Baja Mexico - Desert Racing
Discussion
Not sure if anyone is interested in this but I've just come back the Baja 400 race in Ensenada
Been to quite a few motorsport events over the years both for work and pleasure eg BTCC, RAC Rally, F1, Le Mans 24hrs, Classic Le Mans, Goodwood FOS, San Marino Rallylegends, Mille Milgia but my 1st Baja race was right up there with the best of any event I've been too
Drive down from LAX was easy, Tijuana border crossing straight forward, drive along the Mexican coastline was on a dual carriageway toll road, scenic too, driving in Mexico no worse than many countries but not as organised/disciplined as the UK
Everyone was super friendly, very open in explaining/talking about their trucks, buggies etc, offering advice of where to watch, best place for tacos etc getting up close to the trucks and race action was easily accessible and the the spectators were just crazy, like the good old Group B days
Thursday is qualifying which is closed to the public
Friday is technical inspection all day, this is fully open to the public with all competitors lined up in the centre of town, behind barriers as during the Baja 1000 last year a truck killed 2 spectators when the mechanic lost control queuing up
I arrived just in time to see the last few go through
Had a good chat with one of Mel Gibsons sons who was racing a Polaris side by side and a old dried out motorcycle dude that had only left California once to move and life down in Baja
Need to go to work now, plenty more posts to follow
Been to quite a few motorsport events over the years both for work and pleasure eg BTCC, RAC Rally, F1, Le Mans 24hrs, Classic Le Mans, Goodwood FOS, San Marino Rallylegends, Mille Milgia but my 1st Baja race was right up there with the best of any event I've been too
Drive down from LAX was easy, Tijuana border crossing straight forward, drive along the Mexican coastline was on a dual carriageway toll road, scenic too, driving in Mexico no worse than many countries but not as organised/disciplined as the UK
Everyone was super friendly, very open in explaining/talking about their trucks, buggies etc, offering advice of where to watch, best place for tacos etc getting up close to the trucks and race action was easily accessible and the the spectators were just crazy, like the good old Group B days
Thursday is qualifying which is closed to the public
Friday is technical inspection all day, this is fully open to the public with all competitors lined up in the centre of town, behind barriers as during the Baja 1000 last year a truck killed 2 spectators when the mechanic lost control queuing up
I arrived just in time to see the last few go through
Had a good chat with one of Mel Gibsons sons who was racing a Polaris side by side and a old dried out motorcycle dude that had only left California once to move and life down in Baja
Need to go to work now, plenty more posts to follow
A few more pics from tech inspection
Then I spent a few hours at one of the top unlimited Trophy Truck teams compound having a good crawl around their truck, talking racing car stuff, seeing their garage set up and checking out their support vehicles ie over 15x chasectrucks for refueling, wheel/tyre changes, repairs etc, but didn't get to see their chase helicopter
Then I spent a few hours at one of the top unlimited Trophy Truck teams compound having a good crawl around their truck, talking racing car stuff, seeing their garage set up and checking out their support vehicles ie over 15x chasectrucks for refueling, wheel/tyre changes, repairs etc, but didn't get to see their chase helicopter
Slyjoe said:
Jeez, big bucks being spent there ! Have you managed to wrangle any work over there or just a holiday ? (Cadillac at Silverstone is being pretty good to us over here)
Bit of both, couldn't really call my day watching the racing work but yes I've wrangled a side hustle gig helping an unlimited 4WD Trophy Truck teamGlad to hear Cadillac are treating you well
I was lucky to have a guide well seasoned from competing in a few Baja races
First stops was at a 1st pit stop area on a public road for unplanned stops ie tyre change due to damage and then when the course met a public road section
Open road ie tarmac public highways used to have no speed limit but it was all getting a bit too dangerous so a strict 60mph limit is enforced
Pit stop release was sketchy at best, trucks released straight onto the public highway so had to be careful of a truck not collecting a spectators car or the truck being smashed into my an semi truck driven by a coked up trucker
Then a well deserved lunch, a taco shack which was very popular with the race team support crews
Then we drove around on sandy farm roads trying to find a good spot to watch the racing on the course in the middle of the desert
Course changes each year and given out a week ahead to allow drivers to pre-run it, work out the fastest lines as often there is more than one option
Then we drove around on sandy farm roads trying to find a good spot to watch the racing on the course in the middle of the desert
Course changes each year and given out a week ahead to allow drivers to pre-run it, work out the fastest lines as often there is more than one option
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