In my previous article for garra-fans.com I ended saying "Lets hope the series which has given me so much enjoyment from afar will not disappoint on closer inspection."

On a crisp autumn morning in Mexico City I found out the answer.

After a long flight and a couple of days to acclimatise we entered the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in time to climb to the top of the pitlane grandstand for the start of the first practise session.

I can't actually remember which car was first on track, I was too busy trying to take it all in. There before me were the cars I'd seen so often in pictures - then the noise hit - the sound of a DP roaring out of the last corner and onto the pit straight. The grandstand on each side acting like a funnel to make it ear splitting. A smile broke out on my face which took a long, long time to fade.

During that session the biggest surprise was seeing that my favourite #02 Ganassi Racing New Century Mortgage car had been painted in Telmex blue & white colours, the same as its sister #01 car. I wasn't the only one disappointed by this change, as I was later to find out Cort Wagner, one of the cars drivers, wasn't impressed either.

The session finished so we climbed down from the stands to set about finding the Synergy team who were our hosts for the weekend, this was easier said than done. An hour later we found them along with other teams on an old part of the circuit. Although it was a long walk from the pit lane being tucked away did have some advantages, the heat of the day could be escaped under the neighbouring trees and they had more space to spread out compared to the teams in the other paddocks.

After being suitably refreshed and shown around the team base we were heading back to the pits when we bumped into Travis the PR Representative for the GAINSCO/Blackhawk team. Doing his duty he showed us around and we were let into the inner sanctum of the team trailer (leather seats, mirrors, air conditioning, very "boys toys") where Bob Stallings & Alex Gurney were relaxing. Ten minutes later we left with signed info cards and a confirmation of what nice guys they are.

Something we were starting to realise was just how happy to see us people were "You've come all the way from England??" was a cry we'd hear repeated over and over. I'm sure they thought we were mad!

The rest of the day was spent with the Synergy team in the pits watching them qualify and adjust settings for the race. I was intrigued at quite how close to the pit road I could get - within touching distance of the cars - it's amazing what/where the right pass can get you.

We arrived on race morning in time for a quick breakfast at the team awning then it was down to the drivers autograph session. Due to space constraints not all of the drivers were present but there was a good selection and they were well received by the fans. In fact there were so many fans wanting to see them that I was told off by an official for taking too long while talking to Andy Wallace!

By the time we arrived back for lunch the team was nearly packed away, there hadn't been anything for them to do for most of the day so they used their time wisely, a combination of packing up, watching the Champcars qualifying and joking around.

Synergy driver Craig Stanton was in the running for the GT drivers championship, as the race was such a big one for the team we opted to watch from the Media Center to stay out of their way. The outside seats at the front of the center gave an excellent view of the last corner, pitlane and front straight. The start was as noisy and powerful as I'd expected, the racing was good and with the help of live timing easy to follow.

With 15 laps left we headed back over to the top of the pitlane grandstand where we could see the big TV screens. Even though we saw the decisive moves by Lally & Murry we still weren't sure of the outcome but once we saw the team celebrating in the pitlane we knew it was good news - Congratulations Craig!

Being in the pitlane for the post race celebrations as the dusk fell was magical, remember though - never pat a DP which has just done a race - they get very dirty.

I think the Synergy mechanics thought I was a mad as I said goodbye to the cars, but I wanted to imprint those moments in my memory forever. So many things had happened in two days, many more than I could ever write about here.

The answer to my question? If you haven't worked it out by now you'd better re-read this article...

Plans are already being made to visit another Grand Am race as soon as possible.

Special thanks must go to Birgitt & Deo van Wijk and everyone at Synergy Racing.

PS. I still can't tell the Frisselle brothers apart, but they're both very nice guys!

(Ed.: Check out the photos from Emma's trip to Mexico here...)

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