Where “Mañana” means “Yesterday”.
by Andrea Tomba
Mañana... Mañana... Often this is the word that the Gringo far too often
associates with the Baja Culture... and more often than not mistakenly so! One
person that is witness to this first hand is Italian born, La Paz Resident Andrea
Tomba, a diver who has been competing in the Baja California Sur Off-Road
Championship over the last couple of years. Having finished third in the
championship in the last season, Andrea started 2001 very well, when in a
spectacular crash in the second race of the championship his Class 7 truck,
which had taken over a year to build, was left completely beyond repair. After
having lead seven of the 10 laps of this short course race, it looked like this was
going to be the end of the season. However, with too many scores to settle, the
local support crew and mechanics were not prepared to give up. A new chassis
and cabin were purchased, and within six weeks of re-building the truck “in
their spare time” (from 16.00 to 02.00 six days a week) they presented a new,
almost identical looking vehicle which took a respectable 4th place at the Coyote
300.
So, enjoy Baja for it’s calm and relaxed pace, but if things need to get done,
stand back or you may get stepped on!
Andrea wants to thank everyone who made the rest of the 2001 season
possible, as he says that his “702” truck is only 50% nuts & bolts, the other 50%
is pure guts, heart and soul.
Particular thanks go out to:
Los Hurtado, Los Peludos, Taller D’Lupe, Burgo’s Race Works, Prisa, Quacker
State,BFGoodrich, Autometer Gauges, Optima Batteries and Tecate for their
continued support.