American actor and driver Patrick Dempsey began his journey through the roads of Mexico on Thursday, as part of his participation in La Carrera Panamericana, the world's longest-running rally-type automobile event and the oldest in the country.

Earlier in the day, the actor boarded the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4, special edition Legends of the Panamericana and joined the convoy of classic and sports cars participating in this important competition.

The group of vehicles left the port of Veracruz, located on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, to head to the city of Oaxaca, which stands out worldwide for its impressive colonial architecture.

 
The car with the number 154, driven by Dempsey, covered 513 kilometers in Stage 1 of the competition. 

During the Carrera Panamericana, the actor had the opportunity to enjoy extraordinary natural landscapes and the contrasting biodiversity of the country's ecosystems, from the forested areas in the high mountains of Veracruz, through the semi-arid region of the Sierra Nororiente de Puebla, to the central valleys of Oaxaca.

Accompanied by his navigator co-driver Victor Medina, the American actor made a couple of stops in the communities, where people took the opportunity to get close and take pictures with him.

After an exciting day, the crews were greeted with shouts and applause at the first finish arch of this legendary competition, which was set up in the city of Oaxaca, in front of the Temple of Santo Domingo, which has been considered a historic monument since 1933.

According to preliminary results, the drivers who achieved the best times were:

1. Ricardo Cordero
2. Emilio Velázquez 
3. Hilaire Damirón 

The history of La Carrera Panamericana is divided into two periods: the first corresponds to the old stage, from 1950 to 1954, and the modern stage, starting in 1988, when Eduardo León and other motorsports enthusiasts revived La Leyenda and sought to emulate the original competition with a route that started in Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas and headed to Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, which was even flagged by the five-time Formula 1 world champion, Juan Manuel Fangio.

In all these years, great personalities of motorsports have attended, among them, winners of the Paris-Dakar, World Rally Championship and Formula 1, including Juan Manuel Fangio, Piero Taruffi, Karl King in the 50's, as well as Clay Regazzoni, Arturo Merzario, Eric Comas, Stefan Johansson, as well as characters such as David Gilmour and Nick Mason of the legendary British band Pink Floyd.

The formation and start at the starting arches (in the morning), as well as the reception of the cars and drivers at the finish line arches in each city (in the afternoon) will be broadcasted live through La Panamericana's social networks and YouTube channel so that fans do not miss any detail of this event.

Text Credits: La Carrera Panamericana
Photo Credits: La Carrera Panamericana