Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

SCORE International Tecate Baj~ 500 - "It was really, really dusty for me off the start. I couldn't see a thin g until I got past the 13-mile mark, then I was able to pass three riders," said Johnny Cam pbell, whose conquests included KX5OO-mounted Ricar do Cruz and Tex Mitchell, who led off for Campbell's yo u nger br other Jamie and teammate Ron Wilson on a privateer Honda XR600 one minute ahead of Campbell. Davis knew the silty start woul d be a problem, an d he wa s leavin g nothing to chance. "The start was pretty tough and challen gin g. It ' s th at really white si lt that takes about 30 seconds to clean ou t after you go throu gh, and th ere were lots of loose rocks," he sai d . "I go t Zi tterkopf a n d the other g uy in t he sa nd wash where it was a bit less d usty. I had to pla n ' it out because, if I didn't pass them in the sand wash, it was going to be he ll trying to pass them anywhere else because the (Left) Ty Davis , with the help of teammate Paul Krause, scored the overall win at the Baja 500. It was Davis' first win at the 500. (Below) Greg Zlttkerko pf s urvived a co llision with a police car and mechanical problems to finis h second overall with teamma te Dave Ondas. By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Trackslde Photos o ENSENADA, ac, MEXICO, JUNE 1 he 25th Anniversary Baja 500 was lon g, tight and plagued with m ech ani cal p roblems, bu t Kawasaki's Paul Krause and Ty Davis were up to the task. . In one of the few almost tro ub le-free rides of the race, the Krause / Davis KX500 was ou t in front of the field by the time it .passed the 2D-mile m ark and stayed there all the way to the checkered flag . After nine hOUlS and 24 minutes of racing, the duo was more than half an hour ahea d of th e nearest two-wheeled co m petition and, w ith a four-mi n u te lead over the fastest trophy truck's total elapsed tim e, th ey enjoyed th e extra satisfaction o f tying up the ove rall win. "It was great to get the overall - really gr ea t, because it lets people know th e bikes are the fastest th ings out th ere," said Davis, who chalked up his first victory in the Baja 500. "I think th is is the fifth time I've won this event. i know for sure it's three in a row," said Krause . "It' s pretty neat for me, because this is Ty's first Baja 500 win. To ride with Ty, who wins everyth in g, when he gets his first win in something is pretty cool." The bikes lined up for the traditional just-after-dawn start on the eas tern ed ge of downtown Ensenada, w here the road that passes the popular hangouts of Hussongs Cantina and Papas & Beer turns to dirt. Oregon's Vance Walker had drawn the num ber-one spot and power ed the KX500 he sha re d with Bill Rush off the line at 6 a.m. Greg Zitterkopf left the start in second aboard the fac tory-backed Kawasaki KX500 he shared wi th Dave Ondas. . Da vi s le d off for th e Davis /Krause team in the number -four spo t, and Johnny Campbell was aboard the Honda factory entry - an XR628 he shared with Jeff Cap t - in sixth. The weather was fine and cool as the racers began th eir journey. Th e ea rly m orning coastal fog tha t made life difficult in previous years was taking a break, bu t visibility was still a problem. The opening miles were silt, silt and more silt, and the thick d ust hung motionless in the still air. course went righ t back into silt. Everything worked as planned." The double pass, coupled with an earlier sneak pass around Cruz wh o started a minute ahe ad of him, put Dav is at th e head of th e pack as th e cou rse headed north tow ards Rosa rito Beach and then turned eas t to parallel the U.S./ Mexica n bor der on a ru n towards Mexicali. "Gear air m akes a lot of difference," said Dav is, who was putting time on the field all the way: ' The leader' s speed slowed dramatically when he hit a highway se ction just before Kawasaki's first pit at the 5O-mile mark. In the interests of safety, SCORE had put a speed limit on the pavement and th reatened the racers with endurolike time penalties for breaking the rules . It followed its threats up with action and disqualified three of the 250cc Sportsman teams for speeding through the controlled area . "It was a tim ed section for about 11 m iles. Th ey told us to average 45 mph and n ot go fas ter tha n 65 no m atter w hat-if yo u go t stuck behi nd a tru ck you coul d only go 65 to catch back up to you r ave rage," said Krau se. "If you got to th e end early, you lost -points like an en d u ro. If yo u go t there late, yo u jus t gave up th at time." SCORE put markers out at one-min ute in tervals to h elp the rac er s track their time bu t Kaw asak i, whose dollar-in tensive race effort had alrea dy swallowe d up the funds needed for a week and a half of prerunni ng an d a helicop ter to hover over its two entries for the duration of the race, wasn 't taking any chances. Kaw asaki p erso nnel installed m a rkers ev ery qu arter mile an d gave Davis a time-chart and a stop watch so he coul d track his speed second by second. :'Th e timed section was a p iece of cake," said Davis. "It was easy to keep . time. Being an enduro rider, it was easier for me than most. " The opening run for the Othff factory backed 10<500 was anything but a piece of cake. The Zitterkopf/Ondas mount was sputtering in fourth and fifth gears right from the word go, and Zitterkopf had to battle hard to make any headway. "The thing would never dean out - it was just running too rich," said Zitterkopf. " I didn't know what was wrong and I decided to wait until the first pit and then change a plug." Zitterkopf had no idea that he would be very fortunate to make it even as far as the first pit. "I was about 20 feet from the pit," Zitterkp f, who was following a Mexican police car, said. "The pit was right at the en d of the guard rail for the bridge I was on. "I was doing about 10 miles an hour almo st stopped com ing into the pit and , instead of speed ing up to go around on the left an d pass him, I we nt to the inside . Th ere was no place fo r h im to go bu t straight beca use he was right beside the guard rail. Then, w hen I'm right next to hi m, he cut over - just turned into the guard rail. I'm thinking what an idiot this guy is." Zitterkopf ended up pinned against the guard rail, unable to move. He was half under the bike and the bike was half under the police car - luckily, right between its front and rear w heels . "It was scary. I thought about what happened with Danny (Hamel. w ho was killed in a collision during last year's race),"said Zitterkopf. Z itterkopf los t a couple of m inutes w hile his pit crew helped th e office r to back up an d dragged the Kawasaki back on its wheels. Then he was on his way, none the worse for wear. The top-runnin g p rivateer team of Wa lke r, Mitch ell and Jamie Campbell also had some exciting m oments early in , the race, when Walker careened off the course and landed in a river . "I had a really good ride going. About mile 46 I could see Zitterkopf in front of me an d I wa s still ahead of Johnny Campbell, so I knew I was close to second place on time," said Mitchell, but his lu ck ran out just three miles la ter . "I was on a mou ntain ro ad coming down a steep downhill. You h ad to tu rn left to go across a bridge over a river. It was really slick an d I was carrying a lot of m omentum and I slid right off the bridge into the wa ter." Mitchell and his bike ended up com-

• Cover