DOS MARES 08: Race breaks numerous records

The 15th anniversary race for the DOS MARES 500, which brought together the three different Southern Baja Off Road Race Organizers, ProBaja, U-Pro and the AEMA, saw a record assistance of 215 vehicles, with various entries from the US and from mainland Mexico.

The main La Paz broadwalk "El Malecon" was lined with thousands of fans as the cars went though the symbolic start at 14.00hrs on Saturday 3rd of May, after which the vehicles made their way to the official start "El Saladito" in the area of san Juan de la Costa on the Sea of Cortez, at 16.00hrs.

ATRacing entered the Bronco, driven by Bert Tjeenk, with its newly build FORD 351W engine, in Class 6 and Andrea Tomba presented the new Class 8 truck sporting its new colors, making quite a visual impact.

The stunning sceneries formed a challenging first section, with some tight hill climbs bordered by some big drops into the clear blue ocean… The Trophy trucks roared past from the start, going all out. Some of the favorites such as Neto Cervantes, Mayo Flores, Martin Ibarra and Coppel's trucks broke early on.

The one to really stand out was the under dog Rody Amaya Jr, racing in Trophy truck in his Class 8 truck with his new Leon Patton engine, not only winning overall, but also setting a new course record of 4:37:10 , beating Francisco Monroy's previous record, held since 2000/

Rody Sr. won Class 8 comfortably, also snatching 3rd place overall, in 4:57:12, making it celebrations all-round for the Amaya family. Andrea set a good pace in the new truck, however 20 miles from the finish the steering box broke, and it was a complicated spot to get the truck out to the chase crew. Once out, they had to replace the steering, and Andrea crossed the finish line in the early hours of the morning.

Bert had a very comfortable lead in the check at Las Golondrinas, with over 30 minutes gap between himself and the next Class 6, however the excellent effort was also brought to an abrupt halt in the silts as the steering box curse hit the Bronco, and by the time they were able to replace it, they were out of time to make it to the next check. The Careaga brothers whom have been absent from the racing scene for a while won first place in their new Cherokee in a time of 9:38:05.

Take a look at the Dos Mares promo on:
http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=cQRkzhvE5Co

Getting ready for the Dos Mares 08

Well, as you probably read from the last newsletter, everyone at ATRacing has its hands full getting ready for most probably the biggest event of the season in Southern Baja California, the Dos Mares. The race covers 500 km of beautiful, yet treacherous terrain, leaving La Paz going North, hugging the Sea of Cortez before crossing at Cuidad de Constitucion and then running back South down the Pacific back to La Paz.

The latest addition Class 8 truck, which is being tested for the first time by the team in the race, had some slight suspension modifications done, which always seem to end up more time consuming and intricate than when one starts out… It is a big, heavy truck, and the team is looking forward to some more time to try to get the truck to respond a little better. However, Andrea seemed to get more and more confident of the truck's ability as the testing session went on, and the truck was lowered and both caster and camber were increased.

Once the truck was running better, Bert took the truck for a few laps, and seemed full of smiles… Depending on the truck's performance at the Dos Mares, this may well be the vehicle that will see ATRacing at the 2008 Baja 1000.

Meanwhile, the Bronco's engine is undergoing full reconstructive surgery, with some additional horsepower being thrown into the mix, as well as the suspension being fine tuned by Carlos Iribe, who came down from Ensenada do give it a once over.

Bert was happy to put his feet on hot Baja soil again, and the Ranger pre-runner was tested to be ready for Bert's & Banda's full pre-run the following day. Both of them totally enjoyed the pre-run, without any major problems, although several difficult areas were identified. The silts past Las Golondrinas are already terrible, and that is before any real race traffic, as they are deep and long. The other silts in Santa Fe are just down right horrible.

Now, everything is full steam ahead to get ready for Saturday 4.00pm… official start time!

ATRacing bounces back!

Only a few weeks ago (See also "Racing rears its ugly head") we reported on the difficulties encountered during the Costera 250. A good time for the team to stick together and make things work, despite the troubles. And that is exactly what the team did. We are working hard on putting together another Explorer for Andrea. We also acquired a SCORE tagged Class 8 vehicle... Yes, we have started dreaming about participating in the Baja 1000 this year!

Furthermore, the team did a great job re-building the engine of the Class 6 Bronco. All of this left us with only one vehicle for the San Jose short course. In order to keep our championship dreams alive, the team decided not to give up and try to race the Bronco in both Class 6 as well as Class 8.

Arriving in San Jose on Saturday, the team immediately went to work testing the car on the Luis "Loco" Sandoval race track. Yet again, disaster struck: a bearing of the right rear axle malfunctioned and the engine did not provide sufficient power at high revs. Our fantastic mechanics did not despair and despite not being able to get the appropriate parts in the evening put the rear axle back together again and changed the carburator, thus enabling Bert to test the car on the track at 9.00 pm - his first experience driving the car in the dark. Everything worked just fine and spirits were on the rise once again.

In the Class 6 race we got the ideal starting position on the inside of the track. The field was off to a good start, which made things a little tight at the first corner. Tonio Cazarez's Explorer sporting number 607 squeezed ahead and Bert was bumped by the Red Burro, but maintained course and speed.

Just a little later, 607 lost momentum in a tight corner on the back of the track and Bert immediately took the opportunity and inched past. From there on, his lead rapidly expanded, so that a few rounds later he received the order from the pit to take it easy and save the car for the Class 8 race. In the end, we won the race, leading by about half a lap. A truly great boost for everyone's confidence!

As Bert ran a perfect race, proved that he has all the elements to be a top contendor this season, and having had the hands-on experience of just driving 10 race laps, Andrea made the decision that Bert should race the Bronco in Class 8 too! And so, Bert was registered as a second driver for the Class 8 truck, thus sporting Andrea's Race number 801.

Immediately prior to the start it turned out that the Bronco's batteries weren't charging, so off we went into the race switching off just about everything that uses electricity (air, radio, etc.). Meanwhile the track had worsened and looked more like a war-zone - incredible ruts, bumps, whoops, and what have you. After a hotly contested start, Bert settled into the race in fourth position. Aided by the misfortunes of Rody and Tom (who both dropped out of the race), Bert moved up to second and started to close in on Eduardo Gastelum's F-150.The car held up beautifully, though it was pushed to the limit to keep up with the others. In the end we finished in second. Again, Bert proved not only to have great driving skills, but a cool head and of thinking ahead.

All in all, a great weekend for the team. Lots of hard work in advance by our crew chiefs and mechanics paid off. In both Class 6 as well as Class 8, we are still in the race for the championship. Now, the focus is on having two great cars at the start of the Dos Mares, so that Andrea and Bert can do the team proud once more.


ATRacing's new Class 8

As you just read above, ATRacing just took possession of what is a new Class 8 truck for the team. The truck has quite a lot of race history, as it has been in various Baja 1000, and has been run by Sam Stahl over last few years.
The truck was purchased a little tired, still with Baja 1000 dust and cactus in the cab, the truck has some great components and is a tested recipe, and we have a lot of confidence that the miracle workers at Banda Race Shop, Los Hurtados and Los Peludos will soon convert it into another sexy competitor!

The plan is to make the necessary cage and suspension repairs and adjustments, and to test the truck in the grueling Dos Mares race… a tough test for the best of them.

Depending on how it performs, it may well be pulled aside for the rest of this season to prepare it to tackle the mother of all races: The Baja 1000!

Finally, we can see the light!!!

As the Dos Mares approaches, which starts outside of La Paz on the Sea of Cortez at 4.00pm, and runs up this Sea all the way to Cuidad de Constitucion, before crossing to the Pacific and heading back down to la Paz, this race will run mainly at night.

With this in mind, and always proud to hook with industry leaders, ATRacing are very happy to welcome their newest sponsor Vision X Off Road Lighting.
The Off Road lighting is a much needed and forever developing industry, and Vision X are not only supplying the team with the already proven HID (High-Intensity Discharge) lights, as seen on most Trophy trucks such Andy McMillin and BJ Baldwin, but we are also going to have the opportunity to try the latest in the world of off road lights: The X-mitter LED Bar. The HID's pull less amperage and light up with greater intensity and a much whiter light. The new LED (light Emitting Diodes) are a great leap in lighting, as they are tough, vibration resistant, compact and have no filament to burn out. They don't really get hot and they have a life span in the hundreds of hours… and they are cheaper than the HID!

So many thanks to Vision X for once again putting the best products in its field on our trucks!

Allied Racing Wheels new web site:

It is almost over 5 years ago that Andrea had the pleasure of meeting Greg Mulkey, designer of the then Rock-a-ton beadlock wheels for Allied Wheel Components, and at that time, Greg was doing a lot of research in designing the best and most robust desert race beadlock wheel.

A year later, Greg called Andrea to tell him to test the Rock Crusher Beadlock wheel… and as they say, the rest is history. The wheel addresses usual weak spots such as the center and the bead, super reinforcing them and making them, well, we cant think of a better word than unbreakable… as we have never had a single problem with a wheel… and it looks like sometimes Andrea REALLY tries!!

Even in the last Costera 250 high speed roll over which lead to : broken steering, broken engine case, broken coil overs, broken transmission, broken tubing, broken frame… the front fender was bent so far back that the points were piercing into the both front tires… however both the Rock Crushers and the BFGoodrich Baja TA's that dressed them, came out completely unharmed.

Allied Wheel Component's range of products have grown a lot, and we were happy to see the different products displayed in their new web site www.racelinewheels.com . Congratulations!

COSTERA 250: Racing rears its ugly head.
The race trucks showed up at the mechanical revision at Cuidad de Constitucion looking absolutely stunning as they rolled of their trailer. As evening came on, the cars passed tech, and were displayed at contingency, with autograph signing, and giving out posters, caps and the bright orange BFG Frisbees, which almost caused too much of a commotion as Andrea virtually was mobbed by kids and adults alike. The race had a good number of cars participate and the fans were already overfilling the contingency, whilst making plans were to go to the desert the following day to best watch the excitement of the race.

The start was delayed to 10.00am, due to heavy fog that had been appearing over the past few days, and as the medical examination the morning of the race was moving at a snail's pace, the start had to be delayed another 15 minutes.

At approximately 10.30am, Andrea and co-driver Jose Hurtado left the start, having drawn the pole position for Class 8, in front of great competitors such as Tom Bradley, Rody Amaya and Stanley Burns. The desert seemed packed with fans, at every jump and every corner. Andrea took on a great pace, and developed a very comfortable lead, and was driving down a narrow straight away at around 85MPH, when it seems that the steering reducer broke, and they lost the control of the vehicle, flipping very hard and several times into the banks, first sideways before gathering inertia to continue end over end. As proof of the great fabrication of Banda Jr. Race Shop the cage remained intact and driver and co-driver were intact, however the truck suffered unrepairable damage. The chassis broke front and rear, broke the transmission, pushed engine into the cab, broke the front coilovers, both fuel intakes were ripped off, and a LOT of bent tubing.

As Andrea and Jose were well, they directed the other cars around the wreck, waiting for the Team's Bronco driven by Bert Tjeenk and co-driven by Salvador Banda.

Unbeknown to them, Bert had managed to gain an impressive 12 minutes on the next Class 6, as well as overtaking a Class 8 Stock within 10 miles from the start, when the engine started spattering & spluttering. Oil pressure was good, temperature was good… what was the problem. They thought that it might have been a bad gasket, however as they stopped to repair the problem, they found that the monoblock had cracked, and that was the end of the race for them.

So, two cars down, the crew and Ana had to tackle the race course to tow both trucks out, and the team was shocked to come to realize that the Class 8 Explorer is beyond state of repair.

However, as usual, the team at Banda Jr Race Fabrication, want to jump straight back in the saddle, and already yesterday, two days after the race, have located a new chassis and have started making plans to build Andrea a new Explorer to hopefully have ready by June.

Meanwhile, ATRacing is looking at some interim options, and are also trying to finish a pre-runner Bronco to at least be able to continue with the points in Class 8 whilst we wait for the new vehicle.

ATRacing also wants to express their gratitude not only to all of ATRacing Team, but also all our competitors and friends who helped us get the broken trucks out of where they were, and who are prepared to help to see us back in the desert ASAP.


And thank God for keeping us safe to tackle the desert another day!

Finally, the long awaited end of Championship race came, the Baja Sur 300, which brought together the two race organizers ProBaja and UPro for one final show down. The race started in La Paz on the morning of the 9th of December, with the finish line being the crowded Arroyo in Cabo San Lucas, which had recently witnessed the end of the largest ever Baja 1000 just a few weeks before.

The race covered some tough but fast trails between La Paz and Todos Santos, which claimed a fair number of victims, before snaking up the narrow and twitchy route through the mountain range of Los Naranjos and finishing through the tough sand washes and dips just before Cabo san Lucas.

The mechanical revision was held under full party atmosphere as the main boardwalk "El Malecon" was once again closed off to host the 160 vehicles that presented to participate in the race, amongst the thousands of fans that came out to see their favorite drivers at the autograph signing, and to check out the many stalls presenting racing gear and videos, as well as the cool, enticing Tecates.

The overall victory was rightfully claimed by Luis " Fito" Ramirez, in his TOYO shoed LS7 Racer Class 1 Buggy, after 6 overall trophies out of 6 races! The Trophy Trucks suffered quite a few damages and mechanical problems, with the legendary "Nacho" Monroy finally back to claim first place. The always gentleman Francisco Pantoja, rolled in late for second place, having stopped to help his "compadre" Kiki "El Balazo" Murillo as he rolled within 15 miles from the start in his FORD powered Trophy Truck. One of the favorites for the close to US$33,000 Trophy Truck purse Neto Cervantes suffered steering problems in his new Trophy, leaving him with a third place finish.

In Class 8, Rody Amaya maintained his front starting position to the finish line, leaving Andrea Tomba in his TOYO/ Quaker State FORD Explorer in second position. The Championship winner Ricky Betancourt suffered transmission problems, and he limped in to get 3rd place. "We had a fun, clean race", said Andrea. "We are the under dog racing our Class 6 truck in Class 8 Open, but we had no problems, no flats and looked after the truck to secure a good standing in the Championship. Now, we are pulling at the bit for NEXT season…"

ATRacing would like to thank the huge efforts of all the crew, Banda Jr, Los Hurtados & Los Peludos for the dedication, our crew chief Davicho for staying on top of things and to Ana for keeping it all together. Thanks to Russ for always being there, camera at the ready, and for keeping us on our toes with our web page. All in all, it was a trying and difficult, but satisfying, season with lots of mechanical hurdles, all of which seem to have been overcome, and we are grateful to have such a close and warm racing family.

Special thanks to all our sponsors whom keep us racing and keep providing us with the best of the best! You guys are awesome. Thanks to TOYO Tires, Quaker State, AutoMeter Gauges, Optima Batteries, K&N Filters, AWC Wheels, Fox Racing Shocks, MORFO Racing, Prisa Paints, Xtreme Graphics & Tornillos y Birlos.

Starting his 70th birthday party a bit early, venerable veteran desert racer Rod Hall lit the candles on his celebration by earning a record 19th class win during the final hours of the legendary 40th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race Thursday. As the final checkered flag drop early Thursday evening for the last of a race-record 239 official finishers in the 40th annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, it was obvious that another incredible and colorful chapter had been added to the legacy of this popular desert race down the majestic Baja California, Mexico, peninsula.

The near race-record 424 starters from a SCORE-record 44 U.S. States and a SCORE-record 20 countries, represented the second largest field in the history of the desert classic. They competed in 28 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs. The race was the season finale of the six-race 2007 SCORE Desert Series, the world's foremost desert racing series.

Mexico tourism officials estimated record crowds of nearly 350,000 spread out along the course from Ensenada down both sides of the Baja California peninsula to Cabo San Lucas.

In an yet another impressive display of power and poise, American Honda motorcycle teammates Robby Bell, Steve Hengeveld, Johnny Campbell and Kendall Norman along with the team of Mark Post/Rob MacCachren/Carl Renezeder posted the overall motorcycle and 4-wheel victories early Wednesday to lead the field. The finish line on the outskirts of Cabo San Lucas closed quietly at 6 p.m. Thursday, just after the VW sedan driven by Mexico's Ramon Fernandez became the last of the SCORE record finishers, ending the 53-hour time limit each starter had to complete the journey.

The granddaddy of all desert races, the flagship event of the world's foremost desert racing series was a rugged peninsula odyssey of 1,296.39 miles from Ensenada in Baja California to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Baja California Sur. It was the 33rd time the race started in Ensenada, and just second time it finished in Cabo.

First to cross the finish line was the No. 1 Honda CRF450X of Bell/Hengeveld/Campbell/Norman, who methodically marched down the grueling course to an overall winning time of 24 hours, 15 minutes, 50 seconds. Bell, as rider of record took the green flag in Ensenada Tuesday morning, followed by Norman, Campbell and Hengeveld captured the checkered flag, after riding for most of the night portion of the race. The team average speed over the tougher-than-usual course was 53.43 miles per hour.

While the American Honda teammates rode the fastest vehicle in the demanding race, Post, San Juan Capistrano, Calif., MacCachren, Las Vegas, and Renezeder, Laguna Beach, Calif., split driving in the No. 3 Riviera Ford F-150 won the featured SCORE Trophy-Truck division, leading all four-wheel vehicles to the finish line by covering the extremely demanding course in 25:21:25, with an average speed of 51.13mph.

Winning the unlimited Class 1 for an amazing fourth straight year Larry Roeseler, Hesperia, Calif. and Las Vegas' Troy Herbst were third overall 4-wheel finishers with a class-winning time of 26:30:10 in the Terrible Herbst Motorsports Ford-powered Smithbuilt desert race car. In earning a SCORE record 23rd race win since 1997, the remarkable open-wheel race car will be retired to permanent display at the Terrible Herbst Race Shop in Huntington Beach, Calif.

The special Baja Challenge class for identically-equipped Subaru-powered Baja touring cars that helps introduce crossover racers and celebrities to SCORE desert racing saw all 18 starters finish and was won for the first time by the team led by Jim Christensen, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

The unique Sal Fish SCORE IronRider Award offered to any motorcycle and ATV racer who finished the race while riding entirely solo drew 25 total riders and six of them made it to the finish line within the 53-hour time limit. Sal Fish SCORE IronRider award winners were: Gabriel Williams, Provo, Utah (33:16:08, Class 22-Honda CRF450X) (FASTEST SOLO RIDER); Greg Godfrey, Draper, Utah (40:14:12, Class 22-KTM 520XC); James Curzon, Jackson, Wyo. (52:38:11, Class 30-KTM XC510); Todd Harrison, Center, Colo., (46:17:12, SPT M/C>250cc-KTM XCW525); John Crowley, Flagstaff, Ariz. (51:12:18, SPT ATV, Honda TRX450R).