Commission · 2017 — 2024
La Carrera Panamericana
Official photographer · Mexico
A road race across Mexico, photographed from the side of the road.
La Carrera Panamericana was first run in 1950. It covers more than 3,000 kilometers in seven days, crossing volcanic, tropical, desert, and mountain terrain, and draws drivers from around the world who return year after year.
Between 2017 and 2024, across eight editions as the event's official photographer, the assignment meant crossing the country by road each year, passing through towns that rarely appear on any itinerary.
The photographs focus less on speed than on what happens around the race: mechanics working through the night, children running alongside the cars, volunteer officials at dawn on the edge of a mountain road.
Pre-race preparations, Oaxaca, 2021. La Carrera runs 14 categories by car body type; each vehicle is numbered and inspected before it is allowed to compete.
First stage, Pozuelos, San Luis Potosí, 2017. The race crosses the country from south to north over seven days.
Competitors run a reconnaissance lap at the Mexico Drive Resort circuit ahead of a timed stage. San Miguel Ameyalco, State of Mexico, 2022.
Waiting for the stage to open. El Soldado, Durango, 2022.
Residents of Jalcomulco line the road for the qualifying stages. The town turns out every year. Veracruz, 2022.
A Porsche undergoes pre-competition inspection in the Oaxaca service area, 2021. Every car must pass technical scrutiny before it races.
Hilaire Damiron at the start line, La Cascada, Michoacán, 2024. He and his wife Laura, who navigates, have won La Carrera twice in their 1954 Studebaker Commander.
A volunteer official at the Huitzo control point before the Oaxaca–Mexico City stage, 2023. The race runs on dozens of volunteers positioned along the route at dawn.
Children run alongside the cars at the start of a stage. Huajúmbaro, Michoacán, 2022.
A car on a state highway during the first stage. Jalcomulco, Veracruz, 2020.
A competitor stops for a group of children on the Oaxaca–Veracruz transit. Valle Nacional, Oaxaca, 2020. Drivers often carry postcards of their cars to give to fans along the route.
A competitor signs the official poster at the opening arch ceremony in Oaxaca City, the evening before the start, 2024.
Reviewing the route book before the Espinazo del Diablo stage, km 89, Durango–Mazatlán highway. The Espinazo is the race's most demanding section.
A flat tire during transit. Tehuacán, Puebla, 2020.
A car is pulled from a ravine after an accident during a competition stage. Huajúmbaro, Michoacán, 2022. The driver and navigator were unharmed.
Mechanics at a service stop in Nochixtlán, Oaxaca, 2024. Teams repair overnight whatever the day's stages have broken.
A competitor with children from La Congoja during a street service stop. Aguascalientes, 2024.
End of the competition day. A competitor drives to the hotel in Guanajuato, 2023.
Competitors gather at a Mexico City metro station entrance to be escorted by the National Guard to the finish arch at the Palacio de Bellas Artes, 2020.
A competitor pushes a broken-down car to the finish line in Morelia, 2021.
Female police officers hold back the crowd during the opening arch ceremony. Oaxaca, 2023.
Fans in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes as the convoy arrives at the finish arch. Mexico City, 2024.
A dog crosses during the ceremonial parade in front of the San Agustín temple. Oaxaca City, 2024.
Mariachis at the day's finish arch in Guanajuato City, 2017.
After the ceremonial parade, competitors park on the streets and the crowd moves in. Oaxaca, 2023.
Ricardo Cordero and Marco Hernández celebrate in Malditíllo after the 2021 edition. The pair has won La Carrera six times.
The convoy arrives at the finish arch in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes, photographed from the Torre Latinoamericana. Mexico City, 2024.