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42nd Annual 2010
SCORE Tecate BAJA 500 ATV Race Report
::Continued::
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| Many
pit stops & team prep areas like this
one line the course to provide support to
the racers throughout the rigerous race
course which spans 438 miles on the Baja
Peninsula of Mexico |
Races can be won or lost in the pits and that’s
where much of the action at this year’s Baja
500 took place. The Mexican military has several
checkpoints along the course, which doesn’t
mean much for the racers but can seriously slow
down the racer’s support vehicles.
The 2a quad arrived at its first pit in Ojos Negros
in bad need of fuel but no pit crew could be found.
Dave Scott reported that the crew finally arrived
just as he found a kind soul willing to supply him
with gas. Traffic at a military checkpoint
had slowed the crew down causing them to arrive
late. The team did a racer change and Cody Mitchell
would pilot their Duncan Racing’s prepped
Honda TRX450R to mile marker 160. Unfortunately
the crew was again slowed down by the same military
checkpoint causing a three minute delay at the
next pit before Andy Lagzdins would take over
for Mitchell.
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| Heavy
traffic holds up many of the chase team
vehicles which can destroy championship
hopes for a team if supplies dont get to
a checkpoint in time |
Meanwhile the 1a of Wayne Matlock was having troubles
of his own at the first Honda pit. They managed
to overfill his Honda 700XX and flood the engine
causing Matlock to drain the battery while trying
to restart it. In the midst of the fuel spill and
trying to restart the quad, the 5a Mexican team
lead by Javier Robles also on a 700XX managed to
pass him as well as the 6a machine piloted by Josh
Edwards. Matlock finally was able to get the quad
started and chased down the 6a team coming up to
their first racer change at race mile 77.
Josh Caster climbed aboard and managed to squeeze
by Edwards but was unable to reel in the 5a, Robles,
who had managed to gain a four plus minute lead
on Matlock in second place by the time Robles reached
Nuevo Junction.
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| #5a
Javier Robles lead was short lived when
they experienced electrical issues, which
caused them an extended pit stop, which
allowed the #1a of Matlock Racing's Wes
Miller to make the pass & regain the
lead once again |
Wes Miller would take over for Matlock Racing at
Valle De La Trinidad (Valley T) and Dave Scott reported
seeing the 5a quad out front by a mere 30 seconds
while he was waiting there for Andy Lagzdins to
arrive on the 2a quad. Miller is very familiar with
the crossover road connecting Valley T and the village
of San Vicente. He managed to reel in Robles on
the 5a quad who looked behind him and then pulled
over motioning for Miller to pass. Apparently the
programmer had malfunctioned causing the teams 700XX
to spit and sputter until Robles unplugged it and
reprogrammed it to its stock settings.
By his second pit at Erjendira, Miller had opened
up the lead over the 5a quad but was in need of
a new rear tire. Adrian Rodriguez made a quick tire
swap but the quad failed to start again due to a
drained battery. After a quick push the quad roared
to life and Miller took off for the remainder of
the beach section.
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| #1a
team member Wes Miller put the hammer down
once in the lead to build a time gap on
Mexico's #5a Team |
After seeing the 5a and 1a quads jet by back at
Valley T, Dave Scott waited anxiously for Andy Lagzdins
to arrive with the 2a machine. Andy arrived in fourth
place behind the 6a quad and handed the machine
off to Scott who gave chase and caught Edward’s
team as the course crossed a wash near Erjendira.
The 6a team pitted to change out racer’s allowing
Scott to cruise by and force Edwards to deal with
his dust up a brutal hill climb. While he
was able to solve the programmer issue, Robles
on the 5a quad was 30 minutes behind Miller at
the village of Santo Thomas with Dave Scott not
far behind. Craig Christy climbed aboard the 2a
quad just outside of Santo Thomas and continued
to pursue the 5a team but lost his rear brake
caliper and sailed off course and down a small
ledge. Though he was uninjured it took a bit to
get the quad back on the course and he was shaken
up from the crash.
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