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/128331
~ - . - ~. '~ ' - ~ - ~ l I OFF-ROAD _ June 4 -6, 2004 I~ 2 004 Tecate Score Baja 500 Hengeveld and Campbellifeep the streaif alive By BRIAN FARIS PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA n racing, sometimes it's a little problem that causes a race to be lo st, and sometimes it's a much bigger on e - like th e broken front wheel that a lmost cost Te am Honda 's Steve Hengeveld and Johnny Campbell the win at this year's SCORE Baja SOO. The broken wheel was discovered at the end of the day afte r Campbell had ridden on it for qu ite some time . Luckily for them, the wheel held together long enough for them to replace it, then Campbell handed the bike off to Hengeveld, and the team proceeded to run away from the second-placed XR6S0mounted team of Chris Blais, Kendall Norman and Quinn Cody. "I just went for it," Hengeveld said. "I got passed by Blais, and I passed him back on the Goat Trail. After that I just tried to make up time - I did, and that was it." All day long the Blais, Norman and Cody team put pressure on Campbell and Hengeveld before the facto ry Honda finally began to pull away. At the end of the race Cam pbell felt that everything went well except for the almost raceending broken front wheel. "T his was definitely a tough one, " Campbell said. "I could fee l them [second place] back there. We had planned to do another wheel change, but the race was too close. I didn't notice the front hub was broken when I handed the bike to Steve, and I do n't know what caused it. We changed it, and Steve ' put time on them for the last 80 miles." As for No rman - of the second-place team - he was happy w ith their effort for the day. After all they didn't have too many mechanical pro blems or crashes. "I rode in John ny's dust fro m Honda I Steve He ngeveld (left) a nd Johnny Campbell (right) re lax by the poo l after the ir v ictory at the Ba ja 500. pit five to eight," Norman said. " I tried to make a pass, but I couldn't find a line. We canceled our tire change at Valle de Trinidad because we wer en't that far behind ." It was a to ugh day for third overall XR's Only ride rs Chuc k Dempsey, Andy Grider, Mike Ch ildress and Beau Hayden . The XR650 team had a foam insert com e apart near Mike's Sky Ranch. And Grider, in true Baja fashion, borrowed the front wheel from a spectator's bike in order to keep their bike in ridable condit ion. The team ran close to the lead all day but ended up some 50 minutes off the winning time. '''''I around it was a bad day," Childress said at the finish. Class 30 riders Gerado Rojas, Sergio Vega and Vicente Guerrero finished fourth overall in the motorcycle class and first in class. "It was a hard race," Vega said. "The re was a lot of traffic at the start, but we had no problems after that." The original plan for Jim O 'Neal 's Class 30 team was for Mouse McCoy to pair with O ' Neal and do the bulk of the riding. This was scrapped when O ' Nea l broke his hand well before the race . Then it had to be totally revamped when McCoy hit a pumpkin-sized rock while prerunning near Tres Hermanos, sustaining a broken nose and lots of stitches in his face. The new team of Keith O'Neal, Jimmy Roberts and Jon O rtne r managed a fourth in class after Roberts overshot a pit and had to bum gas where he could . The team rode McCoy 's Scot t Do nlavey Berkeley Honda-prepp ed XR650. Jim O'N eal's Class 40 e ntry fared much bette r, picking up a first in class. They were sixth overall motorcycle in a time just shy of 10 hours. The team was comprised of Jeff Kaplan, Tim Withers, Scott Donlavey, Louie Franco and, on his first time ever in Baja, Jim Holley. "I've got a chance to ride something I haven't done," Holley said. "I planned on keeping focused and the wheel spinning. Knowing that someone is getting on after you is a big responsibility." Jim O'Neal's Class-40 team also campaigned a Scott Donlavey Berkeley Honda -prepped XR650, and things gen erally went well for the team . However, Franco crashed hard on his first stint and lost consciousness, but he was able to shape up e nough to ride to the finish. Donlavey hit a spectator on an ATV who was going t he wrong way on the beach section; his biggest prob lem was trying to get through the language barrier and get the kid to lift his ATV clear of the race bike. An all-Baja team of Alfredo Co ntreras, Salavador He rnandez an d Juan Diego www.cyclenews.com Saffon kept their Yamaha yz 250 ahead of Joe Deroissier's and Jesse Sharpe's YZ , eventually finishing in just under 10 hours a litt le over 20 minutes ahead of seco nd. Larry Gross on Deroissier's team agreed , "They had us at the beginning, and we chased them all the way." Team Caveman - Richard Jackson, Bob Wadlow and Gregg Hawkes - won Class 50 in a time of just over 10 hours , giving Jackson and Wadlow their fifth straight win and Jackson's 12th multiclass win. They were 16th overall Pro motorcycle and 38th vehicle overall. eN BAJA SOO ENSE NA DA, B.C., MEXICO RES ULTS JUNE 4- 6 , 20 0 4 : O/A: I. Steve Hengeveld/Johnn y Cam pbell (Han) 8:23:36/51 .05 mph (Class 22); 2. Chris Blais/Qu inn Cody (Hon) 8:29:37/S0 .4S mph (Class 22): l . C huck Dem psey/Andy Grider (Han) 9:14:25/4 6.37 mph (Class 22); 4. Gera rdo RojasNicente Guer rer o/Serg io Vega (Hon) 9:32:02/'14.94 mph (Class 30); 5. Fred W ille rt/M ike Barnhill (Hen ) 9:37:27/44 .52 mph (Class 30); 6. Jim O 'NealfTim Wit hers/Je ff Kaplan (Hon ) 9:43:27/44.01 mph (C lass <40): 7. J. David Ruval abalStevie Cruz (Hon) 9;..6:53/.. ] .81 mph c (CIass 30): 8. J;m O' Neal (Hen) 9,SS:2 IH l . 18 mph (Class 30); 9. Alfredo Co nt reras/Salva dor Hern andes (Yam) 9;58:29/" 2.96 mph (Class 21); 10. J Desrosie rslJesse oe Sharpe (Y;un) 10:19:36/41.49 mph (Ciau 21). CYCLE NEWS • JULY 7 , 2004 Sl