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backed XR650 in fourth overall (motorcycle) in 10:04:06. They also took third in class. "We had a decent race," Zeigler said. "I haven't ridden in sixth months because of my new job, and I really had a blast." The Sergio Vega-Vicente Guerrero team finished fifth overall motorcycle and picked up a second in Class 30. Another Class 30 entry was sixth overall - Jim Ferguson and Todd Johnson - who brought their XR650 in exactly 14 minutes behind the Vega Team. Jim O'Neal, whose SCORE Baja racing season was derailed with a prerunning crash last year, suffered the same fate in this race. He flipped Scott Dunlavey's XR650 and pretty much turned it into a ball of metal and plastic while again prerunning exactly a year to the day. O'Neal started on race day but immediately gave the bike to Jon Ortner. Along with teammates Jeff Kaplan and Tim Withers, the team took a first in Class 40 and a seventh overall bike. "I tried to ride, but I just couldn't do it," said O'Neal, whose shoulder was black and blue. Withers was only too happy to pick up the slack, and when he got off the bike in Uruapan, he said, "We really appreciate Jim and what he's done - he's a real pillar." Jeff Kaplan turned in a particularly fast time in the Mike's Sky Rancho section and summed up his ride: "Everything went smooth - we just changed tires and filters and kept it on." The Baja veteran Dempsey Brothers, Gene and Sam, with Doug Heil, Kevin Ward and Kenny Hayden, took a second in Class 40 riding an XR650. The race cost Sam Dempsey 13 stitches in his little finger went he went down hard a little off the start. Piloting a Yamaha YZ250, teammates Joe DeRossiers and Ray Suit took eighth overall and first in Class 21. finishing the race in 11 :03:34. Second place finishers Eddie Zeller and Mike Martin closed what had been a double-digit minute down to six with 35 miles to the finish but ended up 11 minutes down at the finish. Rich Moniot and Mike McCarthy rounded out the class where all three starters finished. "I've been waiting three years to get up here," DeRossiers said from the podium. "It's good racing against good competitors." In Class 50 action, Team Caveman XR650 riders Richard Jackson and Bob Wadlow bested the CRF450R ridden by Eizaburo Karasawa and Susumu Ishii. Team Caveman's time was 1 I :48:53, which was only eight minutes quicker than the team from Japan. "Four in a row, but we had to work for this one," Jackson said. "Along with his first-place trophy, Jackson took home 14 stitches in his elbow obtained at a cut-rate price by a Valle de Trinidad doctor. Bob Wadlow put in over 40 miles on two different front tire flats. The first flat came only 10 miles into the race, and he had to ride on the flat for another 30 miles to Eremdira, where Scott Donlavey, pitting for the O'Neal team, fixed the tire with a stronger desert tube. "I ran the whole beach section on a flat," Eremdira said. "I sure appreciated Dunlavey's help." After winning the San Felipe 250, the John Kuhlken team scored another win in the Sportsman class. He was partnered with Mike Boyd, James Bartnick and Tim Filler on an XR650 in a time of 11 :06:28 for ninth overall motorcycle. "We had a good run," Kuhlken said. "The bike was perfect, and everyone kept it on two wheels." Second in the Sportsman class, finishing 1 I minutes behind the winning team, was an Ensenada-based team made up of Jorge Perez and Francisco Landeras. They too rode an XR650. In a race where logo box vans were like magnets for riders with bike trouble, the absence of the Honda Pits was keenly felt. "We've been spoiled by the firstclass Honda Pits," Jim O'Neal said. "We had to put in a tremendous amount of extra work with all the meetings and getting the extra equipment." Honda reportedly wanted to cut costs this year and pitted for just for its own team. This left many teams with the necessity of putting their own pits together as best they could. This reminded a lot of riders of the old Baja days when you had to fend for yourself. Two new additions were put in this race for added safety for the bike riders. Each rider was fumished a strip of fluorescent tape to place on the back of his helmet to improve visibility when four-wheelers attempted to pass. More importantly, a two-hour gap was added between the last bike leaving the start line and the departure of the first Trophy truck. This provided more of a cushion between the motorcycles and the four-wheelers. Also, SCORE officials started the motorcycles 15 seconds apart to get them away faster. In the early morning wet, foggy and dusty conditions, this made passing more difficult than under the old 30 second interval format. "We plan to be smart and patient about passing people," Campbell said before the race. "We don't want to take chances; it doesn't matter where the lead comes." The plan worked. eN SCORE Baja 500 Ensenada, B.C. Me"ica Results: May 31-June 1. 2003 (Round 31 CLASS 21 (126 to 250): I. Joe Desrosiers/Ray Sull (Yam): 2. Eddie Zeller/Mike Martin (Yam): 3. Rick MoniotjMike McCarthy (Yam). CLASS 22 (250): 1. Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell (Hon); 2. Chris Blais/Chuck Dempsey/Beau Hayden (Hon); 3. Philip Zeiger/Fred Willert (Hon); 4. Syd Schneider/Gustavo Uribe (Hon); 5. Jose Meza, Fresno/David Torres (Hon). CLASS 30 (30+): I. Ricardo Malo. MexictllifGreg Bringle (Han); 2. Sergio Vega/Gerardo Rojas/Vicente Guerrero (Hon); 3. Jim Ferguson/Todd Johnson (Hon); 4. Shaun Hanson/Brad Yeckley (Han); 5. Roberto Zapata/Oscar Garcia. CLASS 40 (40.): 1. Jim O'Neal/Tim Withers/Jeff Kaplan/Jon Ortner (Han); 2. Sam Dempsey/Gene Dempsey (Han): 3. Dave Simpson/Dan Closson (Yam); 4. Leonel Vallejo/Gilberta Gallardo (KTM): 5. Jack Burger/Gaylon Nuester (Han). CLASS 50 (50+): 1. Richard Jackson/Bob Wadlow (Han); 2. Eizaburo Karas8wa/Susumu Ishii (Hon). O/A SPRTSMN; 1. John Kuhlken/James Bartnick/Mike Boyd (Hon). Jon Ortner (pictured) tookoover the reins after Jim O'Neal got injured while prerunning. Ortner, Tim Withers and Jeff Kaplan went on to win Class 40. BRIEFLY••• Before the race SCORE officials and race participants were told of the passing of Ed Pearlman. the creator of the first Baja race in 1967. the Mexican 1000 and the Baja 500 in 1968. The founder of NORRA, Pearlman was a multitalented man with varied interests. He will be missed. Class 30 winner Ricardo Malo left shortly after the race to return home to Mexicali to be with his wife and newly born twin daughters. Dana Brown. the son of Bruce Brown. who produced the movie On Any Sunday, was in Ensenada to watch. He has plans to do a film on the Baja 1000. Others who will have a hand in the production from the bike community include Mouse McCoy and Kevin Ward. eye I EO n EO vv S • JUNE 25, 2003 55