Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

(Leftl Campbell gets surrounded by the Tecate Girls moments after crossing the finish line In first place. For Campbell, It was his fifth straight ~a 1000 win. (Right) Jonah Street (shown) teamed up with Steve Hengeveld to finish second overall. picked up a lot of time and came into the rider change area where a surprised Haines didn't have his helmet on. Taking advantage of Johnson's lead, Haines rode carefully and cautiously to the finish. The Class 30 winners - Ricardo Malo, Mike Bamhill, Fred Willert and Jergio Vega - aboard a Precision Concepts-prepped XR650R, were third overall for a good part of the race before dropping back a little bit and finishing out the race in 16 hours 13, minutes, and 22 seconds. The Baja Designs Entry of Tex Mitchell, Ron Wilson, Tim Morton and Charles Schnell led the Class 30 division in the early going, but their tired XR650R motor did not have another full Baja race left in it, resulting in a disappointing DNF. J. David Ruvalcaba, from Ensenada, took advantage of racing in his own backyard to take another Class 21 win. Ruvalcab and teammate Steve Cruz, riding a 250cc Yamaha, finished out the race in 16 hours, 53 minutes and 11 seconds, and was the sixth motorcycle overall to take the checkered flag. The Ruvalcaba/Cruz team was the only finisher in a field of two in Class 21. The team Caveman Class 50 entry was the 10th motorcycle to finish and the 18th vehicle overall. Richard Jackson, Bob Wadlow and Mark Force completed the course in 18 hours 33 minutes, and 18 seconds aboard an XR650R. "Everyone's ride went well," Jackson said, though his teammates might have disagreed. Force, coming in after riding the Summit loop, had one word to say, "Tiring!" Bob Wadlow, who ran the tough San Felipe loop section, said, "Those four-foot whoops really beat me up." Jackson, who started and finished for their team, called it a "Typical Baja 1000. The start, it was real foggy and I used about 15 Roll-Offs." Tito Colon and Ernesto Ramirez finished in 24 hours, 10 minutes, and 38 seconds in the 250 Sportsman class to take the win. Their Yamaha YZ250 finished over four hours ahead of the second-place XR250 ridden by Kazumi Kuwayama and Kosuke Veno of Japan. Alenjandro Vizcaino, from La Paz, continued his domination of the Open Sportsman class, with teammates Luis Castellano, and Carlos and Noel Gonzales. They brought their XR650R home in a time of 17 hours, 21 minutes, and 27 seconds for eighth bike overall. Fred and Perry Brown, from Virginia, finished second in class on an XR650R. Third was held down by Phillip Yeager and his partner Shawn Black, from Texas. They were also XR650R-mounted. The Open Sportsman class again was the largest class, having 18 starters; seven finished. The Class 40 IMS/O'Neal USAf Azonic/Excel/Precision Concepts XR650R ridden by Jim O'Neal, John Ortner, Tim Withers and Kevin Hines had a strong run to an overall fourthplace finish and second in class. They finished less than four minutes behind the Haines entry. With Hines chasing Jack Johnson some 300 miles into the race, the O'Neal bike lost time when the riders picked different lines through the Laguna Salada section. Hines got back on the bike at Ojos Negroes and made up a lot of time to the finish, but not enough to catch Haines. Haines had backed his pace down to protect their lead and guard against making a mistake. "We wanted the win bad, but we still made a couple of mistakes," O'Neal said. "We couldn't have had a better bike, though." O'Neal's saddle time was reduced after suffering an injury while pre-running. This year's Baja race was not the usual head-to-head duel between the two Honda factory teams, as both teams encountered troubles during the race. Campbell hit a cow in a sand wash coming off of the summit section. "It was the most desolate place on the course," Campbell said. "Fortunately, I wasn't hurt." kick back the pace, despite having to stop twice in the pits for some major bike servicing. After developing a 40-minute lead that they held to the finish, Campbell said, "We didn't want to go too fast or do anything wrong. We didn't want to make a mistake." CN The cow incident cut their fiveminute lead in half. Later in the race, someone play riding on a quad clipped Campbell's front end, causing damage to the bike's rear-brake pedal and front alignment. But these problems were minor compared to Hengeveld and Street's. Street crashed hard coming off the summit loop and couldn't get the bike restarted. "He wore himself out kicking it," Hengeveld said. And Street was already weakened by the flu. Later, the Street/Hengeveld XR developed carburetor problems, flooding out every time they came to a stop. "It ran fine, but was tough to start for some reason, so we didn't want to stall it," Hengeveld said. Hengeveld ended up riding over 440 miles of the 67 -mile race. With about a 30-minute lead and Tim Staab riding strong through the challenging San Felipe section, Campbell and Staab were able to Tecate SCORE Baja 1Daa Easenalbl, Baja Califomia. Mellie. Results: November 8-11, ZaDl o/~ I. Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab (Hon); 2. StC!ve Hengeveld/Jonah Street (Han); 3. Chris Haines/Craig Adams/Jack Johnson/Bob Johnson (Hon). CLASS 21: J. David Ruvalcaba/Steve Cruz (Vam). CU\SS 22: Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab (Hon): 2. SIeve Hengeveld/Jonah Street (Hon): 3. Jose Meza (Han); 4. Kurt Steffion/Mike Elias/Hayes/Guthrie (Hon). CLASS 30: Ricardo Malo/Fred Willert/Sergio Vega/Mike Barnhill (Hen); 2. Rudolfo Iribe/Robert Laughlin/Kent Groeker/R. Hamby (Hon); 3. Roy Buelna/Julio Abril (Hon); 4. Gerado Garcia/Jose Rivas (Hon). CLASS 40: Chris Haines/Craig Adams/Jack Johnson/Bob Johnson (Hon); 2. Jim O'Neal/Kevin Hines/Tim Withers/Ortner (Hon): 3. Leonel Vollejo/Gilbert Gallardo (Su.). CLASS 50: Richard Jackson/Bob Wadlow/Mark Force (Hon); 2. Gene Dempsey/Sam Dempsey (Hon). SPRTSMN 250: 1. Tito Colon/Emesto Ramirez (Yam); 2. Kazumi Kuwayama/ Kosuke Veno (Hon). SPRTSMN 250.: 1: Alejandro Vizcaino/Carlos Gonzales/Luis Castellano/Noel Gonzales (Hon); 2. Fred Brown/ Perry Brownrromlinson/Hancock (Hon): 3. Phillip Yeager/Shawn Black (Hon). BRIEFLY••• The Baja Designs XR650R was at one point running second overall when the motor let go on the road to Mike's Sky Ranch. Tim Morton was aboard the bike when the motor went south. Baja tour man Chris Haines recorded his eighth Baja 1000 class win. while Baja veteran .Jack .Johnson earned his seventh victory. After the race. Haines returned to his home in California on Sunday, only to turn around and go back to BaJ'l on Monday to carry out one of his tours. This year's race was the 34th consecubve Baja 1000 start for Ron Bishop. Riding the only Husqvama in the race. Bishop's team was forced to retire on "Mike's Loop- with a blown clutch. Johnny Campbell brought his Acerbis race-support mechanic Walter Fortichiri to this year's race. Fortichiri was Campbell's mechanic at the last Paris-to·Dakar Rally. The first Trophy Truck finisher and former desert motorcycle racer Dan Ashley plowed into Richard Jackson and his XR at the finish. Jackson asked SCORE Race Director Sal Fish for a new bike. but Sal didn't go For it. The Team Honda squads seem to have put their previous clutch problems behind them by going to a non·molybdenum synthetic-type oil. Precision Concepts' Bob Bell, said. "We are also using a factory updated bushing £in the c1utchl. This year's 1000 course was the same course used in the previous two Baja races, as well as a recent race put on by an Ensenada organization. "It was extremely rough and silty. - said Jonah Street. "The pavement section was the only decent part of the cOlurse. - The course was also relatively booby-trap free. but a stuck non·race vehicle in the Guadalupe Wash caused problems. Overall. many riders reported that SCORE officials did a good job of monitoring the course and cautioned riders to be particularly cautious at the start and finish. Due I e n _ vv s NOVEMBER 28, 2001 25

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