American Honda, KTM and BMW Send Factory Effort to Contest This Week's Baja 1000

Motorcycles started the legend of desert racing in Mexico's Baja California, and their presence is still felt as the record-setting Honda factory team of Steve Hengeveld and Johnny Campbell will lead nearly 100 entries in the motorcycle and ATV portion of this week's 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.

The season finale of the five-race 2004 SCORE Desert Series, the 37th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, will be held November 18-20 as a rugged peninsula odyssey of 1,016.3 miles from Ensenada in Baja California to La Paz, in Baja California Sur.

To date, an impressive total of 281 vehicles have officially entered this year's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. When registration is complete, nearly 300 vehicles competing in 26 Pro and 5 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs are expected to compete in Mexico. Among the motorcycle and ATV classes, Class 22 (Open motorcycles) has 12 entries and Class 25 (Open ATVs) has 11.

Five-time Baja winner and... 

   

  read full caption

Five-time Baja winner and all around legend Malcolm Smith will be racing the 1000 this year.

The colorful history of motorcycles in the granddaddy of all desert races includes the vintage exploits of motorcycle legends Malcolm Smith, J.N. Roberts, Larry Roeseler, Jack Johnson, Ted Hunnicutt Jr., Paul Krause and the late Danny Hamel. For 30 of the first 36 years, motorcycles have recorded the fastest overall times in the event. The last 4-wheel vehicle winner to beat the time of the motorcycles was Ivan Stewart in 1993 while winning the Unlimited Class 1 in Toyota SR5 pickup truck.

The amazing Malcolm Smith, 63, Riverside, Calif., a five-time overall winner in the SCORE Baja 1000, has introduced with SCORE the new SCORE Malcolm Smith IronRider award for motorcycle and ATV riders who complete this year's race riding the entire distance solo. Nearly a dozen riders are expected to make the grueling attempt, nearly all on a motorcycle.

Smith himself will be back in the saddle after an absence of several years. He will be a part of a SCORE Baja 1000 'Dream Team' this year, riding in Class 50 (motorcycle riders over 50 years old) with Chris Haines, 53, Dana Point, Calif., and Jack Johnson, 52, Las Vegas on a Honda XR650R. Between them, the 'Dream Team' has 26 Class wins, including nine overall wins. Haines has 10 class wins, Johnson has nine and four overalls and Smith has seven class wins, including five overalls. Smith still maintains a strong presence in Baja, supporting the people of Mexico through an orphanage in Valle de Trinidad that bears his name.

Three-time Baja champion Steve... 

   

  read full caption

Three-time Baja champion Steve Hengeveld.

Since 1997, the motorcycle battle in the most storied desert race of all time has been all about Honda's Johnny Campbell. Drawing the first start in the motorcycle and ATV classes this year was the legendary American Honda racing team of Steve Hengeveld, 29. Oak Hills, Calif., and Campbell, 33, San Clemente, Calif. The pair has won an amazing nine consecutive SCORE series races, and Campbell has seven consecutive overall motorcycle victories in the Baja 1000, including three with Hengeveld (2000, 2002 and 2003). In 2002, Hengeveld/Campbell set an average speed record in the 1000 averaging an incredible 62.45mph! The duo is adding a third team member this year: talented newcomer Kendall Norman, 19, of Santa Barbara, Calif. Campbell will start the race in Ensenada, followed by Norman who will make his debut riding the middle section, and Hengeveld will bring it home in the last 330+ miles to the finish in La Paz.

"To say I've been blessed with some incredible good fortune in SCORE races in Baja, is a major understatement," said Campbell, a devout Christian who has raced with Honda since 1992 and has been an American Honda employee since 1995. "We have already pre-run this course once in its entirety, and will do it several more times before race day. Individual preparation, pit and chase crew support and the world's best desert motorcycle are keys to victory, and while we do have our assigned sections to ride, anything can happen during a race like this one so we will memorize the entire route, not just our part. I guess you could say that my blood is Honda Red because I have never raced on another motorcycle."

Joining Honda's effort to attack Baja will be factory teams from KTM and BMW.

KTM's Factory-backed Dakar... 

   

  read full caption

KTM's Factory-backed Dakar Rally Team will be racing the Baja 1000.

Two-time Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 overall motorcycle champion Scot Harden, Menifee, Calif., is spearheading the KTM effort, bringing the Red Bull KTM U.S. Dakar Rally Team to Baja to hopefully contend for the overall and Class 22 motorcycle victory. Joining Harden, 48, in Baja will be his KTM Dakar teammates Chris Blais, 23, Apple Valley, Calif., Kellon Walch, 21, Las Vegas, and Andy Grider, 31, Los Olivos, Calif.. Blais and Grider are experienced SCORE Baja racers and Walch was the young lion selected from the Red Bull KTM rider search program to complete the team.

The team will ride a specially prepared factory KTM 700cc LC4 motorcycle just for this race, and KTM has also announced it was field a full factory team in the entire 2005 SCORE Desert Series.

KTM's Andy Grider is a Baja... 

   

  read full caption

KTM's Andy Grider is a Baja Vet, and the first alternate on the 2005 Dakar Team.

"Last year we rode our 950cc twin KTM Dakar Rally bike in Baja as a training exercise with the goal of simply finishing the event," said Harden, the KTM U.S. Dakar Rally team chief. "This year, we have a very competitive motorcycle in the LC4, and are looking for much better results. We know we have our work cut out for us. Honda, for sure, is a formidable team; we have a lot of respect for the track record they have earned in Baja. We do think that having more major manufacturers entered will add a lot of interest to this year's SCORE Baja 1000."

Veteran rally racer Jimmy Lewis, Costa Mesa, Calif., who was the overall motorcycle winner in the 1998 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 riding with Johnny Campbell, is leading the special BMW factory effort which will feature a mammoth 1200cc engine on a BMW GS motorcycle. Lewis, who is the editor of Dirt Rider Magazine when he isn't racing or running riding schools, has put together a veteran team with significant Baja experience. The 1200cc engine will be the fastest motorcycle to ever race a SCORE race, with top-end speeds approaching 130 mph!

Joining Lewis, 36, for the BMW effort will be Tim Morton, 37, Escondido, Calif., Jonah Street, 32, Ellensberg, Wash., and Dave Donattoni, 41, Thousand Oaks, Calif. The team will race in Class 30 for riders over 30; the riding order is expected to be Street, Donattoni, Lewis and Morton.

"This motorcycle is incredible, kind of like going into a boxing match with a nuclear weapon," said Lewis, who was part of the BMW Dakar Rally team in 1999, 2000 and 2001. "Our team is a collaboration of our Dakar Rally team and this new GS1200 twin-cylinder motor that is clearly a prototype. While its weight will make it slower in the rough terrain, no one will be faster on the fast sections. We have received considerable assistance for this program from BMW-Germany as well as BMW-Mexico."

The only person in race history who has competed on a motorcycle in this race all previous 36 years, Ron Bishop, 61, of Escondido, Calif., is entered this year with a veteran team led by Gene Dempsey in Class 50 (riders over 50) on a Honda XR650R. Bishop is a four-time class champion in this race.

Pre-race festivities will be held around the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center in Ensenada and the San Nicolas Hotel, on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 16-17. The race will start on Thursday, Nov. 18, in front of the Riviera del Pacifico Convention Center with motorcycles and ATVs getting the green flag at approximately 6:30 a.m., followed by the car and truck classes at approximately 10 a.m. Vehicles will start one every 30 seconds in the elapsed-time race.

The finish line will be on the outskirts of La Paz adjacent to the tourism office. While the fastest finishers will complete the rugged route in approximately 16 hours, each vehicle will have a 40-hour time limit to become official finishers in the historic event.

The post-race SCORE Survivor Award's Celebration will be held Saturday afternoon in La Paz and is scheduled to be held at the Crowne Plaza Resort, adjacent to the official finish line of the race.

The popular event will feature the $40,000 Terrible's Baja Bonus purse, which includes a $20,000 bonus to the first overall 4-wheel vehicle, provided by Herbst Gaming of Las Vegas. The first overall motorcycle will also receive $2,000 and the first overall ATV will earn an added $1,000 from the Terrible's Baja Bonus.

The race will also culminate the chase for both the $10,000 Kartek Off-Road bonus and the $12,000 Toyota True-Grit and Toyota Milestone Awards. The Kartek Off-Road bonus goes to the 2004 SCORE Overall point champion. This is the 18th year of the Toyota awards.

The race will be televised as a one-hour NBC Sports special in December on the NBC Television Network. The show, produced by Aura360 in association with NBC Sports, will air on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 2:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time). A special pre-running preview segment with Terrible Herbst Motorsports and NASCAR's Robby Gordon will air on the Jeep World of Adventure Sports, also produced by Aura360, on Saturday, Dec. 4.

Additionally, The Learning Channel's Rides weekly program (Tuesday's at 10 p.m. EST/PST), will produce a Terrible Herbst Motorsports profile show to air early in 2005.

For more information, contact SCORE at its Los Angeles headquarters 818/225-8402 or visit the official website of the 2004 SCORE Desert Series at www.score-international.com.

Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
SCORE Class 22 and All-Time Overall Motorcycle Winners
1967—J.N. Roberts/Malcolm Smith
1968—Gary Preston/Larry Berquist
1969—J.N. Roberts/Gunar Nilsson
1970—Phil Bowers/Mike Patrick
1971—Malcolm Smith/Gunnar Nilsson
1972—Gunnar Nilsson/Rolf Tibblin
1973—Mitch Mayes/A.C. Bakken
1974—No Race
1975—Al Baker/Gene Cannady
1976—Larry Roeseler/Mitch Mayes
1977—Brent Wallingsford/Scot Harden
1978—Larry Roeseler/Jack Johnson
1979—Jack Johnson/Larry Roeseler
1980—Larry Roeseler/Jack Johnson
1981—Scot Harden/Brent Wallingsford
1982—Al Baker/Jack Johnson
1983—Dan Ashcraft/Dan Smith
1984—Chuck Miller/Randy Morales
1985—Randy Morales/Derrick Paiement
1986—Chuck Miller/Bruce Ogilvie
1987—Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunicutt Jr.
1988—Paul Krause/Larry Roeseler/Danny LaPorte
1989—Larry Roeseler/Danny LaPorte/Ted Hunnicutt Jr.
1990—Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicutt Jr./Danny LaPorte
1991—Larry Roeseler/Ted Hunnicutt Jr./Marty Smith
1992—Danny Hamel/Garth Sweetland/Paul Ostbo
1993—Danny Hamel/Larry Roeseler/Ty Davis
1994—Danny Hamel/Larry Roeseler/Ty Davis
1995—Paul Krause/Ty Davis/Ted Hunnicutt Jr.
1996—Paul Krause/Ty Davis/Greg Zitterkopf
1997—Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab/Greg Brinkle
1998—Johnny Campbell/Jimmy Lewis
1999—Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab
2000—Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab/Craig Smith/Steve Hengeveld
2001—Johnny Campbell/Tim Staab
2002—Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell
2003—Steve Hengeveld/Johnny Campbell

2004 Official SCORE Sponsors
BFGoodrich Tires: Official Tire
Southern California Ford Dealers: Official Vehicle
C.L. Bryant-VP Racing Fuels: Official Fuel Supplier
Tecate Beer
Coca-Cola of Mexico
Instant Mexico Auto Insurance
Herbst Gaming
Kartek Off-Road
Fram
Autolite
Prestone
Bilstein
Signpros
P.C.I. Race Radios
McKenzie's Performance Products
Advanced Color Graphics

Additional sponsors of this year's Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 are: Cotuco, Fideicomiso Publico para la Promocion Turistica de Ensenada and Centrix Financial of Denver.