Finally the time came to participate once again on the "Annual Party", as the President of the Gordini Sport, Alberto Pedroza, calls it "The Acapulco Rally". This year was not an event of the Jaguar Club as in previous years, but nevertheless we participated and surely had big fun doing so. It seems this year was a bit more commercially oriented with a TV network’ soap opera sponsoring, but the essence of the rally was not lost. Twenty-three crews from the Renault Gordini Sport Club participated, out of approximately 75 of the classic and Group 6 categories. As last year, the starting line was on Metepec, Estado de México, some 70 kilometres from Mexico City, so we took off the night before to be ready for our start up at 10 AM the next day. As usual, we had a nice dinner with some friends and we retired to have a nice rest. The start-up was somewhat messy as some of our friends had to remind the "judge" time was almost ready (or already passed) to give them the Start-up flag. But off we went all with high spirits and in a good mood. Waiting for the first regularity to be over, the first car to break
down, a Dinalpin A110 from Arakelian/ Cuadros, started with a fault that seemed to be a point problem, and it actually forced them to quit later on. Our GT4 also presented a problem, with the generator out of work. From then on, we had to save on electricity, which forced us not to use the electric fan fitted to the radiator, so when the temperature started to rise, we had to open the heater to help reduce the temperature, the only problem was that the outside temperature was on the high 20’s Celsius (low 80’s Fahrenheit)! A moving sauna sometimes!The roads were in a very good shape, so we had no problems on that, only every now and then we had to ride very slow because of heavy trucks or a slow moving vehicle in front of us slowing everybody (in turn) down. After about 5 hours of driving fun, we stopped for a very fast lunch in
the beautiful colonial town of Taxco, Guerrero. The town’s hospitality was very well appreciated. A lot of cars took advantage of this stop for minor repairs; we recharged our battery to continue the ride. The Arakelian/ Cuadros A110 finally quitted on this stop, as well as the R12 #124 with a Gordini engine with overheating problems because of leaking hoses. The next stop was in Chilpancingo, where the co-pilot of the R12 #127, decided to join the girls dancing to "stretch his legs". A very friendly
mood among the racers is always present. Our friend Fernando Roldán in his R8 #120 already had problems with a slippery clutch as the R8 #126 of Cacheux/ Rodriguez, which also had electric problems, with a faulty regulator. After drinking fresh apple juice or a cold beer offered by the city’s government, we were ready to hit the road once again.One more hour and we were approaching the Port of Acapulco, and we were facing a little difficulty to drive without headlamps, but we were lucky to have our good friends Miguel Garza and Memo Acosta, this year in Memo’s BMW, who kindly overtook us to light the way. Thanks Again! A few kilometres and we were hitting the final stages, which unfortunately was with very heavy traffic.
But we all were very lucky to reach the goal safe and sound and enjoyed chatting about the highlights of the rally with the other crews. We then were ready to get to the hotel to take a long shower and get ready for a celebration. Some of us continued to have a nice time on Saturday, buying spares or repairing what was needed and of course took advantage once again of the great restaurants with magnificent food and especially the views of the Acapulco Bay
.
On Sunday we had a long breakfast and said goodbye to our friends and along with our friends the Marin brothers, before heading back to Mexico City. With minor problems we reached the city some 4+ hours later. Along the way we saw the R12 with a major problem now, as the head was already twisted and the A110 #125 also had a broken engine. On the way back we had our own "private race" along with Alcocer’s A110 cabriolet, Roldan’s R8, a 1957 Chevy and us in the Dinalpin GT4 all along the way on the coast road. That was also fun!
So the following Wednesday, the results were given and the results are as follows:
This January we had another Renault Coupe, held on the Pachuca’s Race Track and it was an event that a soap opera production co-organized for us, or should I say, paid in part for.
The event was named Agua y Aceite (Water and Oil), the name of the soap opera. We arrived on Saturday morning, straight from Mexico City. The fun started on the highway, as we joined some friends early for riding together. We were lucky no patrol cars were on sight, as we sort of broke the speed limit at times, testing the performance of the cars.
We decided to go a day early, so some could practice and others, like me, had a chance to drive on the track and learn more about racing. As you can see in the pictures, nice Alpines (Cabriolet, GT4 and Berlinette), R8’s, a Dauphine Gordini (of course!), 
Clios in two versions, the RS 2.0 liter and the regulars 1600 cc, an R18 2 liter, and a Fuego (a rare car here in Mexico, as it was never released here).
I had the opportunity of driving several cars, like the Alpine GT4 number 66 (heavily modified for racing) it runs great! It is incredibly stable and has precise braking. Jorge Escobedo, the owner, runs the "Vintage Serial" along with his brother Luis, in both the GT4 and a Berlinette number 67. 
The work on these cars was done by Chucho Dominguez (and some other Alpines that raced in this event, like numbers 28, 18 and 166). Another car I drove was the Clio RS. That is something fantastic! Although it is on the "new car" side. Also I drove two R8S, the red 1300 cc owned by Fernando Roldan number 120 and the 1400 cc yellow number 126 from Miguel Cacheux. Both cars have very nice stability, but lack in power compared to the 2.0 litre cars I have driven before. Another super vehicle that 
I had the opportunity to drive, was Alberto Pedroza’s red Alpine 2.0 litre number 128. That car has won several serials and rallies and was prepared by Albert and Jose Luis Guaguaro as well. I can tell you it runs FAST!
For the race on Sunday, the competition was between the following makes: VW (Golf and Rabbit), Mitsubishi, BMW, Dinalpin (Berlinette, GT4 and Cabriolet), R8's, Mercedes 220, 
The other event in which we participated, was to support our good friend and also ROCoNA member, Miguel Garza. He met a couple of Argentineans that decided to make a trip from Argentina all the way to Alaska in a 1928 Graham-Paige. From Mexico City, they had plans to visit Monterrey,
Nuevo Leon and form there, to New York City, Ottawa, Detroit, Seattle, Vancouver and finally Anchorage. As they say, "Just following a dream". They stayed over at Miguel’s house. Among some repairs, was to install a heater, as the car did not have one and they would surely freeze on their way up north. Miguel thought of installing an R8 heater system (courtesy of Miguel Cacheux) that would remain almost invisible for keeping the "original look" of the Graham-Paige. Some hoses were added along with a faucet like system to open and close the water and it worked perfectly.
A farewell parade was organized by Miguel, so he invited the Gordini Sport Club for the event. As it was with a very short notice, only a few of us could make it. Nevertheless, the parade was interesting and we had the opportunity to drive our nice Renaults. Perhaps some of you may even get in contact with Candelaria and Herman Zapp on their travel throughout the United States and Canada. They are a very friendly couple who also like Renaults. Their e-mail is