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/128618
32nd Annua l Tecate SCORE Baja 500 Baja rocks . Ho nd a ' s Bruce Ogilv ie described the course as: "Still pretty chewed -up from the last Baja 1000." Firs t bike off the line was the th irdoverall finishing motorcycle p iloted b y Phillip Ze iger , Ron Wilson and Cra ig S m ith , also an XR650 Ho nda . "Precision Concepts did a great job on o ur su spens ion ," Wilso n wa s q uick to say when it was all over. "It [th e bike] was flawless. " Th e team's suspension technicians certa inly had their hands fu ll with this b ike be c au se of the ove r 60 -pound we ight va riance between th e t hree riders . Craig Smith , who duel ed with both Street and Campbe ll near Mike 's S ky Ra nc h and Vall e De Trinid ad , said, "J ona h got m e at th e roa d to Mike 's . Our stabilizer was gone an d we go t a n ew on e a t th e next pit. We s tayed clo se a ll da y." F ou rth ove rall m o t o rc y c le a nd fourth in th e O pen class wa s the Baja Des igns XR 6 50 ri dden b y T e x Mitchell an d Scott Mye rs. Their finishing tim e was nine hours and 21 mi nutes . Mitche ll, the Esco nd ido Cycl e Cente r-backed rider . described his section as rea lIy tough . "It was rea l h ot at Uraupan a nd there was a lot o f re all y deep ra in ruts ," he sa id. B y B RIA N F A RIS P HOT OS BY M A RK K A RIYA ENSENADA. B.C. MEXICO. JaNE 3 o na h St re et a nd Ste ve Henge veld out - due led Ame r ican Hond a tea mma t e s Johnn y Campbe ll and Tim Staab for the win at the 32nd Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 500 . Only 15 seconds separated th e two machines at the finish line . ma king it one of the closest Baja finishes in a long time . Both teams averaged 51 .7 mph on the ir Honda XR650Rs . For Stree t, who hai ls from Ellensburg , Wa shin gton , th is was his sec o n d straight Baja 5 00 win . T h e Street/ He ngeve ld combination also had th e ho nor of bei ng the absolute o ve ra ll winn e r - to p p ing a ll of t he fo ur -whe el e d entra n ts - while th e J 46 J UNE 21 . 2000' c u e I e (Above) Steve Hengeveld (shown) teamed w ith Jo nah Street on a Honda XR650 to score a close w in at the 32nd running of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500. (Right) Working out of the same pits as the winning team, Honda's Jo hnny Campbell and Tim Staab (shown) finished j ust 15 seconds behind the Hengeveld/Street bike. Campbell /S taab duo wa s se c ond overall and had a m argin of 26 minutes over the first-place four -wheeler. Race day was clear a nd sunny for t h e 6 :00 a.m. start in down tow n Ensenada . As the day wo re on, there was no let -up fro m the s un as te m pe rat ures sailed past 9 0 degrees over t h e 440 .2 -mile c o u r s e . As usua l, course co nditio ns we re ve ry dusty , with lots of silt a nd the ever-present n e vv so