2023 Coast to Coast Rally | Day One | Tech & Registration

A Seaside Ocean of Sand Kicked Off the 2023 Coast 2 Coast Rally in Veracruz

It’s not often a rally takes its racers through a variety of terrain over the several days of competition, let alone a smorgasbord. Back after a four-year hiatus, the Coast 2 Coast Rally – a Mexican owned and operated event which takes place this year in Veracruz, Puebla and Oaxaca – pulled out all the stops. Dunes, jungle, desert, rainforests… Participants are in for an environmental escapade across the mermaid tail of Mexico. Special Stage One served up only a sampling today, but a hearty helping of dunes with a side of jungle turned out to be plenty, even a little too much, for some competitors. Attrition is always the greatest adversary of a rally racer, and it commenced checking boxes in the sand.

The tiny towns they traversed knew nothing of the carrera [race], naïve of the action that would ensue under their noses. A school marching band inadvertently announced the arrival of the racers — at a volume and intensity only matched by the sound of the motorbikes which passed by. They were the first group to reach the water in El Arenal outside of Chachalacas, which took them to the base of a modest set dunes, the real challenge for the special save for a water-crossing (if you can call being ferried across a river mouth on a panga a “river-crossing”). DSS began on a beach, with the coast spanning for miles beyond the lines of sight. Those sandy mountains waiting nearby, visible and looming, its faces eerily delicate.

By morning, the ground was already soft and everything that tried to cross it would sink without enough speed. Racers could at least be grateful this stage was so short because after Day One, they wouldn’t see mounds like this again. Although the deserts, rainforests, and jungles they will eventually encounter have plenty of surprises in store, many pilots were just hoping to keep themselves and the machines together until they overcame las dunas. For many, there was nothing to worry about. But fate had different plans for one of the Americans, whose vast experience in the sport couldn’t help him anticipate the temperamental landscape. Density changed consistently under Dan Bartolucci (10) as he rode through SS1, but without warning, the front wheel of his Husky 501 bogged down during an ascent – the sand halting its motion – and he high-sided onto his shoulder, ending his race only ten clicks in.

At the finish, Manuel “Manolo” Concho (102) and his co-driver clawed their way to First, as Arturo Garza (107) and Francisco Arauz and Angel Martin Perez (103) rounded out the podium in 2nd and 3rd. Even with little competition on the field, the leaders had much to fight to earn their accolades. The struggle hadn’t stop in the dunes. High-waterlines, narrow passages, silt, rogue animals, and speed zones all added a little salt to the wounds a complex roadbook could cause. There were many trials among the SSVs, several of them either not finishing or using all the daylight. But Tuesday is a whole other stage, and a whole new set of challenges to face.

On the eve of the Day of Love, participants at the Coast 2 Coast Rally are sending their Valentine’s to Motorsports. Ready for some passionate on-course foreplay tomorrow, the pilots and navigators are warmed up from the starting special stage. Today was less a race than it was a Litmus Test for who is or isn’t cut out for rally. And believe it or not, everyone – even those who DNF’d – passed the exam with flying colors. Because, really, all you need to do for a solid average in this sport is show up.

To learn more about the Coast2Coast Rally: https://en.coast2coast.mx/pages/sobre-nosotros