The El Cajon tandem of Doug Fortin Jr. and Charlie Townsley yesterday won the overall four-wheel title of the SCORE Baja 1000 off-road race for the
second time in three years.
San Clemente's Johnny Campbell, riding with Steve Hengeveld as his teammate, won the overall motorcycle title for the seventh straight year. The Honda
factory team completed the 808-mile course in 15 hours, 39 minutes and 32 seconds for an average speed of 51.58 mph.
Fortin and Townsley posted the second-quickest time among the 272 starters ? the largest field in 12 years ? finishing in 16:24:02 with an average
speed of 49.27 mph.
The Fortin-Townsley team reached the start-finish line in Ensenada shortly after 2:30 yesterday morning, finishing four minutes and 43 seconds ahead
of the lead Trophy Truck co-driven by Ryan Arciero and Mark Miller of Laguna Hills.
The father-son buggy team of Scott and Andy McMillin of Poway finished fourth overall in the 36th edition of the toughest single-day race in
motorsports.
Fortin and Townsley also teamed to win the overall title in the 2001 Baja 1000. The pair also finished third overall last year when Santee's Mike
Julson was the overall winner.
It was also the fourth open-buggy title for the 34-year-old Fortin and the second for the 28-year-old Townsley. In 1991, Fortin was the youngest
driver to win the overall SCORE points championship.
"It was a very technical course," said Fortin, who drove the first 325 miles. "We decided to split the race by time rather than miles. Both Charlie
and I drove about eight hours.
"The first section was pretty brutal. There was a lot of new terrain, silt and dust. There was dust in my eyes the whole time. I just took my time and
worked through the field one by one. There was a lot of attrition."
Only 153 of the 272 starters finished.
Fortin was the 35th four-wheel vehicle off the starting line at just before 10 a.m. Friday in Ensenada. The team was fourth when Townsley got into the
Chevy-powered Jimco buggy. Townsley overtook Miller's Trophy Truck and the McMillins late in the race. The McMillins were leading when they lost their
power steering 77 miles from the finish and spent 45 minutes on repairs.
"Charlie's fast," said Fortin. "I knew if I gave him the buggy in good shape and close he'd run down the rest."
Other class winners from San Diego County in the four-wheel division were Poway's Brian Ickler in the SCORE Lite buggy class and San Diego's David
Sykes in the Open Pickup division. Former motocross champion Ricky Johnson was part of the winning ProTruck team.
Ickler, 18, a senior at Poway High, will likely finish second to Dale Ebberts in the overall SCORE season championship points race. Ebberts finished
sixth overall and third in the open buggy class.
The motorcycle team led by San Diego's Joe Desrosiers won the 125cc class title and dedicated the victory to the late Andy Specht, a San Diegan who
was killed in a Nov. 1 accident while training for the Baja 1000.
Two drivers were air-lifted to Scripps Clinic in La Jolla after being injured in single-car accidents Friday afternoon at the same point on the
course. Both Vic Bruckman, 30, of Lemon Grove and Brandon Piorek, 36, of Laguna Nigel suffered back injuries when their SCORE Lite buggies flipped in
the same hole . . . although not at the same time.
The Honda 4-Trax team of San Diego County riders John Gregory, Doug Eichner, Tim Farr, Marc Spaeth and Pancho Castro won the overall ATV title in just
under 18? hours.
TMW - 11-23-2003 at 11:08 PM
Communications along the pacific was a real problem for Weatherman Friday night and Saturday morning. A lot of vehicles stuck in the silt beds. jerry - 11-24-2003 at 07:58 AM
thanks for the report tw
jerrybajataco - 11-26-2003 at 05:03 PM
Anyone know what became of the stocker Tacoma that Donahoe was supposed to run? Looks like it did not finish?bufeo - 11-26-2003 at 05:29 PM
I just returned this afternoon from Baja and want to mention that the second bike to finish was number 11X ridden by Chris Blais, Andy Grider (my
son-in-law), Chuck Dempsey, and Beau Hayden. At one point they led overall and in actuality but ran into light-bracket problems near Puertecitos--and
again just out of San Felipe. Riding at speed in the dark is no fun.
Andy was second on the bike after Chris started and rode 277 miles passing Campbell in the process.
The team finished 4th overall.
We left our daughter, granddaughter, and a pretty tired son-in-law (On Saturday after the race he rode one of his practice bikes over to our house at
Punta Bufeo--another 300+ miles!!!) relaxing by the beach yesterday.
Cheers! TMW - 11-27-2003 at 11:54 AM
The Tacoma had a rear wheel bearing and axial problem that put him out. Everything that he built for the truck work fine.
I was at race mile 325 when 11X came by first, ahead of 1X. I was surprised and thought boy we've finally got a race in the open class. I've raced
with light problems and it can be very frustrating.
Baja Mil
LaTijereta - 11-28-2003 at 07:17 AM
We were at rm300, and Campbell (1X) had a 3-4 min lead over 11X! They must of had a good race down the hwybufeo - 11-28-2003 at 01:30 PM
from LaTijereta-
Quote:
We were at rm300, and Campbell (1X) had a 3-4 min lead over 11X! They must of had a good race down the hwy
I'm not certain, but I believe that Andy passed Johnny before RM 308. So a lot must have happened between RM300 and RM308. Andy gets back
home tomorrow; I'll ask him if the dice occurred on dirt or pvmt.LaTijereta - 11-28-2003 at 03:54 PM
Honda must have pitted Campbell at the pit area before the hwy (rm307)bufeo - 11-28-2003 at 04:01 PM
LaTijereta,
I think that you are correct. That makes sense because Andy told me after the race that Johnny had to change a tire at that pit, but Andy took on
only gas--apparently mystifying the other team. Andy was able to give Chuck Dempsey a pretty good lead at the changeover and I believe gave it all
back when they put the lights on.
All in all, it meant for pretty good racing until the light brackets on the 11X broke near Puertecitos.bajataco - 12-9-2003 at 08:58 PM
