Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128109
On c e a ga i n , th e Ov er 250cc Sportsm an Cl a ss was very c ompeti t i v e and had th e m o st nu mbe r o f entrants at 19. It was won in a time of 11 hou rs and 27 mi nu te s b y the La Paz team of A leja nd ro Vizca ino, Car lo s Gonzales and Luis Castell ano. Colorado KT M rid er Jeremy Pry or took sec ond place , say in g , " ...It was an awesome race : Haw aiian race rs Matt Lym an, Allen Pflueger and D arr ell Hamblet on t ook th ird. T it on Col on , from T ijuana , won the Un der 250cc Sportsm an Class. By all accounts, this wa s one of the tightest , m o st t e chn ical Baj a 500 courses in m emory . Campbell, who fin ished seco nd overall , said it was, "The to ug hest one I remem ber: Th e race featu red th e usual 6 a.m. downtown Ensenada st art , and the Campbell XR650R was th e fi rst b ik e to leave the lin e. Street followed 30 seconds late r. Low clouds and m o ist air c o up led w ith d u st y co nditions m ade see ing wh ere one wa s going di ffic ult, and many rid ers com ple t ely used up their Ro ll -O f f s r i g ht away . C ond it ion s improved 60 miles into the rac e, and th e two factory Hondas were st ill little farth er apart than t h e ir 30-secon d start differentia l. The course co nti nued south to w ard Vall e de T rin idad and through Mike's Sk y Ranc h to a new 90 -mile loop ci rcl in g th e w ell -kn o wn M el ing Catt l e Ranch at th e southern -m ost tip . Then it turned north to Valle de Trinidad, th en west to the Paci fic-side beach run. From Uruadan , it went east to Ojos N egroes where it re -ran the first 50 miles, finishing back in Ensenada at the end of Ruiz Avenue. The c ourse used roughly 20 miles o f pavement on Highway 3 and nine miles on Highway 1, causing tire coo cerns for the 100-plus mph factory Hondas . And this wasn 't good , because anything over 80 mph on the highway, the team risked tire damage and premature wea r. " W e were aware of that , " sa id Campbell , so the Honda pits changed the rear tires twice on both bikes. The factory XR650R machines were a milder vers ion of the San Felipe 250 model used for th e long er race. CN Baja 500 Ensenada,ftftexico Results: June 1-3, 2001 CLASS 21 : J ose D. Ruvalcaba (Yam): 2. Carlos Molina (Yam); 3. Hideuyk a Fukuoka (Han) . CLASS 22: I. Steve Hen ge ve ld l J on ah Steet (Hon): 2. J ohnn y Cam pbel1/Tim Steeb (Hon) : 3. Eric Brow n (Ho n ) : 4 . Phil ip Zeige r ( Ho n); 5 . Enri qu e Leqe spy: 6. Jose Met a (KTM) ; 7. Erik Floe n (Kaw) . CLASS 30: 1. Fred Willert (Hon); 2. Sergio Vega (Hon); 3 . Eddie Zeller (Yam); 4. Mike Martin (Hon); 5. Sam Dempsey (Hen) : 6 . Joe Willia ms (Thon); 7. Koj i Kate (Hon); 8. Victory Luja n (Hon) ; 9. Luk as Lund in (Hon) ; 10 . Rudelfe Iribe (Hon ); 11. Rond T wi ni ng (Hon); 12. OtOM Guzman (Hon) . CLASS 40: 1. J im O 'N eal ( Hon) : 2. Eiz aburo Keresawe (Hon) ; 3. J orge Lizarr age (KTM) : 4 . Neil Manni nen (Hon ), CLASS 50 : 1. Richard J ackson (Hon) . O /A SPRTS,.,N "' Ie : 1. A lejand ro Vi zca ino (Hon). cue I e n e _ S • J UNE 20, 2001 41