Yellow_hatch

Mike Childress made up the huge starting deficit and was in the hunt for the win, but partner Andy Grider, still suffering from a sudden sickness, couldn't keep that pace. They would end up second overall. There's always someone who didn't pre-run or pay attention while doing so. The Don Connelly/Earl Roberts team misjudged here or else buckled under the pressure of someone behind. The locals love it when they see some side-by-side racing. Many camp out and make a weekend of spectating.Steve Garnet teamed with Scott Myers and Jim O'Neal on the winning Class 30 team. (O'Neal also rode on the runner-up Class 50 squad.) Baja 250: Race Report


Pre-race speculation forecast stiff opposition for Team Honda's Robby Bell and Kendall Norman at the Tecate SCORE Baja 250, Round 1 (for bikes and ATVs) of the SCORE Desert Series. Their primary opponents in the south-of-the-border sprint, which was changed from the San Felipe 250 due to landowner reluctance, were Red Bull KTM's Chris Blais and David Pearson on a 525 XC bored and stroked to 610cc. Former Team Honda pilots Mike Childress and Andy Grider figured as dark horses, but if either of the factory duos had any problem, these privateers could certainly put their Honda of North Hollywood CRF450X in front.

But, 100 miles into the 216-mile race from Ensenada to Santo Tomas, there was no doubt that Bell and Norman would triumph once again on their Precision Concepts/Dunlop/Renthal-sponsored CRF450X. After starting third (precisely one minute behind Blais), Bell quickly bagged the second starter, privateer XR650R of Tim Hillsamer and Jack McCormick, and drew close to Blais' Michelin/GPR/Motion Pro-backed machine.

"Off the start, it was surprisingly foggy," Bell observed. "But it actually played to my advantage, I think. One, it held the dust down so I was able to get 3X (Hillsamer/McCormick) real quick. Then, Chris Blais, I was reeling him in and I could kind of see him up ahead of me a little bit, then the fog got too thick, so I just kept charging. And it was maybe a mile from where we get on the highway (between Ensenada and Ojos Negros) [for a short transport distance], I could hear him ahead of me; I couldn't see him because the fog was too thick, but I could hear him up there.

"So I got right up close to him and that's where the fog played to my advantage because he was being a little cautious on that last fast dirt road [before the highway] because you don't know if there's cars or anything. So basically I was able to key off of him, off of what he was doing, and I out-broke him into the last corner and caught and passed him right before the highway.

"That was pretty sweet; it worked out pretty well."

Though limited to a SCORE-mandated 60 miles per hour on the highway section, that's still a very quick pace on that road that twists through the mountains, and Blais keyed off Bell to stay right on the Honda's back fender-until they turned off the highway and back into the dirt just before the old "Pepsi Stand."

"Chris came right back at me," Bell smiled. "They have that 610, and that thing's fast!

"Right when we got back onto the dirt, he totally set me up. We got onto the dirt and all of a sudden he blows by me. I was in fifth gear and I was rolling it on to get onto the dirt. He had obviously set it up to where he was going to slingshot past me."

They went back and forth a couple times after that, with Bell finally making one pass stick and putting some distance on the KTM racer. "We were going back and forth, but we were so close we could look ahead of each other so the dust wasn't bad," Bell said. "As soon as I got him and got a little gap on him, he fell into my dust and had to slow down.

"From there, it was totally clean."

At least it was for Honda's leading duo. Behind them, the others faced various issues. The KTM broke soon afterward, requiring several hours before getting back to running condition. They would eventually finish 15th in Class 22 (Open Pro), last place in a class of 16 starters, with a time of eight hours, 44 minutes and 32 seconds.

With the KTM out of the picture, the Honda factory team's attention turned to the second-place rider, Childress, who'd come from starting 14th on his XR's Only/Precision Concepts/IMS-sponsored machine. When Bell and Norman made the switch at Valle de Trinidad, Norman recalled, "We were physically in first place when I got it, but I was told we were about two minutes behind on time because Mike Childress was really turning it up."

But Childress couldn't do the entire 216.23 miles by himself, and he turned the bike over to Grider, who was a bit under the weather in addition to being a bit rusty. "I got sick yesterday; went to bed around 5:00 last night," Grider said. "I sweated all day and got up at 4:00 this morning to get to Valle de Trinidad still not feeling good. I felt a little better when Mike gave me the bike, but I could tell I'm still sick and not there. A head nut came off; I had to stop and get that fixed, but other than that it was just me-I didn't feel good today."

Grider would maintain the runner-up spot throughout his beach run and reach the Santo Tomas baseball field finish line in 3:56:50, just over four minutes behind Bell and Norman's 3:52:31. Those two edged the first four-wheeled vehicle (former motorcycle racer Alan Pfleuger in a Chevy Trophy truck) by a good seven minutes. Third motorcycle honors went to privateers Marc Burnett (a former SCORE class champion) and Shawn Highland on their Freestylemx.com/Pacific Collision Centers/Rockstar Energy Drink RM-Z450 in 4:21:58.

Class 30 (for those over 30 years old) winners Steve Garnet, Scott Myers and Jim O'Neal ended up fourth overall bike in 4:22:10 on their Temecula Motorsports/Precision Concepts/FMF-backed CRF450X. Joe Desrosiers and Westley Garrett rounded out the top five bikes, finishing fourth in Class 22 in 4:26:35 on their DP Racing/Motoworld of El Cajon/Michelin XR650R.

Other class winners included Carlos Casas and Noe Ibarra in Class 21 (250cc Pro) on their CRF450X (4:39:02); Chad Black, Conner Penhall and Ryan Penhall in Class 20 (125cc Pro) on their CRF250X (4:38:38); Brett Helm, Jeff Kaplan, Jon Ortner and Greg Zitterkopf in Class 40 on their CRF450X (4:43:42); Craig Adams, Bob Johnson, Doug Smith and Tim Withers in Class 50 on their CRF450X (4:39:54); and Gene Dempsey, Sam Dempsey, Mike Harper and Don Lewis in Class 60 on their XR650R (5:50:46).

While the venue may have changed-making for an Ensenada-based start for all three SCORE Baja races this year-it wasn't entirely without precedent. In 1989 the venue for the Baja 500 switched from Ensenada to San Felipe, and no motorcycle classes ran. That changed the character of the race this year, as San Felipe's topography is much different than the more hard-packed, faster dirt roads utilized on the western side of the peninsula.

"It's a totally different thing-you can't compare the two," Grider explained. "San Felipe is sand and whoops. This is fast roads, and you just have to be really smooth and precise here, and today I wasn't."

Bell added, "I think it would've been more difficult to do the opposite-to [move] to San Felipe from [Ensenada]. San Felipe's just so demanding. Not that this race is easy by any means, but it did take some of the pressure off just because in San Felipe there's SO much that can get you. It's so intense over there with all the whoops and all the rocks. It made it a little more fun, I think; the terrain over here, there's nothing like it."

And neither is starting the year off with a decisive victory as the pair of young chargers attempts to defend their 2006 SCORE championship. But at the next round-the Tecate SCORE Baja 500-they'll be joined by Steve Hengeveld, the five-time Class 22 champ. Can anyone top that trio? Check back in early June for that answer.

Baja 250 Results:
CLASS 22 (250cc or more)-1. Robby Bell, Murrieta, Calif./Kendall Norman, Santa Barbara, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 3:52:31 (55.80mph); 2. Mike Childress, Wrightwood, Calif./Andy Grider, Los Olivos, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 3:56:50; 3. Marc Burnett, Chula Vista, Calif./Shawn Highland, Temecula, Calif., Suzuki RMZ450, 4:21:58; 4. Joe Desrosiers, San Marcos, Calif./Westley Garrett, Riverside, Calif., Honda XR650R, 4:26:35; 5. Kevin Johnson, Henderson, Nev./Eric Rasmussen, Reno, Nev./Greg Bruning, Carlsbad, Calif., Honda CRF450X, 4:30:51; 6. Dan Walsh, Ramona, Calif./Steve Martz, San Marcos, Calif., Kawasaki KX450, 4:31:01; 7. Jesse Sharpe, Escondido, Calif./Denis Boulter, El Cajon, Calif./Dean Sharpe, Ramona, Calif., Honda XR650R, 4:44:13; 8. Scott Bloom, Del Mar, Calif./Deven Schneider/Derrick Chase, El Cajon, Calif., Honda XR650R, 5:00:02; 9. Scott Thompson/Nick Thompson, Long Beach, Calif., Honda XR650R , 5:02:59; 10. Cameron Steele/Grant Steele/Craig Smith, Brawley, Calif., Honda XR650R, 5:19:25; 11. Jack McCormick, Tempe, Ariz./Tim Hillsamer, Mesa, Ariz., Honda XR650R, 5:20:10; 12. Marc Carlson, Woodlake, Calif./Chris Sa/Eric Greidanus, Visalia, Calif., Honda XR250R, 5:36:08; 13. Steven Soto, Buena Park, Calif./Ryan Hanna, Norwalk, Calif., Honda XR650R, 5:38:42; 14. Don Myll/Russ Mitchell, San Diego, KTM 525XC, 5:50:04; 15. Chris Blais, Apple Valley, Calif./David Pearson, Las Vegas, KTM 525XC, 8:44:32. (16 Starters, 15 Finishers)