Yeah, yeah I've heard all the jokes in response to the above statement, but what happened was no joke and it ended our run down the Baja peninsula. This year's rally started out with baking temperatures hovering in the triple digits from the second the flag dropped in Mexicali. Our first day was a near perfect run of three stages that saw half the field get lost in stage one across the mirage-filled Laguna Salada dry lake but our superior navigation skills allowed us to finish ahead of many competitors. A steady pace for the other two stages of the day put us well up the time sheets as we finished in the Bay of LA that evening. Perhaps a sign of how things were about to turn, was when we noticed we had been given a room number of 13 at our hotel that evening. Day two started out just fine as we started the stage just outside town and settled into a slower than hoped for pace due to the brutally rough road and hot temperatures. Well lucky 13 bit us in the under carriage when all of a sudden our engine and transmission temps began to climb about 30 miles into the 127 mile stage. After pulling over to let things cool off we realized it was too late for the transmission when I pulled the dipstick and smelled that awful burnt stench and noticed the brown color. After trying to drive 100 yards, she slipped in all gears and then lost reverse and third, we were going nowhere. Break out the sat-phone and call the crew (now at least 120 miles away) we were gonna need the trailer. After not being able to reach them directly it was a call to the states that helped relay our predicament. In the end we determined limping the broken Bronco backwards on the course at 10mph would be better than trying to get a trailer in, and that is what we were able to do. Hours later at a local yonke (junk yard) we attempted to fix the C4 trans by draining, flushing and cursing, but nothing was going to get the well done gearbox going again, our race was over.
Half the crew went back north and the rest of us continued south and turned our efforts into helping other teams with chasing and pit stops (drinking beer). Oh well we will be back next year.
-B.
Happier times, Bahia De Los Angeles
A sign of things to come.
She didn't help us.
Broken down in the middle of... well you know where.
Reaching the highway at the end of day one.
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