Tech Inspection … our first setback

  Wednesday, 2 days before the race was to be our busy day, with lots of things to accomplish. We needed to register, we needed to get our fuel delivery sorted, we needed to get our pit support confirmed, our radio frequencies registered, get and load the latest GPS tracks … but most important we needed to get the car through technical inspection … without passing this … we wouldn’t be allowed to race.

Some work on the Jeep happened first thing, then we gathered for a photo shoot … we put all our cars together … 1503 Race, Chase 1, Chase 2 and Chase 3 … we marked each car with the numbers 1503, so that we would be identified accordingly. When we got all set up … we looked like a used car lot … it was a rag tag group of cars and people … raring to go.

Dennis and Tim jumped in the race Jeep and headed out for tech inspection … the rest of us got in our respective chase vehicles and made our way into town. The plan was for all of us to do some sight seeing while Tim went through Tech Inspection.

Every car competing must meet a very specific set of rules. Usually these fall into 2 categories … safety and class. Safety rules, are the rules that the organizing body puts together to ensure that everyone participating is “safe”. These have to do with primarily protecting the occupants. Class rules, are rules that define what category you are placed into … so that the competition is fair. If you are racing in a class, all cars in that class comply to the same standards.

For instance, some classes dictate the engine, some the suspension, some the type of chassis. One of my favorite (and I think classic) classes is Class 5/1600. This is has to be a VW beetle (pre 1982). It can have modified suspension and must have a VW engine that displaces no more than 1600cc (1.6ltr). There is a Class 5/Unlimited … which is a VW Beetle chassis, unlimited suspension, unlimited engine (up to 2ltr)… or something like that. Tim and 1503 are in the Sportsman Truck class … basically, must be a truck (or Jeep) and that’s about it … as I understand it … it is a catch-all class … if it doesn’t fit into one of the other classes … it will fit here.

One of the things we have are handheld radios … 4 of them (although we learn that only 3 work) … anyways, when we are out, we each carry a radio, which has about a 1-2 mile range. Rob, Abuelo and I have one … Tom/Brandon/Brooke and Mark another … Tim and Dennis the third.

We hear on the radio from Tom that 1503 has failed tech inspection and that we are trying to meet up … apparently there is something wrong with the GPS … hmmm … why would we fail tech for the GPS … so we start walking towards a common meeting place … as we do, Tim and 1503 come around a corner. You could tell from the faces that not everything was well <g>. We get Tim to stop in front of the police station so we can figure out what happened and what we need to do.

As we start talking, it isn’t the GPS … it’s the fuel tank that is the problem. The Tech inspector wants the fuel tank covered in metal … and ours has the bottom and 4 sides covered, but not the top. To cover it, we will need to fabricate a metal lid for it. Luckily, the tech inspector gave us a business card of a local fabricator who could probably help us. So … I call Roman (name on card) and explain situation. He says he can help, and asks if I know my way around Ensenada … I say not really … so he says to wait and he will send someone to get us and lead us in … How’s that for service.

About 10 min after the call, 2 guys show up, I ride with them and 1503 and Chase follow us to the shop. Turns out Roman runs a business that builds offroad races … turns out Roman, is a multiple class champion, turns out Roman has won many a desert race … turns out, he’s a real nice guy.

Roman’s race shop has 5 offroad racers in it, different classes and in different state of repair / construction. They make some room in the shop and we back 1503 in… one of the fabricators (looked like the most senior one) gets on the job … he knows the Tech inspector that failed us and seems to know what needs to be done. Ruben works for the next 5 hrs to finish the job. We hang out for most of the time, but leave early to head to our meetings.

While Tim is getting work done, Dennis, Tom, Mark and I head to BFG meetings. This is BF Goodrich (the tire guys), they offer a free service to racers that use their products. They have setup 6 different pit stops around the course and they will fuel the car and perform any repairs that are possible … a great thing for teams like ours. We also confirm our radio frequencies, confirm our fuel provider and get the latest course plots from BFG for our GPS unit.

We rush out of the meeting in time to make registration and get our wrist bands, sing our waiver forms and get what we need to race on Friday … registration closes at 6P and Tim arrives about 20 minutes before that, Jeep ready and registers in.

We head back to our hotel and stay up until 2A waiting for Sheila and Michelle to arrive … 2 days to go … and I think we are set. Tomorrow will be contingency day and another attempt to pass Tech Inspection.