with direct injection systems. The new generation World Rally Cars must be used by the top level teams and the lower level privateer teams as well. Older generation World Rally Cars, along with other cars running in the A8 class, will no longer be eligible to run in any FIA championship events and are being moved to whichever countries will permit them in their national championship events. Meanwhile Super 2000 cars fitted with atmospheric 2-litre engines which have been already homologated can continue to run in the world and other regional championship events, but all new Super 2000s must be fitted with 1.6-litre turbo direct injection engines, like the World Rally Cars. The engines in the new Super 2000 cars, except for very minor technical differences to the flywheel are now the same as used in World Rally Cars. The WRC cars use a 33mm turbo restrictor. On world rallies S2000 versions can do the same but must use a smaller restrictor on regional and other events.
The second major change is the realignment of classes within FIA championship rallies, all part of the continued transition from the old Group A and Group N categories into the new Group R. No fewer than 22 different categories of cars are now eligible to take part on world rallies, divided into 11 separate classes in championship rallies and ten (all except World Rally Cars) in regional rallies. These 22 categories have been matched so that comparable cars compete against each other, even if some are Group A or Group N cars and some are Group R cars. There are two new categories. One is the R4 category, for cars that used to be Class N4 cars (Mitsubishis and Subarus) but now in uprated form, aimed at making them more competitive against Super 2000 cars. The other is the RGT class, is for GT cars, the rules for which are still in the process of being defined."
Where Josti is absolutely correct is regarding privateers in Canada, USA, Mexico and Central America. We need to ramp up our efforts to promote the local-rules version of the rally, the Rally America. Rally Team for Dreams would have rounded up all their funding if we had done promoted the rally early enough. That's something we're going to focus on for 2012.
I should learn to post faster. Francis44 and bluuford are spot on.
Some words from Novikov: http://www.almrally.ru/english/info/4607/
Great job, guys! It's gonna be thrilling and soooo exciting for all of us! :) Can't wait!!Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugenio Perea
He, he. I listened yesterday to Total Rally broadcast from last week where Gerard Quinn was interviewed. When the talk got to young drivers and Novikov was mentioned to drive a Ford Fiesta WRC, Gerard Quinn’s answer was “That’s new to me”. :D
Eugenio, so, no rally america concept this year?
nice, thanks Eugenio!
When will the entry list for rally america be realeased?
Wasnt aware the entry for mexican drivers was so cheap! 10,000 pesos (about 850 USD) for entry, recce, 7 nights in a hotel, and space at service park is extremely good value! If the prices stay like that I might do it next year!
And for foreigners the price is very good as well 2,500 USD, including transport from the border is great value as well.
By the way eugenio could you send me more details about specs for entries in rally america? safety, tyres, etc...
The entry list will be released on Friday, but some names I've heard are Simon Wright, Andrew Frick, Bryan Gottlieb, Robb Rill and the inimitable William Caswell. (Did I misspell any of those?)
The categories are generally the same allowed in the Mexican and U.S. rally championships.
It's a very good value, and with some work I'm sure we can get the event to a very respectable level. I mean, all the infrastructure of a world-class event is there, we could do worse than to use it and turn this into our yearly North American Rally Meetup. I'll bring the sun and the beer!