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/128245
Tecate Score Baja 1000 a pa rt," Bl a i s said . T h e y d id w h a t repai rs they co uld with th e Baj a fi x-all (zip ties), but eve ntually the broken fr am e gave up, and they were fo rced to mount a fresh set, wh ich " we barely finished on ," Blais said . A t e am of Baj a veterans . Ch ri s Haines, Bob J ohnson , Jack J ohnson , Craig Adams , Paul Ostbo and Ch ris Hinck le - piloted their XR650R to third overall a nd a f irst in Class 4 0 in a tim e of 17 hou rs, 37 minutes and 30 seconds . It was the fifth stra ight Cla ss 40 win for Ha ines an d hi s 10t h m ulti class w in. J ack Johnson got hi s ninth . Bob J oh nson describ ed th eir ride: "We d idn 't reall y ha ve prob lem s, bu t thi s is th e th ird 10 00 on the bik e, and it' s time t o ret ire it. It w asn 't running too good - a littl e rich . Co m ing into th e fi n is h , it was rea l foggy , an d I co uld barely go in second ." On ly si x m inut es la t er , th e fourth overa ll m otorc ycle and fi rst Cl ass 30 bi k e finished, ridden by an all -Mexican t eam of Ser gi o Vega , Gerard o Roj as and Juli o Ab ril. Th eir ti me of 17 hou rs , 43 min utes an d 18 seco nds, at an ave ra ge speed of 4 5. 59 mph wa s im pre ssive. "T he bike ran good - we ha d some Lucky B y BRIAN FA RIS PH OT OS BY M AR K K ARI YA Beau Hayden (shown) partnered with Christopher Blais, Chuck Dempsey and Andy Grider to lead a good portion of the race before falling back at night. They fi nished second. ENSENADA, BC, MEXICO, NOV. 19·22 h e 36 t h a n n ua l Teca te Score Baja 1000, in m any ways, went as expecte d. As u su al , S teve Hengeveld and Johnny Cam pbe ll led and bested a c onvoy of XR650R Hon das down , ac ross a nd ba c k up the Baja Pen in su l a for th e overall win , t raversing the 805 -mile loop in 15 hours , 39 minutes and 22 seconds . They averaged 51 .88 mph. This was th e th ird straig ht ove rall w in for Heng ev eld , in h is third ye ar teaming up w ith Campbell , and he and Campbell each had two di fferent sti nts. Heng ev eld wa s aboard for th e final 335 m iles, after the ride r change 12 m iles n orth of Coc o 's Co rn e r s, and he turned a cl o se rac e w ith th e unoffi c ia l F a c t o ry B T eam into a n hour bulge. Hen gev eld ca lled it a dem and in g, challenging co urse a nd said he likes nigh t rid ing, which was a good thing, because he had abo ut fiv e hours of it. Honda B riders Chris Bl ai s, A nd y Grider, Chuck Dempsey and Beau Hayd en were either in th e lead or a close seco nd for the fir st half of the race, eventu all y settli ng for second ove ra l l, almost an hour behind the lead d uo. Campbell was the fo urth bi ke off th e lin e and p lanned to be co nse rvativ e T 68 JANUAR Y 7 ,2004 ' cue I With the help of Steve Hengeveld, Johnny Campbell exte nds his streak to seven straight Baja 1000 victories until he was out of th e Ensenada area . " I wa nt t o be in the le ad before the h ighway sectio n, but the important thing is to get out of the city safe ly ," Cam pbell said before the race. Everything was go ing to plan until Camp be ll nailed a rock by Cerro Colorado . "He taco 'd it," Ho nd a team manager Br uce Og ilvie said of Campbell's fron t wheel. T hey los t fo u r minutes c h an g in g t he whee l. Bu t t he worst damage was do ne t o Campbell's thumb, fo rcing him to nurse it ar ound the course. e n eVIl's A s it turn ed o ut , j ust changing the wheel was not eno ug h; the ax le had been bent, too, wh ich t he Hon d a pit crew was ab le to cha nge 100 mil es l ate r . T hough n ursin g a sore ha nd and hampered by th e be nt axle , Campbell's slow er spe ed was good eno ug h to keep hi m near t he fr ont, although , " I c o u ld n 't g ive Steve th e cush ion we wanted," he said . The se cond-p la ce B lais H o n d a also had problems . th e primary one being the lights. "T he first set just started c o m ing p roble ms and go t lost once, bu t we j ust tried to k eep it w ide op en ," Vegas sa id . T h e y , too , we r e aboa r d an XR6 50R . F ifth bike o verall and o nly three seco nds bac k of th e Vega ent ry o n co rre cte d ti me was the seco nd-pla ce Class 4 0 t ea m of J im O 'N eal , J eff K ap lan , Peter Postel, J on Ortner and T im W ithers , who o nc e aga in made th e trip from hi s home in Haw aii to parti ci pa te. J eff Kaplan , wh o br ou gh t th e XR to th e finish for th e O 'N eal t eam , said , " It was a rough rac e, bu t reall y good f or this b i k e. T h i ng s w e nt pre tt y smooth - no com p laints. We had a fil te r get d irty , bu t we d id n 't want t o cha nge it and lo se time." " O u r t eam did fl aw l essly - th ose g u y s are so l id ," O 'N ea l sa i d . " Je ff Sh eets built the w hole b ik e, and it's the best bi k e we'v e had down here. Ortner made up a lot of tim e for us about 22 m inutes." Fin ishing only six m inu t es behin d first in th eir cl ass in an 805 ·mile race was a bit discouraging . With the reli ab il it y of the XR650 R as th e u lt im at e Baj a wea pon no w a gi ve n , class w inne rs and finis hers are at least so me w hat p redictable , bu t th e six th bi k e ove ra ll truly was not in th is catego ry. Holl y w o o d st un t ma n and forme r mini-racing hero M ou se McCoy b rough t h is X R650 R a roun d th e c ourse in 18 hours, two m inutes