1993 Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000
1993 Tecate/SCORE Baja 1000
Race Notes
---------------------
Arriving this morning to participate as co-riders with #115x
Yoav Hassson fo Houston, Texas, are two Israelis entering their first
Baja 1000. Nadav Lugasy, 26, a motorcycle mechanic, and Guy Luria, 26,
a farmer, come from nothern Israel, a pastoral area 150 kilometers from
the Lebanon boarder. They have not had time to pre-run the course and
have never been in a race like this before. "The biggest race in Israel
is a rally that lasts two days and goes about 400 miles," Lugasy said.
[NOTE: This team was listed as a DNF (did not finish)]
---------------------
A friend and business associate of Rich Minga stopped in the
pressroom, and he comes from even farther away than Lugasy and Luria.
Abdul Abdul Wahld of Qatar, the tiny gulf country, is here to observe
and report to his club of off-road enthusiasts back home. Next October
Qatar will be hosting one of the world championship rounds of race/rally
events. Called Qatar Desert Raid, the event was started in 1990. Wahld
expects to be joined later today or tomorrow by Abbas Al Mosawi, the
1990 Qatar champ, and possibly by Said Al Hagari, current Middle East
champ from the Rothmans Mitsubishi Pajero team. Speculation has
appeared in racing publications that the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will be
included in the proposed world championship series in 1994, but Sal
Fixh, CEO of SCORE International, said that no one has spoken to him
about it.
---------------------
#112 Walker Evans and #102 Brian Stewart will be driving "the
first new full-size trucks from Dodge in 22 years," debuting them in
this race. Evans, who claims 118 wins in 24 years he has been racing,
describes the new truck: "The front end design is really sleek. Instead
of the raised hood line, they dropped the sides of the hood down on the
fenders, which eliminated the front corners. The aerodynamics have
changed with the new look -- windshield shape, the air dam, the angled
headlamps -- the entire overhead view is narrower. And the grill is now
attached to the hood, which makes it easier to get to the engine." The
new truck also features a new 488 cubic inch V-1o engine. Evans praises
the engine for its high torque and smoothness. Because of the layout of
the engine under the hood, it creates a lower hood line and give him
better front visibility, he said.
---------------------
Last November Jon Snyder was a happy finisher in class 4,
especially pleased that along the way to a 2nd-in-class-4 finish in La
Paz he passed his idol, Rod Hall a few miles from the end of the race. A
paraplegic, Snyder co-drove to his histroic accomplisment with Lance
Megan, another paraplegic. Snyder, a mechanic for Mike Swellinger's
Conejo Off-Road, is back in $449 Dodge to set yet another record --
finishing this race without driving reliief. His long-time boss and
No. 1 fan, Schwellinger, is standing by to drive in an emergency, but
Snyder fully plans to start and drive all the way. The hand controls,
partly store bought, were modified and installed by Snyder and one of his
mechanic friends, George Kreider. Snyder will steer and shift with his
right hand, manipulate the gas and brakes with his left. The only time
he has to take his hand off the steering wheel is when he shifts. Last
year, Snyder said, he incorrectly indentified his Dodge ruck as a Rod
Hall hand-me-down. Actually, he said, it is a former Don McCormick ruck,
1986 model, but with the cab off Hall's '82 Dodge truck. Since a year
ago it has been partly rebuilt by Curt LeDuc to increase rear wheel
travel from 11 to 20 inches. The truck is powered by a 398 cubic inch
small block engine. [NOTE: Snyder DNFed]
---------------------
This race marks the competitive dehbut of the AM General Hummer,
the civilian version of the U.S. Army's HMMWV (Humvee) that served with
such distinctionin the Persian Gulf War. Rod Hall and his son Chad will
each drive a Hummer in the race in the Stock Full class. hall, who is
the only entrant in the race who has competed in every one of teh
previous 1000s, claims that his aim is to finish the race. He has no
pretentions aside from winning, but "If they throw me a checkered flag,
I'll catch it."
---------------------
Tony Tellier brought copious notes from last Sunday's BFGoodrich
pre-race meeting for its teams. Excerpts:
Sal Fish -- "Mexicali is not a sleepy, little Mexican village. You'll
be celebrities, like Madonna and Bruce Springfield."
Bob Bower -- Eat! You'll get low blood sugar and make bad decisions,
because you've got no time -- and need to get on to your next mistake."
On geography: Laguna Salada used to be lined with salt cedars encrusted
with barnacles several feet up the trunk, but water levels were higher
then, when the Colorado River was not totally depleted by the time it
hit the gulf.
On the British team's slogan: "That he which hath no stomack to this
flight, let him depart." That quote is attributed to Henry V before the
Battle of Agincourt.
On the notorious "beach route" north to San Felipe, this anonymous
comment: "If this was realty, property for sale, there would be an
injunction granted or law suits filed for false advertising. The Sea of
Cortez is miles away. The only beach we encountered was a 'son of
one.'"
---------------------
Total Starters
Motorcycles & ATVs 78
Cars & trucks 182
Total 260
---------------------
At 5:50 p.m. SCORE's medical unit in San Felipe reported that an
unidentified rider on the 16x team had fallen and was injured one mile
south of the Zoo Road in that area. An ambulance was dispatched to
check him over and make a decision on how best to treat him. The
injured rider had a little difficulty telling his rescuers what was
wrong with him, as he spoke only Japanese. When the ambulance and medics
reached him they determined he had a possible broken arm and injuries to
the neck and back. He was taken to the clinic in San Felipe for
treatment.
---------------------
Reports from the Tecate Depot, K16, where the official finish of
the race will be, are that the crowds have swelled to huge proportions.
Traffic on the road between there and the ceremonial finish on Av. de
los Heroes in the Civic Center is so heavy that finishers will require a
police escort for several hours. The police escort was part of a
prearranged plan.
---------------------
The 1x Kawasaki ridden up to the finish line on Ave. de los
Heroes by Larry Roeseler was the first to finish the Tecate SCORE Baja
1000 and was the apparent overall motorcycle season champion, was
waiting at the arch marking La Meta. Hamel was hurting from having
crashed hard late in the race. The unofficial elapsed time was 13:57:23
for an average speed of 54.63 mph. Roeseler declared he was "glad to be
a part of Baja," celebrating his 9th victory in this race. Hamel said,
"I had a little crash this evening, but I'm all right now. It was a
tough race. It lived up to its reputation. I guess it was very
difficult for my teammates." The third rider today was Ty Davis of
Hesperia, not Ted Hunnicutt J., as the official entry blank stated.
Hamel said he started the race and rode 7 miles to assure that he would
get the points he needed from winning the race. Roeseler rode from
there to Oasis Road, where the team physically took over the lead. Hamel
raced from there to Borrego, Davis from there to San Felipe, where Hamel
took over and rode to Borrego again. Tha's when auto traffic began to
get heavy, Hamel said. Davis rode to El Chinero, and with newly
installed lights Hamel began riding in the fading light, dust and
traffic. In the dust he didn't see a rock and crashed, flying over the
handlebars. He limped into Oasis for rebuilding the subframe. The bike
needed more repairs at Cohabuso Junction. Roeseler, who was aboard by
then, said the chain, filter and rear wheel were changed and gas added
in that last stop, which took 5 minutes. "We had a little cushion by
then," Roeseler said, "and we decided not to take any chances with the
bike. This is the most parts we've ever gone through. I don't know how
many wheels we went through, maybe four or five."
---------------------
The scene was awe inspiring when #125 Ivan Stewart turned the
corner from Blvd. Lopez mateos onto Av. de los Heroes and faced a sea of
delirious fans, shouting "Ivan!" and waving their arms. The crowd had
swelled to as many as 10,000, and ther was barely an inch to spare as
Stewart crept down the street with his victorious Toyota. It took
several minutes for him to unstrap himself and climb out of the car, and
when he did Stewart Jumped atop the cab and raised his arms in victory.
There was barely enough room for him to walk to the victory stand.
Stewart, speaking to the throng: "I have never been to a race where the
people have been so hospitable and so enthusiastical. I love Mexicali
and all you people. The Toyota ran perfectly. It was a perfect day.
Nothing could go wrong. No flats. No troubles. Everything just clicked.
I can't get over the size of the crowds. They were all over the course,
and of course here in Mexicali. If SCORE International will put another
race onhere, I'll be back. I have a lot of friends in Ensenada, and I
love that town, too, but I do believe the people here are more excited
about our racing than anybody anywhere else. "Talking specifically about
his race, Stewart had to be reminded about the close call he had near
the Don Abel poit, When #100 Jason Baldwin charged out of teh pits in
front of him, and he had to take evasive action to keep from hitting
Baldwin or the crowd. "Oh, yes," Stewart said. "I forgot about that. He
did it again to me farther down the road, but I finally go around him."
His closest call, Stewart said, was when he "had an encounter with a
tree." Continuing, Stewart said, "There was a point in midrace when
Larry Ragland was charging hard, and so was (Rob) MacCachren. I had to
wait till we got to the rough parts before I could get away from them.
Larry and Rob stepped it up quite a bit." Was the tree his only serious
problem? "No, I had several close callsw. That's what's great abou8t
this sport. You never know what's aroudn the next corner or over the
next hill."
---------------------
Dave Ashley, unofficial winner in class 4: "In the beginning of
the race it was Chevy and Ford running back and forth. It looks like
Ford came out on top in class 8 and 4. This was a 768-mile race, and it
went down to the last 100 miles between #400 Jerry McDonald and me. It
rained a lot, but there's no words that can describe those 100 miles of
whoop-de-doos. I don't want to think about those until next year. We
lost one power steering cooler, but BFG was right there on the spot. I
saw McDonald when I came out of Matomi Wash. I had to catch him before
Puertocitos, and I came upon him in the wash. I saw him limping along on
a flat. He later passed me and I passed him back. He's not far away.
He's on his way in."
---------------------
Waiting in the still large crowd that greeted MacCachren at the
finish line after midnight was Gordon, the apparent winner of a pool
that totalled $18,000 subscribed to by a group of drivers who
rediscovered the old tradition of off-road racing -- a private bet among
competitors. Gordon was anxious to beach MacCachren, who was a pool
winner last year, and Ivan Stewart wasn't in it this year. Resutls,
unofficially, showed that Gordon probably collected the first prize. He
edged MacCachren by less than 5 minutes, 14:35:37 to 14:40:00.
---------------------
#400 Jerry McDonald got a kick out of having a police escort
back in town from La Meta. "It's the first time I've been able to run a
red light in this town without getting a ticket," he wisecracked. "The
dry lake was the 'funnest' thing. I was out there doing '360s' in the
rain."
---------------------
#861 Rad Hall slapped his uniform as he mounted the podium,
creating clouds of dust worthy of the comic strip character "Pigpen."
Hall: "I ran 4th for quite awhile. At the end of the dry lake I was
4th. (Gordon) DiCarlo was in the lead, and he got stuck in the sand
dunes. I knew going in I couldn't run with 'em at speed, but I could run
with them in the bad stuff. I took the lead by the Onyx Mine on the way
back. I'm really impressed with the Hummer. We were 25 miles an hour
down for awhile, but we got into the race in the bad stuff. That's
where the Hummer was teh toughest. Next year our plans are to be able
to run speeds upwards to 100 miles an hour with a new, bigger diesel
engine. This was a nice race for us. It may be the last race I drive
by myself. I have a couple of talented sons, and I think I'm going to
let them do some of the driving."
---------------------
#722 Jeff Lewis had an "amazingly trouble-free run," he said.
He had one flat tire on the San Felipe loop halfway between Oasis and
Borrego, because, he said, "The driver was having too much fun sliding
through the corners." The dry lake wasn't a dry lake when Lewis got
there. Lewis: "I was doing 85 miles an hour, and all of a sudden we
were sideways. I thought we had a flat. I stopped to look at the
tires, and they were round and full of mud."
---------------------
As usual, the Tecate SCORE Baja 100 has lured a broad range of
entrants from across the United States and around the world. This
year's race has attracted entrants from Canada, Denmark, France, Israel,
Japan, Mexico, United Kingdom (including England and Wales) and the
United States. From the U.S., states represented are Arizona,
California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Minnesota,
Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Virginia.
---------------------
For media trackers, it is on interest to note that this race was
covered by representatives of news and information outlets in Australia,
France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Protugal, Qatar,
Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.
Comments
Post a Comment