40th Baja 1000

[bowtiemonster]

Re: 40th Baja 1000

usually a van full of people are going the other way.

[Jon]

Re: 40th Baja 1000

I should take my z71 and a extra set of tires and see how far I can make it... but I gotta work the first half of the race... but I got crazy dreams of building a Baha Evo, so if someone near sacramento wants to do a joint car project...

[Freiburger]

Re: 40th Baja 1000

usually a van full of people are going the other way.

We were planning on making a few extra bucks on the way home.

[revolutionary]

Re: 40th Baja 1000

Should be a blast. My pops just sent me a copy of Dust to Glory (not even bootlegged!) a couple weeks ago. He was down there last year filming a documentary about a team of over-65 motorcycle dudes and they had an awesome time. The whole deal of running 100+mph in pitch black on dirt just scares the hell out of me though!

[cstmwgn]

Re: 40th Baja 1000

Hey Guys

Try to be sober enough to check out the Trophy Trucks and Class 1 / 2 cars during contingency. I mean really check them out. They have some really trick stuff on them.

As to Pari / Dakar - it is like a street rod run! The Baja is WAY badder than Pari / Dakar ever was. Lots of successful rally guys come over here and get their hat handed to them by Baja.

Also do some research on the attrition rate in the various classes before you get all jacked up about running the Baja 1000 (especially in a Class 11 car). It has been several years since I have raced the 1000 (I sat on the stupid side of a Class 2 car) but it was never an easy adventure. While SCORE won't allow chase vehicles on the course like Pari / Dakar you can still have quite the adventure if you have a good quality pre-run type vehicle. You can chase the racers down the peninsula using the paved roads / dirt roads to intersect the course and observe the racers go by at several different points. If possible try to find some really technical sections and get there early enough to watch the bikes go through and the front running cars and truck. It should boggle your mind at how fast the go across some pretty rough terrain.

If you do it right - you will get less sleep then PowerTour (haven't done DragWeek so I can't compare) but you should be really stoked by the experience.

I wish I was going.

Have fun and PLEASE report back your impressions.

[KeithTurk]

Re: 40th Baja 1000

My impression from last year was that Class 11 was totally cool... basically a stock bug, jacked up on steroids with a Stock 1600 motor... but like you mention... 8 started this year... and the same guy won who was the only finisher both this year and last.

This year I was disappointed in how professional it all was... For some reason I just couldn't find the amatuer in the crowd... and trust me I was looking pretty hard. David and Chad both disagreed with me... they seem to have found all 8 of the bugs...

I was also bummed that the cost is out of reach of the common man... So it's essentially become un-avalible to Joe Average on his own... I think several folks could get together and do this ... it's just not going to be a reasonable or Cheap date.