IN
THE
WIND
P44
POUCHER PINS IT FOR BAJA RALLY WIN
G
arrett Poucher may be
known as one of the fast-
est Baja racers, his team cur-
rently sitting third in SCORE's
World Desert Championship as
the 50th edition of the season-
ending Baja 1000 speeds toward
us next month. But he's decided
to add to his repertoire by learn-
ing rally navigation skills as well,
with an eye toward competing in
the Dakar Rally in 2019. Judging
by his performance at the 5th
Annual Baja Rally, Presented by
Rally Comp, he's well on his way.
After failing to finish his first
two rally raid-style races (he
broke both wrists after leading
the first 70 miles in the Baja
Rally's first stage last year then
broke the chain and transmis-
sion on the last day of this year's
Sonora Rally), he took his Gar-
rett Off-road Racing/AHM/AXO-
backed CRF450X to the front
of the pack after some severe
early time penalties and won the
Rally Pro class over Rally Comp/
Unique Products Racing/Preci-
sion Concepts CRF450X rider
Mike Johnson and Patrick Reyes
astride his Big Guys Racing/Mo-
torex/Monster Energy KTM 450
Rally Replica.
Extensive bike prep and
physical training complemented
Poucher's speed. However, his
lack of navigation experience al-
most cost him the race early on.
"The first day, [speed that
overwhelmed my navigation
abilities] actually cost me about
30 minutes in penalties, unfor-
tunately, and that put a LOT of
pressure on me for the rest of
the rally, not only frustration-wise
but it put a lot of time between
me and [Johnson, the leader at
that point]," Poucher explained.
That led him to rethink the way
he marked his road book, and
Garrett Poucher changed his strategy
and concentrated more on his road
book markings to nail the Rally Pro win.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MARK
KARIYA
