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Vildosola Makes History with Baja 1000 win
Races Points Tech Notes Score Store Message Boards Volkswagen Race Videos Mexico’s Vildosola Racing Makes Magical History At 43rd Tecate SCORE Baja
1000
Published on November 21 2010
Mexico’s Vildosola Racing Makes Magical History With Trophy Truck & Overall Win.
Norman/Cody Win Class 22 & Overall Motorcycle.
Appleton Brothers Win Class 1 Unlimited.
Brandon Brown's Team Captures Overall ATV Victory.
Jesse Jones Finishes 12th in SCORE Trophy Truck to Capture 2010 Class & Overall Points Titles.
LA PAZ, Mexico– Etching their names on the granite history of the world’s most legendary desert race, Mexico’s son and father desert racers Gustavo
Vildosola Jr. and Sr., along with the team of Kendall Norman/Quinn Cody became part of motorsports history by capturing the overall 2-wheel and
4-wheel victories in the 43rd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the granddaddy of all desert races. The 1061.69-mile 43rd edition of the legendary Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000 desert race down Mexico’s mysteriously magical Baja Peninsula ran from Ensenada from La Paz. The season finale of the five-race 2010
SCORE Desert Series ended Saturday. Gustavo Jr., 28, and Gustavo Sr., 57, of Mexicali, Mexico have become the first Mexican national team to capture
the overall title in the “Granddaddy of all Desert Racing” in their No. 21 Ford F-150 SCORE Trophy-Truck in the 43-year history of the world’s most
famous desert race.
Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif. and Cody, Buellton, Calif., the JCR/Honda Racing team stars, dominated the motorcycle portion of the race on their Honda
CRF450X and brothers Steve and Chris Appleton of Boise, Idaho, withstood the challenge and conquered the Baja in the unlimited class 1 in a
Chevy-powered Jimco open-wheel desert race car.
After complete review of the data tracking devices used by each vehicle in the race and with time penalties assessed accordingly for course deviations
and/or speeding on the brief pavement sections used as part of the race course, the results were declared official by SCORE International officials at
3:30 p.m. PST on Saturday afternoon.
As the finish line in La Paz closed Saturday morning at 10:02 a.m. PST for 201 official finishers in the 43rd annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, it was
obvious that another memorable and colorful chapter had been added to the legacy of this popular desert race in the magnificent Baja California
peninsula.
With 292 starters leaving the Ensenada starting line Thursday morning, competitors from 37 states and 19 countries battled the rugged terrain in cars,
trucks, motorcycles and ATVs in 33 Pro and 7 Sportsman classes. Massive crowds reaching nearly 250,000 lined the historic Baja peninsula to gain a
glimpse of the competitors. Vehicles left the start line in 30-second intervals and all vehicles had 45 hours to become official finishers of the
race.
The 292 official starters represents the third highest number in the 18 years it has finished in La Paz and it is the 11th highest total in the
43-year history of the race. The 197 official finishers represents the third-highest number in the 18 years it has finished in La Paz and it is the
fifth-highest total in the entire 43-year history of the event.
The finishing percentage this year was an amazing 67.5 percent considering the extremely dusty, bone-crushingly rocky and sometimes foggy conditions
and the unique ruggedness of the course.
Winning the overall ATV and Class 24 title was the team led by Brandon Brown, Umatilla, Ore., who covered the course on a Honda TRX450R in 24:54:08,
averaging 42.63 mph. His co-riders were Jorie Williams, Longview, Wash./Mike Kelley III, Edgewood, Wash./Kenny Sanford, Tacoma, Wash./Nick Nelson,
Tehachapi, Calif.
The Vildosolas came close to the overall victory in 2007 when they placed second to winners Mark Post and Rob MacCachren in the 40th anniversary event
that finished in Cabo San Lucas.
In this year’s race, Gus Vildosola Jr. started and finished and Gus Sr. drove a section in the middle the grueling route. They finished with an
unofficial overall time of 19 hours and four seconds, averaging 55.67 miles per hour, marking the first time a 4-wheel vehicle has recorded a faster
time than the motorcycles since 1973 in a peninsula run to La Paz and just the seventh time in the entire history of the event.
The Vildosola victory also have BFGoodrich Tires, celebrating its 35th year of SCORE Baja racing in 2010, its 24th overall 4-wheel victory in the
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, including the last four straight.
Norman and Cody gave Honda its 21 overall motorcycle victory including its 14th consecutive triumph, after Norman drove the first and final sections
and Cody the middle to a winning time of 19:22:22 with an average speed of 54.87mph. It was the fifth overall career win for Norman and fourth
straight in this race while Cody picked up his third career Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 overall motorcycle victory and second straight.
In the battle of car and truck manufacturers, Ford has increased its lead among four-wheel vehicles with its 14th overall engine win and as a chassiss
with its12th overall winner.
Steve Appleton also drove the first and the final sections and Chris Appleton the middle part to finish sixth overall among 4-wheel vehicles in
addition to winning Class 1 for the second time this year after his win in June at the Tecate SCORE Baja 500. Their finishing time on Friday was
20:29:48.
Defending SCORE Trophy-Truck season point champion and NASCAR Sprint Cup regular Robby Gordon, Charlotte, N.C., was second overall 4-wheel vehicles
and in SCORE Trophy-Truck, finishing unofficially 22:18 behind the Vildosolas in his No. 1 Chevy CK1500 SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Third and fourth overall in 4-wheel vehicles and among SCORE Trophy-Trucks was a battle between a pair of Nevada racers—Roger Norman and B.J. Baldwin.
Norman, of Reno, appears to have finished 53 seconds ahead of Las Vegas’ Baldwin on elapsed time. Norman drives the No. 8 Ford F-150 SCORE
Trophy-Truck while Baldwin teamed with Chad Ragland, Vista, Calif. in this race in the No. 97 Chevy Silverado SCORE Trophy-Truck.
Following the extremely popular finish in Baja, Gus Vildosola Jr. commented, “This race means a lot to me and my family. Every time we go out and
race, I say we have the privilege of representing Mexico because we’re the only Mexican SCORE Trophy-Truck team. It’s obviously an honor to finally be
able to win a race for them and for all of our fans who have been supporting us for all these years. And it is especially great for my dad, as well.
He bought this SCORE Trophy-Truck eight years with the dream to win a Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 overall and today we were able to fulfill that dream.
“Everybody knows this is not a one-person sport – it’s a team sport and we’ve got over 180 people down here supporting us. It just all fit together
perfectly, I think. It’s such a special day for Mexico with the bicentennial of the (Mexican) revolution and the centennial of Mexican independence,
so everything just kind of fell into place and we’re very happy about it. It’s just perfect. We started second off the line and we were basically
going to see what Roger’s (Norman, the first starter) pace was and what his plan was for the day and then go from there. Roger had a pretty aggressive
pace off the line and we just decided to sit back and pressure him. Roger got a flat a little south of San Felipe and we were able to get around him
there and really never looked back.
“We were able to set our own pace and not be pressured by anyone else. We knew this was a peninsula run and you weren’t going to win it in 500 miles –
it was 1,061 (miles). We executed it perfectly and obviously we also had a little bit of luck on our side this race.”
After his victorious march down the Baja Pensinsula, Kendall Norman stated, “The fog was really thick for about 100 miles – it was as bad as I’ve seen
it. It really tested me and what I had. It took everything I could to keep the bike moving and keep my goggles clean and just keep going. I can't say
enough for my teammate Quinn, he did an amazing job. It was flawless.
“It has been a very long year, waking up every day thinking of this race. We finally made it and made all my dreams come true this year. We pretty
much had a flawless day. Quinn got a rear flat tire and other than that we really didn't have a problem all day long. That was our strategy: Ride
within ourselves, where we are not going to make mistakes. You really can't screw up in this race. You've got to have this perfect race. Man, this is
the toughest single day of desert racing in the world and to win five? I can't even fathom it.
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shari
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Registered: 3-10-2006
Location: bahia asuncion, baja sur
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Mood: there is no reality except the one contained within us "Herman Hesse"
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QUE A TODA MADRE!!!! LES MANDO UN CHINGO DE FELIZIDADES!!!
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bajajazz
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Posts: 386
Registered: 12-18-2006
Location: La Paz, BCS, Mexico
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I'm curious to know if the Bradley Racing Team is still represented in the running of the Baja Mil? Tom has won, I believe, eight times. Is he still
at it or has he bowed out?
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TMW
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http://bradleyoffroadracing.com/Home.html
This is their home page with 2010 race schedule.
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