Angelica Fuentes Garcia had a very happy childhood growing up in Mexico. Along with her three siblings, she was always encouraged to follow her passion. “The smell of petrol has been around since birth,” Angelica expresses. “My grandfather raced, and my father raced rally cars back in the Sixties.
WATCH VIDEO above with Angelica talking about the Monte 100 Touristique. (Apologies for the sound issues.)
She is the second of four children following in their paternal footsteps (at one point, three of them were rallying). “When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a chef. I am still passionate about cooking but my passion for cars was greater and I started navigating for my father at age 13 and drove my first rally that same year.”
Angelica and her two sisters were “fortunate enough” to attend the Maddox Academy, one of the best girls’ schools in Mexico, where she had a bilingual education in English and Spanish from the age of four. A “generally sporty” kid, she played on the basketball and volleyball teams at school.
As a co-driver, Angelica was the first woman to win the Mexican Rally Championship in 2002, as well as having several successful seasons of rallying in England, where she ended up living. “Marriage was the reason I went to London in 2003 after I met my Scottish husband on my favourite motorsport events, La Carrera Panamericana in Mexico, which I’ve competed in 29 times.”
Having started driving in rallies more than 40 years ago, Angelica has competed in over 300 national and international events, including 13 times in the Chihuahua Express in Mexico, four times at the American rally Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, the Modena Cento Ore in Italy, which includes a leg in Florence, and Australia’s Targa Tasmania.
The 54-year-old has done the Rallye Monte Carlo Historique four times. This year she is here for the Monte 100 Touristique.
The Monte 100 Touristique marks the 100th anniversary of the first Glasgow Start of the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. Cars left from Blythswood Square on Wednesday, January 31, and took in many of the famous Cols and Passes in the French Alps before reaching Monte Carlo on February 3 at 3 pm.
Angelica arrived with her husband, Keith Mainland (WATCH VIDEO above). It was the longest rally they have driven in a rally together. “In my experience, as a co-driver having done four historic Monte Carlo rallies, there is a lot of preparation before and during the race. Team work and concentration are crucial to have a successful event as maintaining the speed and not getting lost on the regularity section is so important. With the added atmosphere of competing at night, it is a unique event.”
For Angelica, there is more to a rally than cars and competition. She uses motorsport to help raise awareness and money for Lyme disease (see box below). “I was diagnosed in 2016 after seven months of struggling, not knowing what was wrong with me but watching my health deteriorate. It has taken 22 doctors in two different continents to get a proper diagnosis.”
Eight years into her battle against Lyme disease Angelica points out, “The main impact for many people with Lyme disease, including myself, is that because there is no cure we have to learn how to live with symptoms and still function at the same time.”
The illness has quality-of-life impairing symptoms, which can leave sufferers with chronic fatigue and a diminished ability to concentrate. For Angelica, this means getting proper rest before events like the Monte-Carlo Historic Rally.
“Motorsport has been my biggest anchor to fight back and, at the same time, to raise awareness for this horrible illness to help others get a diagnosis. The disease is under the radar for doctors, yet more and more people suffer from it around the world.”
Article first published February 3, 2024.
Do You Have Lyme Disease?
Many of the celebrities diagnosed with Lyme disease – Alec Baldwin, Justin Bieber, Ben Stiller, Shania Twain, Bella Hadid and Amy Schumer – have been outspoken about the debilitating symptoms suffered from the tick-borne zoonotic disease.
According to a study published in 2022 by BMJ Global Health, nearly 14.5% of the world’s population “probably has, or has had, tick-borne Lyme disease, as indicated by the presence of antibodies in the blood.”
Early symptoms of Lyme disease, typically appearing within 3 to 30 days after a tick bite, can include a skin rash, fever, headache, and fatigue. Long-term chronic Lyme disease can lead to damage to the joints, nervous system and heart.
See the Lyme Disease Symptoms Checklist or click here to donate.