IN
THE
WIND
P34
RIDERS SPEAK ABOUT BAJA CONTROVERSY
T
his year's 50th running of the
Baja 1000 came to a dra-
matic conclusion (but this one
will probably never really end)
when the winning bike, ridden
by Ox Motorsports' Ian Young,
crashed moments after taking
the checkered flag, his careen-
ing bike causing photographers
and spectators to scramble for
safety; unfortunately, at least
one person was injured with a
broken leg. Young, who was so
excited to win the race, tried to
perform a celebratory wheelie up
a finishing ramp, not expecting
the metal surface to be coated
with moisture cause by the damp
air. Young's bike lost traction and
went sliding across the ramp
without him.
SCORE officials weren't im-
pressed by his "reckless" riding
and gave Young's team a 30-min-
ute time penalty, dropping the
Ox Motorsports A Team, made
up of Young, Justin Jones, Ryan
Penhall, Mark Samuels (rider
of record) and Colton Udall, to
second place and handing the
win to the Francisco Arredondo/
Ty Davis/ Max Eddy Jr./ Shane
Esposito/ Justin Morgan team.
Ray Dal Sogilio, who was a
member of the Ox Motorsports B
Team, said via SCORE's Face-
book page, "Well we all know
who truly won that race. What
an embarrassment for SCORE
to put the liability on the over en-
thusiastic rider when the issue is
their knowingly unsafe ramp and
lack of flaggers to slow down the
excited racers. [And it] also cre-
ated an embarrassment for the
team that has to win like that."
Young spoke out after the inci-
dent via a comment on the Baja
Sos Facebook page, stating, "It's
unfortunate so many people jump
to conclusions without having the
correct facts. I would never want
to justify my actions and some-
one getting hurt, however, after
accomplishing what I had just
accomplished I would have never
thought that a wheelie at the fin-
ish could result in these actions.
The team had been down 20+
minutes all day, I get on the bike
12 minutes back, make up time
and pass for the lead in the last
pit, 60 miles to the finish, and
gap the competition nine more
minutes. That's over 20 minutes
in 200 miles of pure heart and
passion on the historic Baja
peninsula.
"Now! To address the wheelie
that everyone is so upset about,
including myself. I made a mis-
take. Roger [SCORE President
Roger Norman] himself said that
if [I] hadn't crashed no penalty
would [have] been infracted. Now
let's talk about the legalities! A
freshly painted, corrugated steel
ramp, next to the ocean, with
sufficient moisture and a high
dew point made that ramp slicker
than ice. I hit the ramp and
before I could blink, I was slid-
ing across the stage worried for
my and everyone else's heath.
It's gut wrenching to think that I
had something to do with hurt-
ing someone. The stage had no
guard railing for people to hold
on to, multiple people slipped
themselves, including a Monster
girl who has a bruised hip. Roger
himself and anyone else who was
there saw and felt just how slip-
pery it was. More legalities, per
the rule book: Every checkpoint,
including the finish, is supposed
to have cones leading into it,
stop sign and personnel to stop
you. The finish line had nothing
in that manner and if they did I
would have came to a stop like
they wanted me to. The bottom
line is the liability lies in SCORE'S
hands.
"I'm deeply sorry for those
involved, our sponsors, Dean
Potts and everyone else who
loves and supports us. I don't
need any of you to justify why or
how you feel to me; you'll never
feel the way I did after overcom-
ing the obstacles that the team
and I were faced with. Reading
the comments of people I know
truly shows me the people who
I want or don't want in my life. I
dreamt of this my entire life and
it's not the trophy I'll remember.
It's the obstacles I overcame to
win this race and those are the
memories I'll value and cherish.
My team and I won this race no
matter what anyone has to say.
