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August Newsletter:
ATRacing extends their Class 6 ProBaja Desert Series lead with another victory in the Loreto 400 "Ruta de las Missiones" in their BFGoodrich/ Bagohepat sponsored FORD Bronco.
On the 16th and 17th of August, the whole town of Loreto, BCS, was vibrating with the sound of roaring engines and wild fans, as the town, its government bodies and locals welcomed the Off Road race community with open arms, despite the 40oC soaring temperature. The Loreto 400 race, also known affectionately as the "Ruta de las Misiones", as it runs through some of the most spectacular and breathtaking areas of Baja, including many old towns and 300 to 400 year old missions, tests both man and machine with some very grueling and harsh terrain, over what is close to 400 kilometers. 120 competitors started, of which 94 cars and trucks, and only 66 of these made it to see the checkered flag. Numerous cars fell victims to the course, and broken wheels and flat tires were definitely the specialty of the day.
In this race, team tactics dictated that Bert and Andrea switch places, with Bert racing his FORD Bronco in Class 8, whilst Andrea continue in Class 6 after his last victory in the Coyote 300, this time also in a FORD Bronco. After pre-running and evaluating the tough terrain, Andrea judged that this race required an intelligent pace, to make the points and secure the Championship as much as possible, and doing just that Andrea again took first place in Class 6, setting over 30 points between ATRacing and their closest competitor Renan Bareno. "This was a tactical race" said Andrea at the finish line, celebrating the victory with his sponsors visiting from Mexico City, " a race that had to be driven by brains, and not the right foot. The terrain was so varied, with some technical sections as well as some very fast stretches, but most of all, we needed the security that we would be able to tackle the long rocky sections with confidence, whilst not sacrificing grip and momentum in the murderous silts and sand washes. The BFGoodrich Baja T/As did just that, and the excellent race preparation by Banda Race Works made sure that our truck just kept taking all the punishment we could give it!"
Unfortunately, Bert had some problems in Class 8, although the truck was driving great with the new engine built by Total Performance, making the car a real joy to drive. 50 miles from the finish, Bert was struggling with the heavy Comondu dust, trying to overtake another truck ahead, when in doing so, he hit a big rock that had been thrown on the side of the trail, taking out his left spindle, and thus not allowing him to finish within the time limit.
With only one race left in the Pro Baja Desert Series 2008, ATRacing is hoping to take home at least one Championship Victory, especially after the difficulties they have had in Class 8, trying to make up for Andrea's spectacular crash which totally wrote off his FORD Explorer. "The loss of the unit in the first race of the season was a serious set back to the whole team, as the truck was perfectly dialed in thanks to the team's hard work" continued Andrea. " We had to make a conscious choice to sacrifice our chances for a Class 8 Championship win, as we have decided to race the Baja 1000, and are currently preparing the FORD F-150 for the mother of all Off Road races. However, all in all, it has been a great season. Our main sponsors BFGoodrich Mexico and Bagohepat have supported our every step, and are as eager as we are to take a shot at the Baja 1000. The team has been working around the clock to keep all the units together, and Bert's integration to the team has been a real benefit, even though he has been followed by some mechanical bad luck in the last races, these things just happen and have a habit of turning right around, but most of all his flair for life and great attitude has brightened up the whole team!"
The 4&5th of October will host the Circuito Bronco Challenge in La Paz, which will define the Championship as the last race of the season.
Full Steam ahead for the Baja 1000
November 20th seems just round the corner. It is funny how little 3 months is when you have to organize all the logistics for an even as big and complicated as the Baja 1000. Race vehicle preparation, chase car preparations, parts ordering, pit crew accommodation, hotels, uniforms, etc…
However, that is what makes the Baja 1000 so special, that is still one of the biggest challenges that exists in motor sports!
And ATRacing are steaming ahead, with great hope in the FORD F-150 that is being prepared by Willy Valdez Race Preparation in Ensenada, powered by a 351 W built by Total Performance in Santee, CA, whilst the infamous Culhane is taking care of the transmission part of the recipe. As always, the support by our loyal sponsors is a great part of making this possible, such as Bagohepat, BFGoodrich Mexico keeping us shoed with the best tires the industry has to offer, Allied Wheels with huge 17inch Monster Beadlocks, SPARCO keeping us safe whilst looking smart, and K&N keeping the air clean!
Also, be prepared for a new look for the Baja 1000 vehicle….
The Loreto 400: The Mission Route
Baja has been a fairly discussed topic this year. Following several unfortunate and unnerving events in Tijuana and Ensenada during the last Baja 1000, various teams decided to boycott racing in Baja, deeming it to be an unsafe environment. Then, as the newly elected president Felipe Calderon decides to target the drug trafficking and crime waves in these areas, attacking drug families and police corruption head on by introducing a heavy military presence in these areas, leading to crime crackdown however also various incidents of shoot outs and assassination of police chiefs and other key figures. Some people believe that things have to get worse before they get better, as it is a huge battle, however it is a battle that is being undertaken.
All this activity is taking place on the corridor right near the border of a 1,200 miles plus long Peninsula, yet several articles in US newspaper couldn't refrain from headline stories about "the dangers of Baja", alerting travelers that they put their lives and those of their family's at great risk if they dare travel anywhere in the Baja territory. That is a little like tagging Southern California as a "no go" area because of heavy gang wars in South Central LA…
The major towns in Southern Baja, such as La Paz, Cabo, San Jose, Todos Santos, Loreto and Ciudad de Constitucion are currently facing a huge influx of foreign and national investment and growth, as well as high end condominium and second home projects previously only found in Cabo San Lucas can now be found in several of these southern Baja towns. La Paz was voted by several international magazines and papers such as LA Times and Money as one of the top ten places in the world to retire in. This is not only because you can still get very good value for your money, not only because of the many beautiful facets that the area hosts, not only because of the great activities it has to offer such as sport fishing, diving or hiking but also because this area has always been identified as one of the safest areas in Mexico.
Another asset that this area has that not everyone knows about is off- road racing. This is to say that Southern Baja doesn't only come alive as the SCORE Baja 1000 passes through, but they have their own Off Road racing to enjoy through out the year.Like in the entire peninsula, off road racing is part of the culture and is a second religion, drawing not only huge crowds and fans, but also a lot of great competitors and cars, both locals and visitors. People who come and race down South for the first time are usually surprised by the quality and the quantity of the competition, with most races having more than 100 entries, consisting of some very fast Trophy Trucks, Class 1s, Class 12s, Class 8s, Class 7s, all the way down to the Class 11s. Several American drivers such as Tom Bradley, Jim Mihal, Stanley Burns amongst others have made this area their battlefield of choice and they leave their vehicles to be prepped down south, participating the entire series, whilst others, such as Perry McNeil, Mango Racing, Dave Creagan to name but a few, decide to come down and race a few selected races. Southern Baja is the home of two Off Road Championships, the Corona Extra U-PRO and the PROBAJA DESERT series, each with its own race schedule so that there is usually at least one race a month, although they combine efforts to together present two of the biggest races of the year.
One of these races, the "Mission Route" otherwise known as the Loreto 400, was hosted in the town of Loreto at the skirt of the Sierra de la Giganta mountain range over a spectacular week end, the 16th & 17th of August. Even the 112oF heat couldn't stop the 120 teams that registered to compete, nor could it keep the thousands of fans away from the race or contingency. The whole town of Loreto is simply turned into an off-road Mecca for the week end, with the full support of the local hotel association and the Municipal President Yuan Yee, and the town was completely sold out, as was nearby Cuidad de Constitucion.
The 217 mile route covered some of the most spectacular and breathtaking routes in Baja, with a smorgasbord of terrains. Starting in Loreto itself, home to the Mission of "Nuestra Senora de Loreto", the first mission to be raised in Baja, the route takes you up a very tight climb up the mountain, with some fairly serious vertiginous drop offs, before a fairly rocky but quick section to the 300 year old Mission of San Javier, which is nestling in lush green vegetation in the middle of the sizzling desert, before continuing along fast rocky straights to Piedra Parada, where a sharp left of the main road leads you into the deep silts that claimed a lot of victims in the 2007 Baja 1000, and then into some tight switchbacks before getting to the abandoned gas station in Ejido 1 just before Cuidad Insurgentes. Crossing the Purisima Highway, the route draws the competitors into the silts of Maria Auxiliadora, another area that some of the Baja 1000 competitors relived time and time again in their nightmares before leading into a very fast section up to Pancho Villa and into Comondu.
San Miguel and San Jose de Comondu, also home of the Mission of San Jose, were two of the most important towns in Southern Baja before Highway 1 bypassed it, and is one of the most beautiful hidden secrets of Baja. Surrounded by mountains and blessed with lots of water, this area is an oasis that appears from the harsh desert. Palms and fig trees offer enticing shade alongside the road, and you can see some of the lush, rich water holes as you drive past the town. If ever you pre-run through here, know that these towns make some great goat cheese, most of which is exported to other Mexican cities and abroad, but they also make some great wine, as taught to them by the Italian priests who lived there centuries ago. This is port-like wine made with sweet grapes, and is most definitely not made for export, not even for sale, but for private consumption and guarded by the locals, so if you stop and decide to have a bite to eat, stop and ask whom can sell you some food, and try your luck…
Leaving Comondu you face a pretty treacherous ascent up a steep and rocky mountain before you join the first section of the route again, this time driving down the twisty, tight with murderous drop off road down the mountain into the cheering finish line in Loreto.
At 7.00am on the 17th, the first of 28 motorcycles left the start, and Class 21 saw a tight struggle between current points leader Ramon Davila, who was beat by 38 seconds by his rival Vincent Meza, who achieved the finishing time of 3:44:03.
The quads were won by Sergio Perez "El Topo" in 3:55:59, whilst the young lady Minerva Anguis visiting from "Psycho Racing" in Mexicali took a well deserved 3rd Place.
At 8.00am, Rody Amaya Jr., who had taken the pole by winning the overall in the previous Coyote 300 race, roared off the start line in his FORD Trophy Truck, at the same time that the organizers gave instructions to their observation plane to take off from the Loreto runway, to keep a look out for serious accidents and to keep the radio network updated of the race progress. The route claimed quite a few vehicle casualties, as in particular the fast rocky sections seem to draw in quite a few spindle damage and a lot of flat tires and wheel breakages, and only 66 vehicles made it to see the checkered flag, however thankfully was relatively accident free.
In Class 14, it was great to see the new generation of local drivers, 14 year old Cesar Romero Jr. take home 1st place with a time of 5:23:39.
Luis Enrique Catano from the Team "Desert Justice" dominated Class 11 with almost a 30 minute lead over 2nd place Onesimo Alvarez Mendoza, whilst Class 9 saw a much tighter competition with Alfonso Ojeda establishing less than a 4 minute gap from Jose Antonio Green.
Andrea Tomba was the only Class 6 truck to cross the finish line, making him the undisputable winner, and widening the lead in the Class points for "ATRacing".
Samir Rivera once again proved his consistency in Class 8 Stock, and even though he drove across the finish in a cloud of dust caused by the lack of a tire, he had over an hour's advantage on Gabriel Sanchez Meza.
Local Loretean Esteban Martinez "Tebanos" in Class 5-1600 become a local hero as he took home not only the first place trophy, but also a special prize of $15,000 pesos given by the Mayor of Loreto to any driver from Loreto winning first place in his class.
Class 16 didn't hold the 20 plus vehicles in this class as we have becoming accustomed to see in this very tightly fought category, however the competition was very strong and very close, with only two minutes separating 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, held by Juan Cota, Samuel Araiza and Julio Miguel Herrera respectively.
Class 5 Open saw Victor Hugo Cesena and Juan Carlos de Jesus Jimenez race closely for the entire 200 miles, with Victor being able to finally establish a 3 minute gap finishing in 4:18:47
This Loreto race indeed saw several very close finishes, but Class 7 was the tightest of the day, with Andrea Bataglia physically crossing the finish first in his strong FORD Ranger Class 7 Open, however Andrea had to settle with second place as Carlos Murillo whom has been establishing himself as a contending driver in his first racing season, snagged victory by 8 seconds with a total time of 4:08:05
Class 12 keeps establishing itself as one of the most competitive and fastest classes in the series, also boasting some of the greatest drivers of the State. Winner Pepe Cervantes overcame a couple of flats, as did second place Julio Verdugo, affirming that the terrain was punishing and challenging, however only two minutes separated the two, and Pepe's time of 3:47:02 was enough to give him the third place overall.
What has become know as one of the fastest and most competitive classes in the Southern Baja Championship counting with some great cars, Class 1 also suffered somewhat due to the punishing conditions. The first Class 1 off the start was Andres Ruffo who shared the driving duties of their Porter with Jim Mihal, and the new LS3 couldn't wait to eat up the trail. Pedro Velazquez Jr. and his father Pedro Velazquez Sr. as co-driver presented themselves to the challenge in their impressive Class 10, and he made great use of his vehicle to finish a very close third place, less than 4 minutes behind Andres Ruffo's "El Ruffian". Another contender to the throne was the local Loretean driver Tarcilo Alejandro Pena in his "Black Widow", and all were chasing the favorite, Baja 500 winner Luis "Fito" Ramirez. Both Ramirez and "El Ruffian" suffered some problems and delays, whilst Tarcilo flipped his car, so although the Class 1 were slower overall than expected, times were close as Luis Ramirez managed to snag first place in 3:59:24 with Andres Ruffo / Jim Mihal close behind with 4:02:34.
It was a great race for Class 8, in particular for Rodimiro Amaya Tellez, whom, if it wasn't his son Rody Jr., would have taken home the overall title. The two generations fought a duel over the best race time, taking home 1st and second overall, with Jr. winning with a 4 minute lead. Tom Bradley's experience and great truck preparation by Lupito Abaroa and his team, lead to a perfect race and a close 2nd place in Class 8.
The Trophy trucks Class is constantly growing, with the trucks looking better and better, however these suffered heavy casualties, with the majority not finishing. Valerio Gonzalez limped through the finish line in third place with a time of 6:18:28, after having recovered form a broken spindle and Jose Luis Abaroa came in second in 4:01:04, giving him 9th place overall. The Class and overall winner Rody Amaya Zamorano set the winning time at 3:36:00, and has shown great driving skills and determination, combined with the family's three decades on racing off road and impeccable preparation by Aurelio Perez, to take home overall wins in the last three races, proving beyond doubt that he is a serious contender, racing his FORD Class 8 Open to victory against very strong Trophy Truck competitors.
It was great to see the whole town of Loreto celebrating the race, and the complete support of all the local fans and local government bodies. For true, fun racing, with beautiful terrains and strong competition, consider Southern Baja next time round, whether as a spectator or a participant. Most probably, the biggest risk you face is that you will be presently surprised!
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