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'~"-'-~'I : .J .• ") t iFF_ " '-'id"1 J -_ .. . -_ I _, , Best In The Desert Corona Extra Baja Mex 300 World Championship I ~r;..QEI~ Iy finished the race first, the Hengeveld/Campbell team took second on corrected time. Finishing first in the Over 30 Pro class, and third overall (in their first race in Baja), was the Honda-mounted (of course) team of Tom Willis and David Warren, in 6:54.58. Willis said they devised a "game plan" that didn't exactly pan out, but everything just seemed to come together for the pair nonetheless. There were a great deal of seasoned Baja racers racing the Baja Mex 300 too, including the fourthplaced team of Ricardo Malo and Sergio Vega, who finished in 6:59.49, and were second in the Over 30 Pro class. "This was the best race ever in Baja!" exclaimed Malo. "I didn't feel (Lett) The team of Andy Grider and Mike Childress won their very first desert race at the Baja Mex 300. Here, one of the riders negotiates a rather scenic coastal trail. (Below) Even though they were the first team to finish, Steve Hengeveld (shown) and Johnny Campbell finished second on corrected time - 41 seconds behind the winners. By DIANE DELAUER ENsENADA,BC, MfJOCO, SEPT, 21 IInr hen it comes to racing in Baja, W Honda just can't seem to lose lately. Even when the official American Honda factory team hasn't been in attendance within the last few years, Hondas still seem to dominate the leaderboard. Best In The Desert's Baja Mex 300 World Championship was no exception. Andy Grider and Mike Childress, riding as a team for American Honda, got the honors this time, winning their first-ever desert overall with a time of 5:59.27. Honda's Steve Hengeveld and Johnny Campbell lost the race by just 41 seconds on corrected time, finishing in 6:00.52. The three American Honda teams had been down in Baja since five days before the race to participate in the open pre- running, and more than one rider commented on how much they liked the pre-running, and how comfortable they felt with the course. Grider and Childress had a good, clean race on their way to the win. Grider had the advantage of starting fourth, and with Ty Davis (who would have started third) not showing up, that gave him an extra minute's worth of space between himself and Campbell. Grider was in third by the time the riders came into the second pit, and he saw that Campbell had gotten 52 OCTOBER 9, 2002' a U II: I a nail in his tire. He passed Campbell physically at that time. After the rider switch at the fourth pit, Childress was wearing a new type of knee brace, and the brace pulled the gas line off of the carburetor. He lost a few seconds trying to figure out what had happened, but he got back into the race right with the Hondamounted pack of Hengeveld and Blais. Campbell was having problems immediately after the start. His .. n .. 1N'S motorcycle slipped just off the start line, which jammed the shifter, and it took him about a minute just to get the bike started. He also got a rear flat at mile 70 and rode into the second pit and lost time to the Cooper/Blais team. All three American Honda teams were about one minute apart all the way until right after the sixth pit, when Cooper's motorcycle seized up, forcing him out of the rac.e. Even though they actual- insecure at any time, even through the ranches. I liked the course, and [the fact that there, was] no highway racing was really nice. All of the markings were excellent. It was hard to get lost out there, even if you tried." It was, however, unclear why a rider would try to get lost in Baja. Beto Verber, a seasoned Baja racer, finished second in the FourStroke Expert class, also riding a Honda and finishing in 7:21.48.