Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Honda Takes Baja I 000 T eam Honda's Steve Hengeveld, johnny Campbell and Mike Childress won this year's running of the Tecate Baja 1000, held November 19-20 in Baja California, Mexico. It was the team's fifth straight victory, while Campbell earned his ninth consecutive overall motorcycle victory. Averaging 49.42 mph, the Honda team finished in 14 hou~, 20 minutes and 30 seconds - more than 13 mph slower than their record pace in the 2002 ve~ion. "It was a great race, and we had a good time out there," Hengeveld said. "Baja is Baja, and you never know how it's going to be out there. It was pretty good; we were about 30 minutes off what I thought we would finish. The course was great, probably one of the toughest Bajas yet that I've raced in 10 years. That was one of my goals, to extend the Honda streak. We pretty much prepare all year long for this race. The bike ran flawless; it's very reliable, and we had no problems with it all day. I was probably on it for about a total of six or seven hours. I did the start to Nuevo junction, a run in the middle, and Trinidad to the finish." Childress ran from San Felipe to San Matias, about 140 miles, and then did a stretch right before dark that was unfamiliar territory for him, completing half of Mike's loop. "They gave me a map and said, 'Go here and get on the bike and ride it to us,''' Childress said. "It was kind of weird, because I got on the bike and it was getting dark quickly. I didn't know any of the corners, I didn't know where to go. I just took it easy and didn't make any mistakes; I just got the bike to Steve. Coming into the pit, I didn't see a cow and hit it and thought it was over right there. The bike was flawless, the pits were perfect, all the chase crews were in the right place." Robby Bell, Kendall Norman and Quinn Cody placed second in Class 22, coming in more than I7 1/2 minutes behind the team they'd traded places with most of the day. "We had the physical lead, but when it got dark, they pulled away," Norman said. "I rode from about mile 200 to 390. It was pretty physically demanding, but I knew what I was getting myself Into. I got passed almost at the end of my section. Robby hit a booby trap in the morning, and It crushed our tailpipe. We didn't end up changing it until around mile 390." Travis Pastrana, Andy Grider, Ricky johnson and Gregg Godfrey unoffICially finished third in the class before they were disqualified when a postrace inspection revealed that they did not use the required SCORE Black Box GPS rally logger. "I got I 1/2 days to practice," said Grider, who won the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 with Chris Blais. "The SCORE Baja 1000 is a good race, and this was the toughest in many years. Travis got to mile 70 with very little problems, only four minutes down. Gregg ended up having a flat for about 20 miles. We made up some time in the rough stuff, but in the flat stuff the [Honda] 650. just pulled away from us. But the bike never went down the whole day, so we're stoked about that. We're just happy to be on the podium with a rookie team." Co-rider Ricky johnson, who last rode a bike in the 1998 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, said prior to learning of the disqualification, "To finish third is perfect; we knew we had nothing for the Honda guys." In Class 21, Tim Morton took the checkered flag in a bit of a daze, his nose still bloody from a fall near the end of the race, but his win completed the sweep for him in Class 21 this season. Morton collected the season points championship for the third time in his career. (He also won in 1994 and 1995.) "I am amazed," Morton said. "I can't remember a whole lot before Highway I at San Vicente. I have no idea. I really don't remember where I crashed, but I think I might have crashed next to this Class 40 guy; I don't know if I passed him or... I don't really remember so good for the last 15 miles." Brian Pinard and Scott Myers won the Class 30 class, as the sixth motorcycle and ninth overall finisher to cross the line. "I started the race today," Myers said. "It was really rough this year - one of the roughest I can ever remember." In Class 40, jim O'Neal, who recorded his first win in this race last year, again shared the duties with several others, including jeff Kaplan. Kaplan won the 1979 edition of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 (with Rick Finger) in Class 21. In this race, they had the dubious distinction of becoming the first incident for SCORE's Medical Team, as Luis Franco started the race but hit a booby trap three miles from Highway 3. "We just kept chipping away once we got the bike going," Kaplan said. "We had bent the front brake really bad. Other than that, Jarrett Takes Cooperland GP Despite haVing already clinched the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals Series Championship, jimmy Jarrett rode like the title was on the line at the final race of the 10-round 2004-05 series at Cooperland Raceway in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on November 20. The Wiseco Cooperland Grand Prix saw Jarrett, on the Andrews Cycies/KendalMoose Suzuki RM250, get out in front early, but there was never any room for error, as Justin Williamson hounded him for nearly the entire distance on his Williamsonracing.com Yamaha VZ250. By the time the checkered nag came out, less than a second separated the two after 10 laps and more than two hours of racing. Matt Fish ended up third on his KTMHutt.com/Fun Mart Cycles/Moose KTM 250 EXC, in his first Pro race after wrapping up the Open A Series class championship at round nine. "I got a good start and it was dusty, and I knew if I just stayed in front of them, they weren't going to pass me," Jarrett said. 8 "I was right on him, trying to make passes, trying to press him, but nothing happened," Williamson said. "It was a good, fair race, so I really enjoyed it. I had a real good time racing. I'm sure it was an excellent show for the crowd." "Definitely the pace was different today in the Pro class," said Fish of his first Pro race. "Usually in the A class, I just ride my race, and today I was forced to ride a little bit out of my comfort zone for those first few laps." Shane Watts finished fourth to claim third in the final series points, behind Jarrett and Williamson. He had his KTMHutt.com/Fun Mart Cycles/Moose KTM 200 XC in cruise mode, as he was scheduled for both carpal-tunnel and knee surgery the following day in California. Afterward, he'll head to Australia for a few weeks. Dave Neumeister rounded out the top five on his Fun Mart Cycles/FMF/M5R KTM 450 MXC. Mark Kariya NOVEMBER 30, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS though, it was pretty uneventful. The only other person I saw was Tim [Morton)." Co-rider Randy Morales contributed to the win, which extends O'Neal's streak to six SCORE wins in as many starts since the beginning of the 2004 season. Chris Haines, Scott Forward and jim Castillo won Class 50 as the ninth-fastest time of all motorcycles. The win gave Haines his seventh consecutive Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 title, and his 12th since 1987. Only three other people have won more SCORE Baja 1000 titles in their careers - Rod Hall, jimmy johnson and Larry Roeseler. The winner of the Sportsman class which, with 28 starters, was tied for the second largest class - was an individual who rode solo. Robert Laughlin had the eighthfastest time of any motorcycle, at 19 hours and 12 seconds. "I didn't fall once, but then almost fell two miles from here coming down a hill," Laughlin said at about 2 a.m. at the finish line. Mark KDrlya

• Cover