Cycle News

Ausserbauer Solos To San Felipe 250 Victory W hile it's the shortest race in SCORE International's four-event World Desert Champi- onship, San Felipe has earned a reputation as the gnarliest due to years of race and pre-run traffic on practically every possible route combined with minimal rainfall on that side of the peninsula to smooth things out. It's a race that generally calls for at least two rid- ers per team, but that's not what Derek Ausserbauer had in mind for the 34th BF Goodrich Tires SCORE San Felipe 250, Present- ed by Ford, April 17-18. A Baja veteran, he decided to tackle the race by himself for the third time and see if he could add his name to the short list of those who've won the race without team- mates. It began months earlier with a rigorous training regimen that saw him pedaling his road bicycle two to four hours a day, five days a week. In his non-work (and non- workout) hours, he meticulously assembled the first-generation AHM Factory Services/STI Tires/ Bell Helmets Honda CRF450X he'd use as his race bike, knowing that Champion Adventures team manager Colton Udall had plenty on his plate already. One thing Udall could provide, though, was a pre-runner and this one was special as it was the bike the late Damon Stokie had used to pre-run in 2016 and '17. "Third time [to try to win solo]. I don't know why I put myself through it," he said. "Part of it for me is kind of the love for Baja racing. With our hiatus last season [due to] Covid and not getting out there for the [Baja] 1000, the itch of getting down there and doing the pre-running—being in the environment was drawing me back to it." Eschewing the usual practice of several warm bodies to help, Ausserbauer headed down to San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico, two weeks before the race and spent 12 days pre-running completely on his own. There was no chase truck or even hotel room for the first week as he was in full budget mode. (Some friends let him stay in their hotel rooms during the final week.) "It makes you appreciate help," he said. On race day, Ausserbauer was third bike off the line and he got the physical lead in the first 40 miles. Despite an early challenge from the lead Pro Moto 30 team of Shane Esposito/Jano Montoya/ Alberto Ruiz/Bryce Stavron on a KTM 450 EXC-F, Ausserbauer answered their challenge and managed his race thoughtfully. "I kind of just prioritized—work- ing super-hard in certain areas and then resting in others," he said. "Using that, I'd get mental breaks like, 'This is going to be hard for 10 minutes and then I get a rest. Then I work hard [later] and get a rest'—like the interval approach mentally. That kind of carried me through." Indeed, it did, as he crossed the finish line in six hours, six min- utes and 28 seconds to become the Pro Moto Unlimited and overall motorcycle winner, the first to solo and win San Felipe since Honda's Tim Staab in 2007. The Esposito/Montoya/Ruiz/ Stavron team was second overall bike in 6:14:24. Pro Moto Limited winners Fernando Beltran/Radolfo Patron/ Michel Valenzuela were the third bike team to finish, stopping the clock at 6:32:50 aboard their CRF450X. "For the most part, I felt pretty good mentally throughout the whole thing. I was pretty stoked on that—'til the finish," Ausserbauer said. "I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I was tearing up, and me and [my girlfriend] Chelsea [Curtis] were both crying at the finish line, freaking out." After all he'd been through, that's understandable. Mark Kariya IN THE WIND P52

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