In February 1989, a car competition was held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, in which drivers from 13 countries competed at the wheel of identical cars.

Motor sports thrived in Mexico in the 1990s and was extremely popular, with several major companies investing huge sums to see Mexican drivers compete in Formula 1 or the CART series. All categories of the Mexican National Series featured crowded starting grids.

The organizer of the Mexican Formula K championship, Michel Jourdain’s company Promotodo, had capitalized on this enthusiasm to organize a kind of “Olympic Games” of motorsport, bringing together international drivers representing their respective countries and competing in identical cars .

Like some other journalists, I had been invited to attend this event, which took place on February 24, 25, and 26, 1989 in Mexico City. However, reading the registration list revealed a few surprises.

While some pilots were fairly well known, others were downright obscure, except perhaps in their own countries. Germany counted on Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Frank Biela, Italy on Giovanni Morbidelli and Vittorio Zoboli, Argentina on Juan Manuel Fangio II and Guillermo Kissling, Wilson and Christian Fittipaldi represented Brazil, Josele Garza and Oscar Manautou ran for Mexico, the USSR was represented by Nickolaï Bolshikh and Alexei Grigoriev, Ricardo Galeano and Jordi Gené ran for Spain, Derek and Justin Bell represented Great Britain, Jim Richard and Allan Grice ran for Australia, United States United relied on John Andretti and Tom Bagley, Naoki Nagasaka and Kiyoshi Mizaki From Japan and France resorted to Philippe Gache and Jacques Goudchaux.

Canada was represented by Allen Berg and Peter Baljet. Berg had previously driven with Osella in Mexico and in Formula 1. Baljet from British Columbia was a good friend of Berg’s and had raced in IMSA GTO.

The GT cars prepared for the race were roll-cage-equipped Dodge Shadows powered by 2.2-liter Chrysler turbocharged engines. From the first tests it was a disaster. The engines broke, exploded and self-destructed at an alarming rate! The lubrication system seemed poorly designed and the four cylinders suffered from heat, altitude and excessive boost pressure. “We did two or three laps of the track and the engine exploded. We would return to the hotel and take advantage of the buffets, bars and pool! Baljet recently told me.

An eventful race

Allan Grice was quickest in first qualifying but it was Frentzen, Jacques Villeneuve’s former Formula 1 Williams team-mate, who secured pole position ahead of Gené, Morbidelli, Fangio, Goudchaux and Christian Fittipaldi.

The start is in the early afternoon, Sunday 26 February. Frentzen took the lead while Gené spun in front of the entire peloton and his Shadow hit the rails. Shortly thereafter, John Andretti and Kiyoshi Mizaki crashed, neutralizing the race. Some drivers take advantage of this and decide to stop in the pits for a few seconds to lower the engine oil temperature.

At the restart, Frentzen leads in front of Goudchaux. A little later Justin Bell and Bagley come into contact and another neutralization follows. Morbidelli passes Frenzten and the latter pirouettes while trying to resist Goudchaux.

Baljet has to stop in the pits to have a flat tire changed. Garza climbs to fourth place to the delight of the crowd while the other Mexican, Manautou, retires with an engine failure.

Morbidelli has a good lead over his rivals and crosses the finish line in first place in this 100 km race, ahead of Frentzen and Biela. Fangio is fourth ahead of Wilson Fittipaldi, Nagasaka, Garza, Derek Bell, Ricardo Galeano and Nickolai Bolshikh. With a total of 146 points, Germany won the team title ahead of Italy and Argentina.

Allen Berg is 11th while Baljet finishes the race in 17th place. Canada ended up seventh in the country ranking. “Motorsport was extremely popular in Mexico at the time. There were several major sponsors. The event was excellently organized and Michel Jourdain always treated me very well,” says Allen Berg.

“Coming from the single seater, I have to admit that I felt a bit lost in a closed car. I had a hard time understanding how to drive this car and I wasn’t very fast. You also had to know how to use the suction power. Coming from single seaters with large aerodynamic downforce, I lacked the experience to use this phenomenon. I don’t remember ever having major mechanical problems with my car. But it was a great event, very professional,” adds Berg.

The Nations’ Challenge was never presented again.