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/128369
Briefly... KTM's Kellon Walch suffered a broken femur while prerunning. Class 5 Baja Bug drivers Jeff Nutter and Roy Kee stayed with Walch in Matomi Wash, where Walch's crash occurred, for over six hours until he could be transported to a hospital in California. Quinn Cody was a last-minute replacement for Walch. Class 30 rider David Warren suffered a broken leg in the first few miles of the race. Honda went back to its B Team format with riders Kendall Norman and Robby Bell. They were running third at mile 57, with Bell aboard, when a rock flew up and broke the front disc brake, leaving them an hour and a half down. They eventually finished fourth in Open class. This was the end of a number of winning streaks for American Honda in Baja. Most notably, it put an end to Hengeveld and Campbell's five-race win streak at the San Felipe 250, as well as 10 straight wins in Baja/SCORE races as teammates. and I've got some big-time blisters," Ortner said. "I didn't have time to do the suspension. Bob Bell at Precision Concepts did it for me, and it was a real lifesaver." The tough course took its toll on the usually competitive Sportsman class, where only three starters out of eight finished. Tim Morton, Jason Trubey and Sal Hernandez had a twofold purpose to ride the 2S0cc class: The first was to win the Class 21 division, which they did by a solid margin, and the second was to prove the reliability of the CRF2S0X. Morton, who rode his first Baja race 20 years ago, said, "People said this bike couldn't go fast for a long period of time, but we proved them wrong." He went on to say, "I don't know why people race here for fun - this course is so rough, so dangerous. But the bike handled everything real well. We could hit stuff real hard, but the bike ripped all day long. I'm stoked." "The bike handled great, no problems," Hernandez added about the little thumper, which carried the trio to fifth motorcycle overall. In true Baja fashion, the second-place finisher in Class 21, Kevin Johnson, who teamed with Ryan Gustine, had an interesting story. Johnson ran out of gas and had to borrow some Pemex fuel and 30weight Valvoline from a spectator to get going again. The pair finished 16 minutes behind the class-winning team. Joe Derosiers and Jesse Sharpe finished less than four minutes later in what was the closest class racing of the day. The Class 30 riders experienced more than their share of problems, but Gerardo Rojas and Arturo Salas overcame a flat rear tire, which eventually tore away to the rim, to get the class win. The team's tire troubles, on its XR650, happened between Honda pits one and two, way out in the middle of nowhere. The disintegrating tire also destroyed the rear fender, which never did get replaced. Conversely, Salas, who rode the second half to the finish, had a trouble-free ride. "I had no problems and everything went good," he said. Brent Downing picked up a second in Class 30, soloing on an XR650. While the O'Neal Class 40 entry was having a glitch-free ride, the same could not be said for the Class 50 entry, where Jim O'Neal teamed with Doug Heil and Ric Gill on another XR650. O'Neal, looking for a higher overall placing, pushed too hard and came off twice, once which holed the case and shorted out the electrical system, causing major down time. The second crash, a high-speed get-off 15 miles from the finish, caused him damage, sustaining a bruised sternum, fluid in the lungs and a broken collarbone. With the aid of a spectator, who started O'Neal's bike, he still managed to finish. With the exception of an additional I5 miles on the Northwest section near Diablo Dry Lake, the course was the same one that SCORE has been using for the last several years. Making extensive use of the area's major washes (Matomi, Chanate and Huatamote), the environmental impact is minimized, but the course gets rougher each year with now stadium-sized whoops. As Honda Team Manager Bruce Ogilve put it before the race: 'The course is whooped out beyond all recognition." The above-average rainfall in the area was both good and bad - it kept the dust down, but brought out the rocks. eN Tim Morton and Salvador Hernandez topped (Iau 21. 2. Kevin Johnson (Yam); 3. Joe Derosiers/Jesse Sharpe (Yam); 4. Eddie Zeller/Shad Bodenstant (Yam); 5. Angel SAN FEUPE 250 SAN FELIPE, B.C., MEXICO RESULTS: FEBRUARY (ROUND 2 OF 26, 2005 6) CLASS 22: I. Chris Blais/Andy Grider/Quinn Cody (KTM): 2. Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell (Hon); 3. Brian PinardfTaber Murphy (Hon); 4. Robby BelVKendaH Norman (Han); S. Rina Navera (Yam). CLASS 21: I. Tim MortonlSaivador Hernandez (Hon); Moreno/Felix Castro (KTM). CLASS 30: I. Gerardo Rojas,IVicente Guerrero (Hon); 2, Brent Downing (Hon), CLASS 40: I, Jim O'NealfTim Withers/Jeff Kaplan (Hon); 2. Greg Fountain/Mike Martin (Yam); J. Jon Ortner (Hon): 4. Dana Reed/Michael Powell (Hon); 5. Martyn Atkins (KTM). CLASS SO: I. Jim O'Neal/Doug HeiVRick Gill (Hon), CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 16,2005 41