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
ends Honda's run in Baja with 2&0 win By BRIAN FARIS PHOTOS BY FIDEL GONZALEZ I Honda's Johnny Campbell could do was wave to Andy Grider as the KTM rider rode the last few miles to the check red flag. In doing so, Grider clinched the win for his team, including teammates Chris Blais and Quin Cody, in the 240-mile Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. The trio finished the race in 4 hours, 21 minutes and 4 I seconds. The KTM team stayed within two minutes of American Honda factory riders Steve Hengeveld and Johnny Campbell's XR650 throughout the day, which put the trio in position to take the win when troubles struck the Honda duo. In the last 20 miles, Grider was close enough to see Campbell on the straighter sections, and he made his pass when the rear sprocket bolts backed out of the leading Honda. What was shaping up for a close finish ended up turning into a 12minute-plus victory for the KTM team. Campbell, who was forced to make trackside repairs, got going in time to still take second overall and second in the Open class. For Chris Blais, it was his first SCORE overall win ever. "I've been trying all these years on a Honda, and now I finally did it," he said. "Our lighter bike worked really good here; definitely less horsepower, but we didn't really need it much." A 40 Blais and his teammate rode a KTM 525 MXC to victory. Blais was at the controls the last two miles. "It was a great feeling to see our bike coming to me in first," Blais said of his final short stint on the bike. For Honda, whose win streak in SCORE Baja races goes back to 1997, its team took its usual overall lead shortly after the start but was unable to build up any sort of insurance, so when things went wrong, the KTM was there to pounce. ''At the start, everything went well - it was right on cue," Hengeveld said. "I passed the lead bikes by mile I0 and rode hard to the rider change at mile 30. When I got back on at pit three, I pulled more time, and we had a 2 1/2-minute lead at the change at pit five." But it wasn't enough. "It's been a long time since we've had any mechanical problems, and those guys were pushing us the whole way," said Campbell, who was standing next to his broken bike when Grider passed him at the Airport Road cutoff. "I've ridden some nasty courses, but this one was the worst." Brian MARCH 16,2005 • CYCLE NEWS Pinard and Taber Murphy split the riding duties for Temecula Motorsports and took their XR650 to a third-place finish in the Open class and fourth motorcycle overall, completing the course in 5: I0:24. "We had a good, clean ride," Pinard said. "Taber did the top, and I did the bottom. The bike was flawless. There were a lot of rocks coming up because of all the rain." Getting their fifth Class 40-division win in a row, Team O'Neal USA riders Jim r----------.. O'Neal, Tim Withers, Jeff Kaplan, Randy Morales and Tom Willis combined efforts for a flawless ride on a bulletproof Berkeley Honda XR650 to finish third overall in 4:54: 17. With Randy Morales aboard, the team took over third at the 57-mile mark and stayed there for the duration. "We had a clean race and everything went just the way we planned," Kaplan said. "The bike ran perfect - it was awesome." Their team's XR took everything the course could throw at it, the only visible sign of the tough course was a slightly tweaked brake cable and pieces of pucker bushes sticking out everywhere on the bike. Teammate Withers took a philosophical approach: "I'm just blessed to be riding with a great bunch of guys," he said. Sportsman solo rider Robert Laughlin, 36, from Solvang California, should get credit for the ride of the day. Laughlin's time on an XR650 was 5:25:04, good for sixth motorcycle overall. Laughlin credited his fast pace on a number of things. "The rain was a real blessing, the course was dust-free, the Honda pits were great, and SCORE did a great job marking the course," he said. Jon Ortner, soloing in the Class 40 division on a CRF450, was riding with the leaders when he took a wrong trail near the top of the Matomi Wash and dropped over 20 minutes. Ortner made a lastminute decision to do the race and didn't get much time to prerun. He still took an impressive third in the Class 40 division. "It was really, really rough out there, l!!!!~----- ..l!!!!!!!"'!...- - - - - - - - - - - -..