[MannyLopez]

The Laredo World Rally Team has proved that they can finish and put on a great show for the fans.

Ponce, Team owner, is proud to announce that him and his teammate Dave Gutwillig survived and finished the King of the Hammers, the toughest one day offroad race on the planet, that has been held evey year since 2008 in the Mojave Desert.

TEAM MEXICO #4472 starting on spot #37
Jose Manuel Ponce & Dave Gutwillig

Dave Gutwillig racing his fabrication while Ponce rides shot gun.


“ WOW! Now we know why they call it the hammers! We felt like we were being hammered on from all sides for 12 hours, including internally. The whoops and train track desert bumps were just retarded and really hard on both the car and us. Fastest we went was 85mph (138kph) in the open flat lake section and we played it safe due to the high winds. The first lap was really sketchy in the desert sections due to all the dust in the morning. The Piñata buggie worked great on the rock sections and we went by fairly quickly unless if there was a traffic jam. The only problems we had were a blown valve stem from bumping into another stopped car, loose electrical connector, and bad gps visibility. We ran only four 37 inch stickies and no bead locks, and no communication radio. IRC helped us out with a tracking device just in case we broke down, we could be easily located. Congrats to all the teams that participated. “ Stated Ponce and Dave.

Ponce starting of the race while Dave navigates his fabrication



This unique team has tried the LCQ twice in the past and this time they returned as a guest star international team to participate in the main race. Ponce was unable to finish his race rig on time and ended up partnering up with Javier’s Gulf Coast Crawl Shop and Dave Gutwillig. “Javier Ibarra and his crew are tight and 110% pro, I have seen them race and knew they could help pull Team Mexico thru the finish, I am glad they accepted my offer, Gracias Amigos. I would like to especially thank Javier Ibarra for putting up his shop, tools, rv, tow rig, and trailer as well as Dave Gutwillig for prepping the Piñata Buggie to pass tech and survive the race. Dave’s fabrication is the best race buggie I have ever driven and it crawled and raced like a world class machine. Dave is an excellent desert racer and crawler, we both helped each other to keep cool and finish. I have raced and finished the WRC Mexico twice without any prior rally experience, but when compared to the King of the Hammers, which is a new type of motorsport that combines 120 miles (193kms) of the most brutal rock trails and open desert terrain known to man, KOH is way more challenging and has lived up to its name of being the toughest off road race on the planet” Stated Ponce.

Ponce and Dave getting ready for takeoff into Planet KOH