Last weekend Doug Mockett and Angelica Fuentes piloted his 1954 Oldsmobile "Olds en Nombre Solamente" ("Olds in Name Only") to a 17 second, come-from-behind victory in one of the most prestigious racing events in Mexico, the three day "Chihuahua Express" rally. The event runs around the roads of the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua.

The Olds qualified first so started Day One from Pole Position. 350 miles and 10 speed stages later it had a 13 second lead over Eduardo Henkel, driving a highly modified 2010 BMW M3 - shown on billboard behind Olds.

Day Two was not so kind to Mockett and Fuentes. At the end of the 400 miles and 12 stages they had lost their lead and were behind Henkel by an almost insurmountable total of a minute and 16 seconds.

But the third day came their way as the determined pair erased all but six seconds of the Henkel lead in the morn- ing stages and knew they just had to keep focused for af- ternoon stages and it could work out. However, Mr. Henkel and his modern BMW were not going to roll over and hand over the victory to a 1950's dinosaur car without a battle!

The final afternoon had four speed stages and Mockett/Fuentes won them all, finishing ahead of Henkel by a slim razor 17 seconds!

"It was a great win and a tribute to grit and determination", said Mockett afterwards, "and shows that if you stay on course things will often come your way, no matter how bleak it may look. Plus - more than once, we drove it like we stole it."

The 630Hp Olds "silhouette" car is sponsored in Mexico by CYMISA, Doug Mockett & Company's distributor in the country. Mockett & Fuentes are in their 7th year of rallying together, and are the only repeat winners of the Chihuahua Express, taking First Place in 2007. They have also won their class twice at Pikes Peak Hill Climb, setting a new class record in 2009, and finished twice.

They've come close to winning La Carrera Panamericana, finishing 2nd in 2007 and 2011 (by 4 seconds) and 3rd in 2012.

Source: Mockett