Most goes Arredondo’s way for Baja 500 win
You don’t beat Baja as much as you simply attempt to survive whatever it throws with you. The Mexican peninsula provides, after all, been around a lot longer than any kind of humans running around this planet. The majority of its vast, inhospitable territory has no sign of man’s touch, which is what makes it the perfect location for an off-road race as long as you give it the respect it commands.
Take Francisco Arredondo, for example. He and teammates Shane Esposito, Justin Morgan and Roberto Villalobos have all raced the particular SCORE World Desert Championship for a long time and have been frustratingly close to that coveted overall motorcycle victory many times.
But they finally put it all together to success at the 49th SCORE Baja five hundred, round two of the series, trouncing the field by a good 26 mins after 516 grueling, diverse miles.
That’s not to say they enjoyed a perfect, trouble-free day, though. Second to final off the line in the Pro Moto Unlimited class, they quickly proved helpful to the front, though four other teams also put themselves within the running.
After several years of trying, almost everything finally fell into place meant for Francisco Arredondo and teammates Shane Esposito, Justin Morgan and Roberto Villalobos as they dealt with the invisible problems that confront any team within Baja and got that long-sought first SCORE Baja victory by a large margin.
Photo by Tag Kariya
Then Villalobos crashed, bending the left radiator on the Bremen Racing/Chris Haines Motorcycle Experience Company/Precision Concepts CRF450X.
“I got the particular bike in first place and I stayed there, but I felt the pressure! ” Villalobos admitted associated with his run from mile 80 to 210.
Asked to point out the key point in the race, Esposito didn’t think twice: “Justin’s the one who made a lot of time, ” he praised. “We began seventh; I got us into bodily first around [mile] 60 and [the] 3X [bike of Derek Ausserbauer/Ray Dal Soglio/Nic Garvin] has been staying pretty close. ”
New sponsor Derek Ausserbauer is a former front-runner in Pro Moto Ironman, yet he gladly accepted the chance to trip on the 3X Ox Motorsports device with Ray Dal Soglio and Nic Garvin. After a few setbacks, they ended up second.
Photo simply by Mark Kariya
Despite temperatures not reaching last year’s 120-plus degrees in the San Felipe region, it still topped 100 when Morgan got on the bike in Morelia Junction around mile 278.
Possible disaster loomed ahead.
Morgan admitted, “It was hotter than I thought it had been going to be. I was struggling to get a minute there, I really was. I actually ran out of water. ”
No water could quickly turn into dehydration issues possibly leading to the heat-related deaths witnessed last year, but Morgan liked enough of a lead at that point within the race to actually take a break: “I slowed up for a little bit and regrouped and I got to a pit and they are like, ‘You’ve got a big lead’ so I was like, ‘Oh thank you! Just put as much cold water upon me as you can. ’ ”
Further, the particular team made the call to put Esposito back on the bike for a fast 15-mile section and let Morgan get some nutrition as well as rest while leap-frogging ahead in a chase vehicle, getting back on the bike at the Goat Trail (mile 410) and visiting the Highway 3 crossing at Ojos Negros (mile 480), his scheduled handoff back to Esposito.
“Espo” rode unchallenged back to the start/finish in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, sealing the particular victory for a team that’s attempted for that prize many years, their moments of 11 hours, four minutes and 53 seconds (after the standard post-race tracking data review handed them a 10-minute penalty for a skipped Virtual Check Point).
Though it was an excellent 43rd birthday present for Esposito, this individual and the rest of the team aren’t satisfied to leave it at that and are already looking ahead to the SCORE tournament plus round four—the season-ending (and historic) 50th anniversary Baja a thousand.
“It’s good because we got second at the [San Felipe] two hundred and fifty and now a win so we are looking good in points, ” Morgan observed. “It always comes down to the 1000, though. It’s going to be a fight at the 1000, I know this! ”
Most of the rest of the field also appeared to face obstacles of one sort yet another. Eventual runners-up Ausserbauer/Dal Soglio/Garvin on their Ox Motorsports/Monster Energy/Lava Propane CRF450X rebounded from a disappointing DNF at San Felipe to run at the front most of the day on the 3X machine.
“There had been about four bikes within 10 minutes of each other at the halfway stage so it was definitely a fight, ” Rider of Record Dal Soglio noted. “At the halfway point we were about a minute from the leader, then 1X (ridden by fellow Ox Motorsports riders Thomas Penall/Jason Potter/Mark Samuels) was not too far behind that and I believe 100X (Monkey Business Cleaning Products Husky FE 350 riders Morgan Crawford/Kevin Murphy/Jim O’Neal was in there. There were quite a few bikes all battling in there. ”
Morgan Crawford and partners Justin Morrow, Kevin Murphy and Jim O’Neal flogged their FE 350 to the Pro Moto Unlimited (under 401cc) win, finishing fifth bike general and beating lots of 450s.
Photograph by Mark Kariya
Garvin had vision issues in the early portion of the race when solid fog combined with silty dust as well as the rising sun to make his goggles almost useless, and he got handed by a few bikes. Once in to cleaner air and with fresh eye protection, though, he raged. Dal Soglio exclaimed, “He got us returning to second; at one point i was only seven seconds behind the best choice until he blew a corner, yet he put down a little over two hundred miles straight. He’s just a beast, man! I’ve got to give him a lot of credit. ”
Though they lost contact with the 45X team in the last 1 / 2 of the race, they remained a great second, finishing in 11: thirty: 26.
Fourth to the finish line yet third on corrected time visited defending race and series winners on the 1X Ox Motorsports bicycle Penhall/Potter/Samuels in 11: 35: 29 after starting last in the Pro Moto Unlimited field to fight not only dust but spectator visitors going the wrong way on the race training course!
Additionally , Samuels crashed hard after nailing a rock on the San Felipe loop and lost significant time trying to collect himself, saying later on, “It was a big bummer and also a big-time loss. I was riding very well and went from 11 a few minutes back to two and a half minutes back again, and then that happened. ”
With team regular Daymon Stokie committed to the particular Finke desert race in his indigenous Australia, Ox Motorsports signed motocrosser Jason Potter to join Ryan Penhall and Mark Samuels on the 1X bike. Unfortunately for the defending competition and series champs, each experienced different problems pop up, slowing their own charge to finish third.
Photo simply by Mark Kariya
It just wasn’t their destiny to win this one with Penhall facing viewer traffic and Potter trying to focus on riding instead of significant gastrointestinal issues.
As the 10X Lake Powell Offroad Association CRF450X of Kadin Guard/Tommy Harris/Skyler Howes managed to pass Penhall within the final miles, their time was slightly slower at 11: 36: 33, though at one point just finishing was in doubt after Howes crashed and injured their thumb.
As he noted later, though, “That’s Baja—you’ve just got to power through it and get it in [to the finish]. ”
So , he not only rode the San Felipe loop (after much icing as well as some Ibuprofen), he also got back on plus railed his final section from the Highway 33 crossing at distance 77 (race mile 445) to the finish where he chased down plus passed 1X.
“Penhall was on the bicycle and he had quite a gap upon me and I didn’t catch his dust until almost Ojos, the reason being there were TONS of people on the course driving head-on [at me]! ” Howes exclaimed. “I almost got at LEAST five head-ons! It was a difficult, tough day and scary—tons of individuals driving on the course—so he checked up for a lot of that and I think I actually lucked out and just kind of timed it right. It ended up this individual stopped at a pit just to get a splash of fuel and I obtained him there and charged in for the finish. ”
Fifth overall bike visited Pro Moto Limited (under 401cc) winners Morgan Crawford/Justin Morrow/Kevin Murphy/Jim O’Neal on the Monkey Business Cleansing Products/PCT/HP Race Development Husky FE 350 in 12: 08: 26. Among the lead pack in the earlier going, suspected plugged up energy injectors forced them to stop several times to clean things in order to get the bicycle running again.
Other class winners incorporated Jim Holley/Ryan Senacal/Jason Thomas/Kenjiro Tsuji/Tony Wenck in Pro Moto 30 (riders over 30 years old) in 12: 50: 12 on their Hicklin Powersports YZ450FX; Jeff Kawell/Jano Montoya/Alberto Ruiz/Francisco Septien in Pro Moto 40 in 12: 22: 47 on their PB Brown KTM 450 XC-F; Robert Gates/Chris Goolsby/Bob Johnson/David Potts/Doug Smith/Steve Williams in 13: 12: 36 on their HelmetKits. possuindo KX450F; Dennis Greene/Mark Hawley/Andy Kirker/Dennis McLaughlin/Bill Tarling in Pro Moto 60 in 16: 10: forty-nine on their Tivoli CRF450X; Josear Carrasco in Pro Moto Ironman within 15: 14: 47 on his Excessive Fun Promotions RMX450Z; and Jose Galvan/Adan Garcia/Cornelio Garcia/Fermin Vargas in Sportsman Moto in 13: forty: 43 on their Pirelli-backed YZ450FX.
The 400X team of Jeff Kawell/Cesar Lopez/Jano Montoya/Alberto Ruiz/Francisco Septien not only gained Pro Moto 40 (riders forty and older) but were the first age-group team to finish, making them the seventh overall motorcycle—definitely reason to obtain excited.
Photo by Mark Kariya