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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!
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