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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5847
Registered: 7-18-2011
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San Felipe Race Report
Photos by me, BajaLucy and HelloMrSoul.
We bailed the casa around 6 AM en route to San Felipe for the 250 with fellow nomad Hello Mr Soul and BajaLucy. Our destination was west of La
Ventana to do a pit for THR.
Rain lead to snow as we crossed the mountains over the Tecate Divide and into the Imperial Valley.
We headed into San Felipe for supplies and a final fuel stop.
We left black top for dust and sand. I had discussed this route with TW and David K prior to leaving after hearing there were some areas of deep
sand. Thanks for the consultation guys.
It was blowing at least 30-40 knots, with gusts possibly higher. At one point visibility was about 30 feet as we approached the pump station for the
gold mine. We arrived and staked out our pit territory. I'v got pictures of the road, but couldn't locate yet - I'll post later.
Race day!!!
We awoke before dawn and put our boots on (I'm normally in flip flops=))
Our rider left San Felipe first and we expected him about 7:30AM. We were excited to say the least.
We ran a few practice drills with the kids.
More to follow..................................
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Ateo
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The excitement grew with each passing moment as we tracked the riders from 30 miles away, across the valley, at speeds of maybe 60-70 MPH. We could
only see the dust trail they were leaving. Our rider left first from San Felipe. We hoped to see him first, but as the chopper approached, the rider
we saw was wearing orange.
"Orange, Orange!!!" we screamed to each other and to the Honda pit on the other side of the race course. The good sportsmanship was stellar.
It was the KTM rider (2X) and all I can say is he hauled arse right by us.
Maybe a minute behind came our rider - Mr. Pearson.
and like that......we were done!
Time to sit back and relax and watch the other come thru!!
More to follow................Photobucket is acting up.
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
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There is a guy on a motorcycle in this picture.
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David K
Honored Nomad
Posts: 64490
Registered: 8-30-2002
Location: San Diego County
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Mood: Have Baja Fever
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Great photos Jon... Looks like you were right by one of the gold mine wells... no sand issues I hope?
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Ateo
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We then packed up and headed for RM 65 to watch the trophy trucks.
While we waited, we hiked.
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Ateo
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Yeah DK, We we're camped right next to the pump station and well. One of the employees named Trinidad came over and hung out for a while. No sand
issues whatsoever. Toyota.
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5847
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The Winner:
We bailed after the trucks and headed for the border, where our trip promptly came back to reality - Secondary Inspection.
Boy, being told to get out of the truck and wait in a fenced in area with semi barbed wire while they tore thru our stuff really sucked.
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All in all it was an epic trip. Thanks to mi esposa BajaLucy and mi amigo HelloMrSoul!
Big Thanks to THR Motorsports. You run a team with integrity and quality. Thanks for letting us come along!
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rts551
Elite Nomad
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Very nice report.
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willardguy
Elite Nomad
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david didn't try to ride off with the dump can again did he?
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
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| Quote: | Originally posted by willardguy
david didn't try to ride off with the dump can again did he?
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Hilarious. Man, that cost him the championship..........I think he learned his lesson, but the image of him doing this is just funny.
I did hear him saying to himself over and over "do not drive off with with the dump, do not drive off with the dump"............
Just kidding.
He's a class act.
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Pacifico
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Great report! Wish I could have made it down....
"Plan your life as if you are going to live forever. Live your life as if you are going to die tomorrow." - Carlos Fiesta
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
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Thanks guys. Any other Nomads down there and where were ya? Maybe we almost crossed paths? Cortez Blue, where were you?
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TMW
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Registered: 9-1-2003
Location: Bakersfield, CA
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Excellent report and pictures. Oooh what feeling to be in the desert on race morning with the quick fill ready and waiting, especially with a hot cup
of coffee in hand standing by a camp fire. Fumes to live by. Thanks
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
Posts: 5847
Registered: 7-18-2011
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| Quote: | Originally posted by TW
Excellent report and pictures. Oooh what feeling to be in the desert on race morning with the quick fill ready and waiting, especially with a hot cup
of coffee in hand standing by a camp fire. Fumes to live by. Thanks |
Perfect analysis. Couldn't have said it any better.
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steekers
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I just happened to be above it all in my airplane. The plan was to assist the chase helicopters follow the leader trophy trucks. As we started from
the Arches, there were masses of people lining the course. It is very interesting watching from 1000 feet above, considering I raced the 2008 course
in my 12 car (score lite). Wheyrich was ahead until he stopped for many minutes on the Diablo dry lake bed. Don't know what the issue was. One of the
choppers landed there as well. I saw McMillin's chopper land at the north silt bed area to pick up crew, while their King Air twin engine turbo prop
was at 21,000 feet monitoring.
There were lots of private jets that brought teams in...thus avoiding the long border wait times upon return.
I assisted the Score doctor in stabilizing a 30+ year old spectator whose UTV was severely damaged from a frond end collision and needed to be sent to
the US. His co rider did not make it, and just as the Score rescue chopper lifted off around Morelia Jct. the patient went pulse less, and they landed
right next to the Baja Medical clinic by El Dorado Ranch. This 70 year old had bilateral femur fractures and other serious injuries. The old guy was
pronounced dead at the clinic. Very sad.
Will try to get some aerials posted soon.
Wht an awesome day!
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David K
Honored Nomad
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Hi Steekers, see the other race thread on Nomad for some news on the two folks killed. Glad you had fun from above... how many hours did you stay up
there?
Here's your Class 12/ Score Lite racer (featuring Baja Nomad and 'got baja?' steekers)!!
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TMW
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I was following the vehicles on the SCORE sight and there was a plane in the mix as they headed for the north end of the course. Maybe that was
Steekers if you had a tracking device on board.
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tripledigitken
Ultra Nomad
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Condolances to the family of the gentleman that died. RIP
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steekers
Nomad
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I was in the air for 4.5 hrs and had an IRC tracking device for enhanced safety. Could have stayed up longer, but my co-pilot wife was getting a bit
ancy on the canyon turbulence and we left our prepared lunch at the airport. My BS was getting low.
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Ateo
Elite Nomad
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From Robby Bell:
Course cutting, Penalties and Protests. Oh my!
This year’s San Felipe 250 was chalked full of incident. Everyone has their opinion on what happened during the race, and the week leading up, and
there’s really not a right or wrong point of view as it’s all in how the events have been interpreted by each individual. Having said that, here’s my
take on our side of the drama.
Over the past few years it seems the athletes racing SCORE have become more “creative” with their line choices and it’s become more noticeable lately
as the competition has elevated, the stakes have risen and more exposure has come into the sport of Baja racing. Line creativity has always been a
part of racing south of the border as it was looked at as the Wild West, a last bit of freedom in an ever-condensing world. Even before Dust to Glory
publicized Johnny Campbell’s “beach line” I’d heard stories of some extravagant course deviations. Bruce Ogilvie once told me that instead of using
the nasty Old Puertecitos road, he jumped out onto Highway 5 for the forty-mile stretch without giving it a second thought.
The difference between then and now, of course, is that technology has allowed race officials and fans the opportunity to see these lines and since
raised discussion in public view over whether taking them is fair or not. In my personal opinion I do believe in regulating how far racers can stray
from the course, but I also feel it’s a bit of a sticky wicket because there are so many lines that have developed over the years that have previously
been deemed legal and not every racer pre-runs with a GPS to know if he or she is within the limits of the racecourse. The obvious answer is to tell
everyone to beat right down the arrows, but in the pro class, with money on the line and sponsor expectations high, it’s only natural to push the
edges of what’s legal. I know from personal experience how salty of a taste it leaves when I’m working my butt off hitting a section of whoops only to
later learn that I lost time to another rider who was on a smoother, faster line over half a mile off the course. At the end of the day, though, if
the rules are in place, it’s up to us to follow them to the best of our ability.
Coming into the San Felipe race it was assumed that the “classic” SCORE rules still applied for this race; spreading is acceptable so long as you make
the Virtual Check Points (VCPs). We had a meeting with SCORE and Johnny Campbell and left with the understanding that it wouldn’t be until the Baja
500 that a course width would come into effect. Flash forward to Thursday afternoon, less than a day and a half before the race, when I sign up and
receive my race bulletin that states any course deviation further than 500 feet from centerline will be penalized. This came as a bit of a shock as my
teammates and I (and a lot of other racers) had been pre-running with the classic rules in our minds so we had an informal meeting with Roger that
night, which Johnny attended as well. We were informed that the rule change had been posted on Monday, on the Internet, but unfortunately for us, we
had been in San Felipe since the previous Thursday without Internet or a way to understand that a change had been made. Johnny had an advantage as he
was still in the States at that time and saw the changes online, so he informed his riders to pre-run both within the 500 foot limits and classic
SCORE lines, and as a result was in favor of keeping the 500ft rule in place. My team and the KTM team both agreed the best thing to do was to revert
to the classic rules, as the Honda boys still knew the wide lines and it would be a more even playing field, but the decision was made to keep the
500ft ruling.
After learning all of this, I had to go run my sections again Friday morning to measure what lines would be legal and also just to see the course, as
in some spots with many parallel lines, I had to learn which one was the centerline racecourse. I got a basic grasp on what I was going to do on race
day, but then another announcement was made at the rider’s meeting that made things even more vague than before: spreading would be allowed in the
sand washes, the silt beds and lines deemed to be parallel. David and I both had “parallel lines” further than 500 feet off course, so we just left it
at being a race day decision as to taking them or not. Come race day and I know all of us, the Honda included, took lines that were further than 500
feet off the course, it seems more of a judgment decision which lines would end up being penalized. As of right now I don’t know what lines we, and
the KTM team, got penalized for and I’m also not saying the Honda took any lines that should have been penalized. It is my personal opinion at that
the results should have stood the way the race ended. The KTM was the best team on the day, the Honda beat us fair and square and I think Kendall and
Ryan were probably the only open pro team to pound the arrows around the entire track (maybe we should start a petition to give them the win!). I
don’t feel we took any lines that “cut” the course so I’d be interested to see what lines we took that were deemed to be illegal.
Moving forward I am a fan of the 500-foot course width, but I feel their needs to be open discussion about it and the rules need to be solidly in
place before pre-running starts. I feel the tracking data should be visible to all of the teams after the race so we can have a candid meeting over
any deviations and more of a consensus rather than blaming and finger pointing. I believe narrowing the course boundaries will make the sport more
competitive and affordable as racers who can’t spend a week and a half pre-running to find all of the lines will be on a more level playing field.
Hopefully it will have an added benefit of pre-runners (cars and bikes/quads) putting in fewer miles over the already beat terrain, allowing the
racecourses a little more recovery and it will also be safer from the standpoint that a rider won’t crash a quarter of a mile off course, making it
difficult to find him/her. I feel there are a lot of positives that can come out of this rule change and I applaud Roger and SCORE for implementing
it. It’s unfortunate all of the controversy that arose from San Felipe, but I feel it will improve our sport in the long run and allow us to continue
to enjoy racing the sport we love in an ever-developing country.
Robby Bell
www.robbybellracing.com
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