In my conversations with Bill Caswell and a few other guys who have participated in desert races like the Baja 1000 and others, the subject of spectator booby traps has come up. Mostly they are mounds of sand or dirt designed to launch cars as jumps or whatnot. In this case it goes to a horrible and despicable level as the spectators not only build berm but also STRING A BARBED WIRE FENCE across the course! I have never seen anything like this in my life and it only gets worse.
A Baja buggy comes up to the berm/booby trap at high speed and launches into the air. The buggy lands nose first and then immediately crashes into the barbed wire that the strung between two logs in the ground. This flips the buggy and I have no idea what it may or may not have done for the guys inside the car. All of a sudden spectators come from all directions and swarm the overturned buggy. While some try to turn it over, their efforts are slowed due to the fact that the barbed wire is all tangled up in the car and a couple of guys set about to remove it. In a stunning turn of event, a fully uniformed soldier with an M-16 and all of his combat gear walks through the frame and does absolutely nothing. He had to have known that the fence was there, it was as big as life and directly in the area he was located.
This is sickening video, not because of the gore or injuries that may or may not have been sustained by the team in the buggy but because of the heinous, thoughtless, and down right malicious actions of the spectators. If a motorcycle had come over the same stretch the rider would be dead, no doubt and if that barbed wire made it into the cockpit of a buggy or truck at high speed, the people inside would be cut to ribbons. I am not taken to using salty language on this blog very often, but these people are assholes of the highest order and deserve severe punishment for setting a literal trap that had the potential to kill someone.
DISGUSTING!
Totally insane…No wonder there are wars…..
Too bad the wire didn’t snag the people responsible for this.
I can not support any race that hurts the drivers or spectators and this is one clear example.
What’s even more sickening is environmental groups have done the same types of things to interrupt desert races here in the US.
I am so disgusted, I can not even morally post this on my wall.
Just goes to show you what ppl without money, education, and intelligence will do to ppl that do. I hope they get theirs. That $100K down the drain because some mexicant has to get his jollies off by sabotage.
Okay, attempted murder here and add to this the rock thrown through the roof of the racer (the russian crash) in the rally previously posted. What is wrong with these people? I do not agree that it has anything to do with economics; I think this sort of malicious act comes from the mob mentality, that none of them individually would have done this but they sank to the lowest common denominator among them. Sick, and sad. The environmentalists that do similar acts in the US are doing it for whatever purpose they have imagined makes them seem noble, and that trend is continuing to spread as people feel they can damage and injure others because of their “cause” seeming to them to be just. Still just a mob.
They dont appreciate the tourist dollars that the race brings there so they should just tell the useless goverment that rules that shithole that no more race, and also discourage any kind of vacationing there too (Cancun ,Acapulco).This incident should be brought to the national media to show what really goes on there.
Did anyone think of the horror if that was some poor guy on a motorcycle instead??? This sort of thing is not new at Baja but it’s getting worse and more malicious.
I remember hearing years ago that a certain group belonging to the Sierra Club did the same thing at the Barstow to Vegas race. They strung barbed wire beneath an underpass designed to decapitate the first rider through. Fortunately someone who was pre-running the course discoverd it and no one was hurt. There are times when the human race can be downright dissapointing.
Call me an optimist, but I am not entirely convinced the barbed wire fence wasn’t there to keep onlookers off the racecourse.
The assholes that created the booby-trap berm need to be castrated with their own shovels though.
These are the people we allow to just stroll across the border whenever they want? I could go on, but BangShift is not a political forum.
“We wreck them – then we save their lives! YAY US!” Troglodytes, all.
Speechless…. This is sickening. There is so much I’d like to say, but it is all futile. These people were excited and proud of what they’d done. And for such a despicable soul, no chastising will do justice.
I won’t watch this as the write up says it all and I know the imagery would haunt me. On one level this upsets me deeply, but I hope more than anything that the lesson has been learned here. These events are being held in countries with a completely alien set of ethics and morals. The Baja 1000 and events like it need to find new venues. Enjoy the nostalgia of the old days of these races, but find a new place to do it. Also, once the races are re-located, then spend a few thousand on advertising in those locales where the races were held and highlight the loss of money to that area as a result of their stupid behaviour. For every action…
this has been going on for years and i remember back in the early 90’s when i helped crew a class 1 unlimited buggy and were racing the baja 500 which started/finished in the town of san felipe .there was so many reports of sand traps,berms and other obstacles the local residents were building it was insane .one particular area called “zoo” road which is a graded dirt road about 10 miles long and is south of the town of san felipe .zoo road is a very high speed section were some of the unlimited buggies and trophy trucks were clocked at well over 100mph .the locals would build huge dirt berms and then 50-10ft away dig a trench ,this would cause the cars to launch into the air the hit the trench causing the vehicle to flip violently
It’s mighty pointless isn’t it?
I’ve never held that country in particularly high regard and I see my attitude is somewhat justified.
I didn’t know this crap happened. I wouldn’t race.
Where’s Clint Eastwood?
A few things…
Suggesting violence on those who commit violence makes you no better than the offender.
Trying to say that the U.S. of A. is somehow better because we don’t do things like this is foolish. Humans have always been bloodthirsty jerks, no matter what nationality.
See all the cameras? This was done for attention, and guess what? They’re getting it. I’m surprised that I haven’t seen this on Tosh.0
Next week on FOX, watch Lions eat Christians!
I’m pretty sure killing the nazis didn’t sink us to their level.
Here, here!
Things have changed drastically in the past 40 yrs. It used to be for a few pesos you could buy your way out of traffic trouble with the officals and it was no big deal. Nowadays down there it is a war zone,there is no other way to put it.Most of the old tourist spots are just too dangerous to visit anymore.I would’nt be suprized to hear that instead of the cliff divers in Acapulco have’nt been replaced by them throwing tourists off the cliffs instead.There is way too much drug money down there now and life is considered just too damn cheap and all this is just one more reason we need a bigass fence becouse this situation is not going to get better soon and groups like the Sierra Club have always figured that whatever they have to do to save to envirement is justified.It’s all gone too far and we have plenty of places to race in the Western half of this country becouse it has’nt been ruined like in the East yet.
I’m with you, brother (sister?).