Bajaboundmoto 103X Race Report

Tim sent me and others this and I want to share it with the Nomads.

Hello all,
The Baja 1000 took place last Friday and I would like to take a few minutes of your time to tell our story and to thank some companies who really helped us out.

Really, you should read this...it's not a waste of time....I was BLEEDING and a mess at the race....

Riders of our CRF were Tim Morton (old fart from CA), Jason Trubey (30, AZ), Alfredo Contreras (23, Tijuana, MX) and Salvador Hernandez (22, Ensenada, MX).

CRF250X with full Pro Circuit motor, Precision Concepts suspension, Baja Designs lights, and Applied Racing special built parts.
Bike was put together by Tim Morton and Jim Tripp.

I'd attach some photos of our sweet looking CRFX (thanks ZLT) too but I seem to have lost the camera....sorry.

Salvador started the race (about 40th off the line) riding the first 35 miles (passing about 20 bikes) and handed the CRF to Jason for the next short section.

Within 2 miles Jason had a flat rear tire which sucked because CRF spares are non-existent in Honda Pits and we were waiting with wheels about 38 miles down the trail.
Our race wheels were all set up with airless tubes and double rimlocks so apparently the airless tubes (no brand mentioned) failed quickly.

Jason rode out the 40 mile section on the flat and the tire came off the rim about 15 miles before reaching us. He attempted to cut the tire off, but no luck. He ended up riding the rest of the way to us on just the rim.

At this point, K78 crossing, we were pretty stinkin' far back, even behind a few Quads.

Fortunately, we had set up 1 of our many spare rear wheels with the "ol' reliable" set-up.....a 110 size Dunlop Desert AT, Ultra Heavy tube, double rimlocks, and steel sprocket.
We threw this wheel on and had a quick discussion with the riders that we'd make this wheel go the remaining 640 miles of the race, to be gentle on it, because we didn't want to take a chance with our other airless tube prepped wheels.
Yeah, 640 race miles on a single rear wheel....it did well.

Salvador then rode the next 125+ miles passing a LOT of guys and the Quads, going from about 35th OA up to about 20th (I wasn't writing #'s so these are estimates).
Alfredo got on and hammered the 40 miles of solid whoops from Borrego to San Felipe passing more guys.
Jason rode the infamous Matomi loop and brought the CRFX to San Matias, race mile 408, in 7th Overall physically.
Alfredo rode the Mikes Sky Ranch loop and brought the bike to me in 5th physically, but we got passed by #400x while we were doing an air filter change and switching to a different (better) set of Baja Designs headlights.

Salvador, Alfredo, and Jason really kicked ass. They were ripping!

I rode the last 170 miles to the Finish and almost blew the entire race....

I had caught the #400x bike (around 9:00PM) before reaching Hwy. 1 at Llano Colorado and while making the pass I crashed SUPER hard.
I don't know what happened, I usually don't ride like that, it was really stupid........I was on a mission to get ahead of that 650R before hitting a section with a bunch of silt beds.
I blew it.

I don't recall much for the next couple hours but apparently I got going and stayed on the course.

I was bleeding (mostly from my nose) all over the damn place -- There was blood from the front fender to rear fender, both engine cases, on the front of the headlights, all over the top of the bike and bars and of course on my MSR gear.....even down on my boots.
It was pretty disgusting.

I also broke one of the two Baja Designs headlights so I was down to a minimal amount of light, and that light was now pointed a bit off course.

At Honda Pit #13 I have a few seconds of memory and recall seeing Brad Little. I remember him saying I was about 4 minutes behind #400x. I recall being confused but happy that I hadn't been asleep in the dirt for an hour.
I don't remember pulling into the Pit or leaving the Pit, just being stopped in the Pit.

At Honda Pit #14 I took a short break to get it (my head) together and hold back the barf.
By this point I was much better mentally, felt like I was going to pass out or barf or both, and I remember joking with Charlie Keller and his crew.
The crew cleaned me up a bit and told me I was around 4 or 5 minutes behind 400x. In hindsight I shouldn't have gotten cleaned up....it would have looked more dramatic at the Finish line! Just kidding, thanks guys!

At Honda #15 they said I was still around 4 minutes behind #400x. Now I was starting to feel like I wanted to catch him again...

In the last 15 miles of the race I caught back up to the #400x bike then he made a mistake at one of the many confusing intersections and I passed him.

I was extremely happy to go across the Finish as 5th physical bike after all that drama.

The next day we were bumped-up to 4th overall because of the 6x entry being DQ'ed. Still I consider the 6x bike as having straight up beat us, they did great.

This was my 19th Baja 1000, my 2nd crash in a Baja 1000, and by far the most issues I can recall having.
I like it more when things go smoothly. I don't like drama.

I'm bummed on myself because it was me who prepped the wheels and me who had the crash.
I preach to my co-riders about being consistent, never crashing, and never making a mistake.....now look at what I've done....

I had some photos of the bike before the race and me at the finish with RJ and Grider but I can't remember where the camera is.
Maybe it was in my F-250 crewcab that got ripped-off that night (grrrrrr!!!)........

I REALLY want to give a BIG THANK YOU to Pro-Circuit for a fantastic motor, Applied Racing, Precision Concepts, Baja Designs, American Honda, Jim Tripp, MSR, SIDI, JD Built, Dunlop, Ready Filter, all the hard working Honda Pit crews, and my race partners for another great race and a great year.

Not many people this year could believe what the little Honda was capable of!!

San Felipe 250 - 1st 250cc and 5th overall
Baja 500 - 1st 250cc and 8th overall
Glen Helen 12 Hour - 1st 250cc and 8th overall
Baja 1000 - 1st 250cc and 4th overall



Thanks again everybody!


Sincerely,
Tim Morton

When I read about the crash I could not help but think of Mouse crashing near the end in the movie Dust to Glory.

TW

Really great story