Renowned Mexican actor Gael García Bernal confessed this Saturday that making his debut as a driver in a car race has been as scary as when he films his movies and he gets very nervous.
“Driving has given me the same fear I feel when I act. Before entering the stage, I’m always nervous; during the shooting of a movie the same; but it’s been fun,” revealed the film producer in response to a question from EFE, while participating as a guest in the Carrera Panamericana.
Guided by the young tractor-trailer driver Majo Rodríguez, the artist left this morning from the city of Puebla, in the center of the country, to the capital on the third stage of the Panamericana.
“I feel like a proud skydiver who just landed and I am very grateful to have been invited. Every turn was a learning experience; I was asking questions all the time. Poor Majo was fried with so many questions because she wanted to know everything,” he said, referring to his navigator.
Acclaimed in the eight speed sections of the stage, Gael thanked the people for their dedication to the drivers of the race, which this year celebrates its 75th anniversary, and confessed that he is willing to repeat the experience, although he does not like to predict the future.
“I’m getting scared that I like it so much. This is a lot of fun,” added the film director, who became known as a great actor 25 years ago as the protagonist of the film ‘Amores perros’ and since then has been a personality of 20th century Latin American cinema.
Gael García Bernal’s experience behind the wheel
Winner in 2016 of a Golden Globe for best actor in the series ‘Mozart in the jungle’, García Bernal reached speeds above 200 kilometers per hour this Saturday, although he was barely aware of that figure.
“It’s one of the things that surprised me; I never saw the speedometer. In reality, one is feeling the machine and never sees the speed at which it is going. At some point I looked and it was over 200, although I don’t know where it happened,” he explained.
García Bernal was the main personality of this Saturday’s stage, which had another renowned guest driver, the German Timo Bernhard, three-time Le Mans champion.
“I like plants more than cars, but the car is a good way to get close to plants,” concluded the Mexican actor.
Saturday’s stage was won by Mexican Ricardo Cordero, who took more than 20 seconds from Frenchman Hilaire Damiron, whose navigator is his wife, Spanish Laura Damiron.
The fourth stage of ‘La Pana’, from Mexico City to Querétaro, will be run this Sunday, reported Agencia EFE.
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