Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

didn't like it when 1 had to do it [when Ogilvi e used to race the 10001." Of the performa nce of the new 650s, Ogi lvie said, "We were pleased wit h the way the bikes performed . It was a toug h test and we fou nd little things we have to wo rk on ." Bob Bell of Pre cision Concep ts, who se t up th e Honda "B" tea m bike, sa id abou t the 650s, "We're sti ll testing and Baja is a g rea t pl a ce to see if w e ca n learn anything ." all d ay was the Baja Designs XR628R Honda ridden by Tex Mitchell, Ron Wilso n and Scott Mevers . Th e tri o also placed third in the Open class. Phoenix-ba sed riders Mike Dell a r, Eri c Brown, N ev el a n d Mark Varner brou ght home their XR600 in 16 hours, 17 minutes for four th overall and fourth in the Open class. Th e 32nd annua l Baja 1000 starte d a nd fini sh ed in Ojo s N eg ros , 30 mil es so u t he as t of En senada . For the fir st tim e, SCORE officia ls, citi ng ecological and safety issues, ran two id ent ica l loops , which totaled approximately 720 miles in length. The course was very dusty, featured a lot of big rocks and rain ru ts, and generally got rougher by the second time arou nd as the bikes and the four -wheel vehicles chew ed up the course. Campbell, the second rider to leave the Ojos egros 7:00 a.m. sta rt, could n't take ove r the lead un til 25 miles into the race becau se of the dusty conditions. Bv the 88-mile mark, he had es tablished four -minute lead over Jonah Street and his Honda. By midrace, the Campbell /Sta ab team had an I l -minute lead , prompting Campbell to assess, "We' re ridi ng consistent now , we just don' t wa nt to make any mistakes." The two factory teams felt the pressure of racing agains t each other all da y. With w hat Honda pe rsonnel called "little thin g s " th at r esulted in m in or mecha nical problems, no lead , the y said , felt like a safe cushion. While the Honda pits were bu sy fixing loose spok es , a handlebar that s lipped , flats and brake problems, the third- an d fourth-pl ace fini shers a lso had thei r share of setbacks . Esco nd ido Honda / Ba ja Des ig n sbacked Tex Mitchell, going too fast down a rocky sectio n, ca tapulted through a ba rbed -wire fence and landed on his hea d. Wit h th e he lp of the folks at the Honda pits, he was able to continue. Mitchell said of the crash, "I was rea lly dazed and still in shock, but I think I rode my best time after that." A pos t-race hospital visit revealed a b roken bone in Mitchell 's n e ck and another in his foot, the latter sustained in a cras h duri ng the last 20 miles of preru n ning . When all was said and do ne, Mitchell went home with a fourth-pla ce finish and two casts . The Baja Designs te am ra n d u a l H.LD. headlights and were very pleased with their performances. "Not a glitch:' Mitche ll said. Class 30 racer Cliff Ma tlock picked - The Chr is Haines entry, with teammate Craig Adams , took top honors in Class 40. F a up his third Baja 1000 class win in a row. He was teamed with regular partner Matt Barney, a n d Joel Tarquin a n d Miguel Collierd . Two-hu ndred m iles in to the race, the ir Yamaha WR400 ran ou t of water and nearl y seized . They spent the rest of the race adding oil and water at every pit . Matlock credited Precis ion Co nce p ts suspension modifications for "basica lly a good ride u nder really d usty conditions." C hris Hai nes and Craig Adams, aboard a KTM, got as high as sixth overall, which was good enough for first place in Class 40. By Mike 's Sky Ranch, befo re losing time sorting out gas problems, the pai r ran ou t of fuel twice and also cras hed seve ral times. Finally, the ir p it crews top ped off the bike' s tank at each stop and also filled a belt-carried bottle of race fuel. The other bik e to finish in Cla ss 40 was the XR600R of Gary Tepner's and Ross Gregory's . They finished in a time of 19 hours, 38 min u tes, officially 14 minutes behind the Hain es bike. Over-50 riders Wayne Grafton aoo Al Perre t of Ca nada , rode their Yamaha to a Class 50 w in, finis hing out the race in 19 hours, 48 minutes. The other entry in this class was the Ron Bish op, Jim O'Neal, and Gene and Sam Dempsey team, who pilo ted a KTM 440. Bishop, who has rid den all 31 previous Baja 1000s, hit a manzanita tree an d suffered arm an d knee injuries but was ab le to conti nue . The tea m was a lso slowed by rear disc and brake problems. Dusty conditions and a rough cou rse kept average speeds down by Baja 1000 s ta nd a rd s. Also, most teams reported problems passing the slower cars, which so me of the lead in g bikes caug ht n ear the finish . Greg Bring le said, " It was very difficul t to ride a sam e-loop race. I lost a lot of time on the coast sectio n try ing to get by a Hummer and a buggy ." Hond a race team manager Br uce Ogilve said, " It was a tough area to race beca use of the d ouble-loop fo rmat. I Winner Johnny Campbell d escribed this vear' s Ba ja 1000 a s a " to u g h race." H e a d ded, "T he bik e ran really strong and all our rid ers did really we ll." One of the two reported man-made "booby traps" ended the day for Rickey Fe rna ndez , just 7 miles from th e sta rt. Fernan dez bro ke his femu r and was transp orted by a ir to Sa n Diego. Jo nah Street, with corid er s Bo st r o m and Bringle, kept the pressure on lea ders Campbell and Staab all da y. "E ve ry time we'd ge t clos e, we'd have som ething to on ," w ork Street sa id . "Bu t I r eall v liked the 650.:' Street p erha p s b es t summed up th e race for everyone b y saying, "I' ve defi nitely rod e enough. I'm eN not going to rid e for a while." Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Ensenada, Mexico Results: November 4-6, 1999 O /A : 1. Johnn y Campbell /Tim Staa b (H e n): 2. Jonah Street/ To rsten Bostrom / Greg Bringle (He n). CLASS 21: 1. Jose Ruva lca be / Leone l Ruva lcaba (Ya m ); 2. Marti n Bejaran d ySteve Hen geveld (Kaw): 3. Tom G ris ha m /Ca rl Fis c he r / Joh n Alexa nder / Mike Mitche ll (He n); 4. Enrique Legaspy (Yam.): 5. Kapsumi Yamaz ki / lsao Azumagakito (Hen). CLASS 22: 1. John ny Campbell/ Tim Staab (Ha n); 2. Icnah Stree t/ Torsten Bostro m /Greg Bringle (Ho n): 3. Tex Mitchelltscott Meyers / Ron Wilson (Ho e): 4. Mike Dellar / Eric 8rown /Harry Neve lyMa rk Varne r (Ha n); 5. Alberto Var ga s/ Luis Castell.inos / Luis Castan o/Carlos Go nza lez (H en): 6. Tom ok t H a ya s h i / Ma sam i Ma tsumoto (Ho n). CLASS 30: 1. Cliff Matl ock /Matt Barney (Yam); 2. Roy Buelna / Man uel Santana (Ho n): 3. Gerado Garcia (Han); 4. Kent Kroeker (CO-n. CLASS 40: 1. Chris Haines / Crai g Adams (KTM); 2Gary Tepner / Ros o Z 11

• Cover