IN
THE
WIND
P26
UDALL WINS TECATE SCORE SAN FELIPE 250
A
fter suffering the sting of los-
ing the Baja 1000, Colton
Udall admits he was question-
ing his desire to continue rac-
ing in Baja. But the first race of
the 2015 SCORE World Des-
ert Championship has already
seen Udall rebound to the top in
dominant fashion, as he and his
teammate, Justin Jones, rode to
a commanding win aboard their
WFOxMotorsports.com Honda
in the 29th Bud Light SCORE
San Felipe 250.
Udall and Jones faced stiff op-
position from Ricky Brabec and
Max Eddy Jr. aboard their THR
Motorsports/Precision Con-
cepts Kawasaki, but the competi-
tion was short-lived. After Brabec
got the duo out to a good start,
Eddy suffered a hard crash, suf-
fering a suspected concussion
and broken wrist. The misfortune
left the door wide open for Udall
and Jones, who rode cautiously
to the big win.
"The course was so gnarly be-
cause of the way it was routed,"
Udall said. "The rain and the
number of pre-runners made
it really difficult. I don't know if
the other classes didn't pre-run
enough because they usually
pack down the rocks. In sections
of the course where I'm used to
running wide open, instead it
was fourth gear on and off the
gas today. I was tiptoeing around
to make sure I didn't hit any big
rocks. The washes out there are
really scary."
Jones agreed, also noting that
the wind complicated the condi-
tions in Baja. "My biggest prob-
lem was that the wind was blow-
ing the sand over and I couldn't
see any of the boulders sticking
out," Jones said. "You are rac-
ing the course instead of the
competitors. Being smooth and
respecting Baja was really key.
The rocks are gnarly and some
of the sand whoops, too."
Second-place rider Mark
Samuels was a victim of the dif-
ficult conditions, but fortunately
wasn't injured after a hard get-off
early in the race.
"About six or seven miles in, I
clipped a rock and went over the
bars really hard," Samuels said.
"That set us back about 10 min-
utes while I was trying to catch
my breath. I had just passed
someone and the rock really just
snuck up on me."
Samuels managed to get back
going and hand his WFOx Honda
CRF450X over to his teammate,
Ray Dal Soglio, who brought it into
the finish for a runner-up finish.
The KTM-mounted duo of Ar-
nulfo Verdugo and Cesar Lopez
rounded out the overall motor-
cycle podium in third while Eddy
and Brabec managed to hold on
for a fourth place finish.
Jean Turner
Colton Udall, Justin Jones and the WFOx Motorsports Honda team
dominated the 29th Bud Light SCORE San Felipe 250.
PHOTOGRAPHY
COURTESY
OF
SCORE
INTERNATIONAL
