3A Wayne Matlock's Team	12A Jeff Hancock's Team	15A Fransico Ruano's Team

As the rest of the class 24 ATV’s came through the sportsman class started making their push towards the front as the too caught some slower ATV’s and motorcycles by this point on the course. Leading the sportsman class through El Alamo was number 56a Honda 450R driven by Heriberto Marquez, Rigoberto Marquez, and Javier Lopez from Ensenada Mexico. This local team would complete the race in 5th place in their class with a time of 11:59:40, averaging 35.368mph for the course. Coming on quick was orange Temecula Motorsports number 63a Honda 450R in second place through El Alamo but not for long. 63a, piloted by duo of David Corbani and Stefano Caputo were able to make their way into the lead and edge out a win in the Sportsman class with a time of 11:28:00, averaging 36.995 mph. With El Alamo about five miles outside of the heavy silt beds it was apparent many racers were having trouble with them. Quite a few came through with clogged air filters sputtering along trying to get to their next pit in hopes of repair and being able to continue on.

After staying at El Alamo for the majority of the ATV’s to come through, it was time for our own race as we now had to out run the racers on the way to the next location. As we headed to the next location reports came in over the weatherman channel that 103a would succumb to Baja as the Yamaha YFZ450 broke down at mile 98. Unfortunately, with the front running pro teams being so fast and waiting on some of the last few straggling ATV riders, we missed a handful of the top racers as we pulled into our second photo location known as the infamous “Goat Trail” were the race can become a handful as riders came off the rough and rutted pole line road and down a steep, slippery and narrow carved out trail on the side of a near cliff over Highway three before meeting up with the highway for 12 miles of 50 mph GPS regulated highway racing.

108A Enrique Felix	111A Adolfo Arellano	107A Javier Beltran

After coming down the goat trail this allotted some breathing room, and a brief moment for the competitors to relax before they headed out on rugged Mike’s Sky loop. One of the first racers we came across coming down the trail was 9a. Jason Greenshaw, Nick DeStout and Nick Nelson. And as we climbed out of the truck to get set up, the 9a ATV took a tumble down the trail as the rider locked the front brakes up sending himself over the bars. Luckily he was the only quad participant to have some trouble with the trail as the rest of the field went by smoothly. The 9a Honda 450R team would be able to press on and finish the race in 6th place in the Pro class with a time of 12:19:37, averaging 34.414 mph.

As the racers headed down the trail and onto the highway, there were two very distinct methods being employed to tackle the trail. Most riders casually cruised to the bottom, while a handful powered their way down making up valuable time on the field. One such power team was the 50a Honda 450R driven by David McCaroll, Eric Lemley and Brett Callen. The silt beds had taken their toll early on forcing the team to the back of the pack, but with a fresh filter, they were now making up the time. The 50a Honda 450R would work its way back up to a 4th place finishing with a time of 11:55:40, averaging 35.565mph. 107a the new KFX450R would also makes is way down the tail, but with a little more ginger approach and a line of traffic piling up behind due to a flat rear tire. The KFX450 ridden by Cesar Mercado and Christian Rojas would finish the race fourth overall in class 24 being the only Kawasaki to finish this year as the other KFX450 entered, number 115a would end the day with a DNF.