BajaNomad

baja 500 2006

wire89 - 2-12-2006 at 11:07 AM

My family will be taking our first drive trip to Baja for the 500 races. Where can I find a boatload of info on making the trek.

roads, and conditions
how to find and watch the race paths
traveling backroads
finding checkpoints
etc, etc, etc

thanks.

bajalou - 2-12-2006 at 01:44 PM

The race course informationwill be posted bu Score but not till probably the middle of May. Example - the 250 course won't be posted till Feb 20th and the race is Mar 11th.

But check them out www.score-international.com/

When they post the corse map it will show the Checkpoints etc - go from there

[Edited on 2-12-2006 by bajalou]

mcgyver - 2-12-2006 at 02:58 PM

Course map will be posted 20 Feb.

bajalou - 2-12-2006 at 07:38 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by mcgyver
Course map will be posted 20 Feb.


Thats for the San Felipe 250 - he was asking about the 500

:biggrin:

surfer jim - 2-13-2006 at 08:39 AM

wire89...is this your first trip to BAJA or just the first time you will go to see the race?......

TMW - 2-13-2006 at 07:31 PM

wire89 if you want to get an ideal of the courses that have been used in the past several years and the notes related to them go to www.rlhcomm.com. They have race info from races past.
Score will use much of the same course usually with only minor changes. Also it may be run in the opposite direction. Also there has been talk of the races starting and finishing at Ojos Negros. With a Baja Almanac you can pretty much find places to go to watch. The thing you don't want to do is be on the race course on race day. Contingency is on Friday the day before race and is lots of fun in Ensenada. Hotels are hard to get so make reservations early.

David K - 2-13-2006 at 08:17 PM

I have some photos from the Baja 500 in 2003 at http://vivabaja.com/500 we were about 80 miles from the start, just east of Hwy. 3...

Here's one of the photos:







[Edited on 2-16-2006 by David K]

Bruce R Leech - 2-13-2006 at 08:30 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
I have some photos from the Baja 500 in 2003 at http://vivabaja.com/500 we were about 80 miles from the start, just east of Hwy. 3...

oops... looks like a web error for going to page 2... try http://vivabaja.com/500/page2.html

and page 3: http://vivabaja.com/500/page3.html

Here's one of the photos:





[Edited on 2-14-2006 by David K]


grate photos David and a really nice website

David K - 2-13-2006 at 08:42 PM

Thanks Bruce... It used to work! The pages connecting, that is... My web host will fix it...

wire89 - 2-13-2006 at 08:46 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by surfer jim
wire89...is this your first trip to BAJA or just the first time you will go to see the race?......


First time to see the race.
I've been to various portions of baja but only once driving, and that was a while ago.

wire89 - 2-13-2006 at 08:50 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by TW
wire89 if you want to get an ideal of the courses that have been used in the past several years and the notes related to them go to www.rlhcomm.com. They have race info from races past.
Score will use much of the same course usually with only minor changes. Also it may be run in the opposite direction. Also there has been talk of the races starting and finishing at Ojos Negros. With a Baja Almanac you can pretty much find places to go to watch. The thing you don't want to do is be on the race course on race day. Contingency is on Friday the day before race and is lots of fun in Ensenada. Hotels are hard to get so make reservations early.


TW..is it realistic to see the race from a couple of different spots. Say at an early checkpoint then drive off to a later checkpoint?
Also, can I get around most of the race viewing areas with 2-wheel drive (2005 Tacoma)?

TMW - 2-14-2006 at 08:23 AM

Yes you can. For example you can watch it at Ojos Negros them drive down hwy 3 to El Alamo area and watch it cross the hwy again and then down to Valley Trinidad as it comes down the goat trail and goes up to Mike's Sky Rancho and back down before going to the coast. Just be careful even on the hwy as chase crews sometimes think they're racing the race as they go down the hwy. Also keep in mind that the motorcycles start about 6am, then there is about a 2hr delay before the first trucks and cars leave the starting line. If you plan right you'll get a full days worth of race watching in. A fun thing to do is to setup where there are pits only stay out of their way, and watch the action. If your lucky some racer with little help may need you to jump in and help. Maybe some low dollar racer with the wife or girl friend pitting or a motorcycle with dad pitting him and needs help. I've done this many times and love it. Even if your just spotting for him to re-enter the race course at the pit. Always think safety. If you can get a radio that tunes to 151.625Mhz you can listen to Weatherman about the race as it's going on. But please don't talk on the radio unless it's an emergency.

mcgyver - 2-15-2006 at 10:01 AM

YEP , You are right BajaLou ! I have the 250 on my mind!!
I am hosting the DP racing prerunners this weekend, 2/18 and I fully expect them to win their class. Again & Again.
This will be one of the dusty races, the pre runners alone are obscuring the mountains with dust already.
If it does not rain before the race a lot of it will be run in the blind.
Fun Pre Running: