Baja 1000, Mexican Style
Baja 1000, mexican style
832 Miles Of Sand, Darkness, Rocks, More Darkness, And Bottled Water!
Joe Parkhurst
RACING IN motorcycle paradise has changed. A brand new paved road now connects the deep interior of Baja with the rest of the so-called civilized road. And that has changed things quite a bit. Mrs. Espinosa, proprietor of the cafe and gas station in El Rosario, said it best: “Bad roads bring good people. Good roads bring bad people.” Her place used to be one of those very hard places to get to, but not now. She closed it up and retired.
And the road isn’t the only change. The newly formed Comite de Promociones Turistas has taken over all off-road racing in Baja, running under SCORE International’s rules. NORRA, the National Off-Road Racing Association, must now confine its efforts to racing in this country, and its deliberate planning of the Big River 500 for three days after the 1000 was an act perpetrated to Manage the success of the 1000. It did hurt it, but the biggies made both events anyway, at great cost of both time and money.
Everyone in Mexico speculated that since entries totaled only 143 vehicles, including 22 bikes, most of the others that usually make up the more than 300 entries, were waiting to see how the Mexicans would handle the event. Well, with a few exceptions, they did damn well. After all, once the flag drops, the biggest problem is the race itself, not who is running it.
Lack of organization was the Baja Sports Committee’s main problem—such things as maddening rule changes at the last minute and failure to check whether taillights were functioning after making people install them. And, at the very last minute, they decided to allow more than two riders per bike. The results ere chaotic for some. Several protests were considered, but I don’t know if any were officially placed.
Among the improvements over past 1000s were such things as real doctors at every checkpoint and radio communication that was beyond reproach. One reason for this was that the organizers were actually Mexican Government people who could offer local ham radio nuts a license if they would help. Ham licenses are hard to come by down there, so it worked perfectly. An additional assist came from FAIR on this side of the border.
The Mexicans ran the race down a somewhat different course than previous events, due partly to the new pavement. Actually, a great deal more of the race was run off road. Prior to this move, we all worried that, as more pavement was added, four-wheeled vehicles would have a serious advantage due to their higher top speeds. In spite of the changes, four-wheeled vehicles took the first three overall places, though bikes set some mighty impressive times through the roughest sections.
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Ex-motorcycle rider Bobby Ferro, driving a single-seater buggy, set the fastest time at 16 hr., 50 min., 25 sec. That was just 3 min. less than the time it took Parnelli Jones to do it in 1972 when the race started in Mexicali. Jones’ all-time 14-hr., 59-min., record, set in 1971, still stands as the hottest trip ever down the peninsula. Driving the Dune Buggies & Hot VWs Magazine Special, Vic Wilson and Drino Miller did it in 16 hr., 7 min., starting in Ensenada, in 1970. Ferro’s run was over rougher ground and was also somewhat longer than the original course.
Walker Evans drove an unreal Ford pickup down in 18 hr., 13 min., 40 sec., for 2nd. In 3rd, with a time of 18 hr., 38 min., 23 sec., was CYCLE WORLD’S centerfold star Malcolm Smith, driving a buggy with Bud Feldkamp. Then the first bike came. in. Mitch Mayes and A.C. Baakken rode a 400 Husky down in 18 hr., 42 min., 51 sec., for 4th overall.
Back in 1971 Malcolm Smith shared a ride with Gunnar Nillson on a 450 Husky and did it in 16 hr., 51 min., on the easier and shorter course. Huskys are pretty hard to beat in Baja. Husky veteran Rolf Tibblin was absent from the team due to injuries. Riding with Nillson, he had won the bike class in 1972. Teamed with Howard Utsey, tough little Mickey Quade, Tibblin’s understudy at the Husqvarna International Training Center and frequent pacesetter in Baja, led most of the race until he reached the remote and utterly charming village of San Ignacio. There the engine quit, ending what had been an outstanding ride all the way. This makes three Bajas in a row for Husqvarna.
The 2nd spot went to a bike not seen too often in winner’s circles these days, a 750 Triumph Twin. The extremely well-prepared machine was ridden by Gene, Wally and Sam Dempsey. They finished quite a distance back in over 22 hours. Todd Martella and John Watkins were 3rd on a 400 Suzuki. Preston Petty, of flexible fender fame, rode with Baja old-timer Dick Miller on a trick 125 Honda Elsinore. They were beset with troubles from the start.
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Petty didn’t show up in Ensenada for the start, so Miller jumped on and took off. Petty caught up, in his airplane, at Punta Final and took over. In the night he lost the clutch and almost gave up. Petty finally made it into San Ignacio after making metal spacers for the clutch and assembling it backward. Miller, waiting most of the night, had communicated by radio with Petty, urging him to do anything to get it in. At San Ignacio one of those Baja legends came true. A member of American Honda’s support team just happened to be there and he installed a new clutch! Miller took over, finished, and won the 125cc class in 27 hr., 30 min. They had lost at least half the night, and still came out on top.
Bruce and Larry Bornhurst finished 4th on a Honda XL350. Leonard, Suzie Scott, and Paul Hunt came in 5th, riding a Honda XL250. The bike almost caught fire at Puertocitos when Paul rode in for gas. A protest was considered, but in light of the confusion regarding the number of riders, where they must change, etc., it was dropped as a bad idea.
Fred and John Solheim and Steve Crockette brought another 450 Husky into 6th place. Mary McGee, Steve Bridges and Lynn Wilson rode a 175cc Can-Am and were moved into the big bike class due to lack of finishers. This placed them in 7th spot. Mary, the prettiest racer in the world, has managed to become a veteran of Baja without looking like one. She had many mechanical and tire problems and readily admits that if she were as good a mechanic as rider they would have done a lot better. Her husband, Don, has pitted for her in all of her racing and is one of the nicer elements of racing in Baja. Don was standing beside the road, somewhere in the blackness of the night, waiting for Mary and worrying. He said he knew racing in Baja was changing for certain when out of the night came a Rolls Royce!
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Don and Eddie Watkins achieved the absurd by actually making it all the way on a 70cc Honda Single. Though it had a Moto Islo label on the tank, the fool thing was all Honda, except for the tank itself.
The tank was the damndest looking anyone had ever seen. It was actually a racing car type fuel cell that held 5 gal.! They didn’t anticipate many stops for gas. The boys finished outside of the allotted time, but they did finish.
CYCLE WORLD provided the airlift for the rider change in John McLaughlin’s Cessna and was thus accused of being a sponsor. Not that we mind being considered sponsors once in awhile. But, really, a Honda mini-bike in a 900-mile race!
McLaughlin’s familiar Cessna has seen almost every corner of the peninsula. We have logged over 300 hours in Baja, chasing record setters in 1962, and following every 1000 and 500 since 1967. We have lifted stranded riders and crews, provided airborne ambulance service, carried spare parts, flown in photographers and reporters from wire services and even from one or two of
«competitors. John’s quite proud of it he and his bird and CYCLE WORLD have done for racing in Baja. He has a right to be.
A lot of previous Baja aces suffered a variety of setbacks this year. Billy Silverthorn’s super trick Honda XL350 lost a piston. Lightning Steve Hurd was sharing a Husky with Dick Vick and Niles Ussery, another pair of Baja stars. It lost its ignition. Gene Cannady and AÍ Baker rode a 450 Kawasaki, but it dropped its gearbox early at the Bay of Los Angeles when Baker was riding. He went home from there.
If all of the competitors who would have ridden or driven in the Baja Mil were waiting to see what it was going to be like, now they know. Entries at NORRA’s Big River 500, which ran two days later, were not very high anyway.
Äbe NORRA will show better judgt in 1974 and put some space between its event and the 1000. I certainly hope so.
Most of the top contingency money payers went with the Mexicans or split their efforts. A few exceptions were people like Preston Petty. He paid contingency money for the NORRA event, but rode in Baja. Champion spark plugs went with NORRA, so AC paid $6500 in Mexico. Contingency money is one of the things that keeps racing alive. If the two events are far enough apart it would obviously be better for the racers.
There’s room and time enough for everybody to race. If there are fuel shortages or rationing we will all be hurting anyway. As of this writing the B.S.C. has announced that there will be a 500 in June and the 1000 again in November. So the toughest race ever
«continue, thanks to the Mexicans. y are gracious hosts and certainly have one of the best places in the world to race. IÂI
