Post-Race Finish Line Quotes

BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 500

SCORE Media Contact: Gabriel Garcia, Gabriel@SCORE-International.com

Pro Cars, Trucks & UTVs
  
  SCORE TROPHY TRUCK (Unlimited Custom Trucks)
TOBY PRICE, No. 46 (First overall) – The race went really well for us. It was a nice, smooth day, which was really good. We were just trying to keep a good speed and keep the guys behind us. Basically, we just tried to keep the wheels on the truck and our BFGoodrich Tires were exceptional. We had a good, clean run, with no issues and no drama. We were fighting with Tavo (Vidosola Jr, No. 21) all day. Getting this win is one box ticked for us, it's exceptional. It’s a big effort to come from Australia and compete with these guys, so I’m very proud of the team for the effort. CO-DRIVER PAUL WEEL said: Toby did an amazing job qualifying us in first place and getting us to race mile 360. We had one little incident with a truck that was parked in the middle of the course. But other than that, it was pretty good. It was a fantastic race. We tried so hard for the last two years and we knew it was coming, but it’s fantastic to finally get one.
GUSTAVO VILDOSOLA JR, No. 21 (Second in class) – It was a long day. We kind of expected it, but it was super tight, rocky and nasty. It’s probably one of the toughest courses we’ve run in a while. It really wasn’t meant to showcase these 1,200-horsepower beasts. It was super technical, we averaged under 50 miles an hour. We knew there was going to be a lot of attrition and that trucks would be all over the place out there. This is the second podium in a row for this truck and we’re proud.
CHRISTOPHER POLVOORDE, No. 94 (Third in class) – I’m happy that we got a good finish, but that’s definitely not where we wanted to be. I hit a pretty big rock at around race mile 100 and still held our position. We were running between second and third but had a few issues in the San Felipe area (race mile 220) that slowed us down a little. We just cruised from there to the finish here. It was a long day and I learned a lot. I’m proud of my team, we were fast at the pits and with the re-racks.
BRYCE MENZIES, No. 1 (Fourth in class) – It was pretty tough, probably one of the worst races I’ve had in a long time. A tire went down at about race mile 50 and took out the left rear brake, so we had to stop for 15 minutes and replace it. We got going, but then radiator fan stopped working and we had to slow quite a bit. When we got that fixed, we were seventh or eighth and worked our way back up to fourth, but then we lost our radio. It was just one of those days where everything went wrong, but we just kept our heads down and kept charging. It was a tough day, but overall, all good.
ALAN AMPUDIA, No. 10 (Tenth in class) – Unfortunately, a little bit of everything happened today. We had a very eventful day for my co-driver (Aaron Ampudia) as he had to replace three tires. Until the summit, our gameplan was working well as we were within one minute from Toby Price (No. 46), but then we got the first flat and it took us a long time to change it. We also lost our front-wheel drive and after that it was hard keeping the truck on the road, it was like driving on ice. I just had to adapt and it was frustrating. We got another flat up at Mike’s Sky Ranch and also had an issue with a belt in our power-steering system. That cost us a lot of time and five miles later it popped again. From there on, we just wanted to take it home safely.
LUKE McMILLIN, No. 83 (13th in class) – We were getting in the groove after the start, but then we got unlucky with people getting back in front of us after flat tires and some other problems. We really sped up when we got the summit and got back into the lead pack. A flat set us back a little bit, but I think that at race mile 180 we were just two minutes behind Toby (Price, No. 46). We had a problem with the car that got us down for an hour and a half and then we just finished.
ROB MacCACHREN, No. 11 (16th in class) – We qualified 12th and knew we had to get some positions hopefully before the summit. We got by two guys by there, but we were in the dust all the way there. I started pushing hard after that but we heard a weird noise in the truck and stopped to take a look at it. It ended up going away, but we lost fourth gear and had to stay first, second and third until the end of the race. We had a few other issues, but our all-wheel drive did well and we’re getting it sorted out. I’m very optimistic that it’s going to be a player here after too long. We’ll keep working on it and put our heads down. It was another incredible SCORE Baja 500.
 
  SCORE TT LEGENDS (SCORE Trophy Truck drivers over 50 years old)
GUSTAVO VILDOSOLA SR, No. 1L (First in class) – It was just a great, clean day. Ricky (Johnson, co-driver) started the race and had absolutely no problems until he handed it to me. And I didn’t have any flats or mechanical issues either. It was just one of those days when everything runs how it’s supposed to. I’m very excited because my team and my family are here. CO-DRIVER RICKY JOHNSON said: The race went great for us. Our team had the truck in a great condition for this race. We qualified eighth and got up to fourth among the SCORE Trophy Trucks. Gus had a pretty good lead among the SCORE TT Legends, so he didn’t push it too hard and kept it smart. Everybody did their job, we had no flats and just had a blast. It was an awesome SCORE Baja 500 for our team.
CLAY LAWRENCE, No. 85L (Second in class) – The race went great. We had to change a tire without a jack and that set us back a little bit, but that’s one of the things you have to persevere and get to the finish line. It was one of those races. It was a very challenging course and I’m sure that’s going to show in the finishing rate. Larry (Roeseler, co-driver) had a couple of flat tires but we got it done. It’s been a really good week and having courses like this is what makes it worth coming down here.
 
  CLASS 1 (Unlimited open-wheel single or two-seaters)
CODY REID, No. 168 (First in class) – It started out interestingly. We missed a turn getting out of town in the dust, which made us lose a position, so we decided to just play patient. We got everybody back, but then we got a flat tire and we fell back to fourth again. But after that we just kept moving the best that we could and got everybody back again. From there, we just kept it that way and kept moving. It was a very tough course. Very technical, slow and surprisingly brutal.
CODY PARKHOUSE, No. 127 (Third in class) CO-DRIVER BRIAN PARKHOUSE said: Our race went okay, but it was a little bit frustrating. It was a really technical course. We started fourth and didn’t have a lot of opportunities to pass people. It was really tight and technical. We got by a couple of cars when they had problems, but we also broke a wheel and for some reason in the last 50 miles we got stuck in fifth gear. But we made it in and that’s good.
BRENDAN GAUGHAN, No. 162 (Fourth in class) – We always come to Baja to win. But we had a lot of goals today and we had my navigator’s grandson ride with me for 50 miles and we got our first official finish for him and my son. The 2024 SCORE Baja 500 is going to be memorable for us. These BFGoodrich Tires absolutely crushed the course. It’s so amazing what they can do to the desert.
 
  TROPHY TRUCK SPEC (unlimited Truck/SUV, stock, sealed engines)
JUSTIN DAVIS, No. 285 (First in class) – It was as good as any day can go. We were pretty much perfect all day. We played it smart in the beginning and didn’t’ get in too much of a hurry. Over the summit, we got around the leader, kind of set the pace and just held it all day. We were just a minute ahead near the end, so we pushed it hard and made it here.
BRENT FOX, No. 282 (Third in class) – It was a long day. We lost our GPS in the second half of the race and weren’t able to push things as hard as we wanted. After Uruapan (race mile 420), cars just started stacking up behind us and I think one of them got us on time. It was a rough course. It was very hot in the San Felipe side. Mike’s Sky Ranch is always interesting, we had some trouble up there at the SCORE Baja 400, so we took it extra easy this time to make sure we didn’t get a flat or anything. Looking back, I think we just played it way too safe during the day. We hadn’t had a clean race with SCORE yet and today was the first one. We were trying not to push too hard to avoid issues and we didn’t have any, but maybe we could have pushed a little bit more.
MICHAEL MARSAL, No. 236 (Fourth in class) CO-DRIVER TROY GRABOWSKI said: We had a pretty solid day. Mike started 16th in our class and worked our way up to seventh, but we got a flat tire and lost a few positions. We picked our way through a couple of guys and it looks like we got a top three, so that shows we had a good run. We made no mistakes and are happy to be here.
JORDAN BRENTHEL, No. 273 (Fifth in class) – Apdaly (Lopez, co-driver) did a great job qualifying us in first place and started very well too. It was a fairly smooth race. Apdaly got us the car in a great position up front, so we just had to keep that place. He had a flat after we hit a rock, but got the car back to Apdaly and he brought it here. CO-DRIVER APDALY LOPEZ said: It was a good race. Except for one flat tire, we had nothing else to worry about. My two sections were clean and we had a lot of fun.
J. DAVID RUVALCABA, No. 209 (Seventh in class) – The race went well. It was a very technical course and we had to deal with a lot of dust, but here we are at the finish line. It was fun.
EJ HERBST, No. 263 (Eighth in class) – It was a pretty good day. The SCORE Baja 500 is always a tough course, everybody knows that. This is the first year I did the Mike’s Sky Ranch section and it was tough to go through that tight, little stuff. But it was a good day overall. We didn’t have any incidents, just one little leak that we got to fix in our pit. I think our co-driver had two flats in the first section, but it looks like it wasn’t a big deal either.
 
  CLASS 10 (Limited, sealed engine, single or two-seaters)
FRANCISCO VERA, No. 1000 (First in class) – It was really tight at the beginning. Actually, there was a lot of back and forth with other cars the entire time. We tried to play it smart and relax so we didn’t get a flat tire or something else. And we made it. It’s great to win back-to-back SCORE Baja 500s.
DALE EBBERTS, No. 1077 (Second in class) CO-DRIVER EZRA EBBERTS said: It went really well. My dad (Dale) did the first half of the race and passed it to me in second place and we held onto it for the entire race. My section was technical, but really fun. We had to be very precise because there were many cliffs and things that could take you out, so we did a smooth, smart race. The car is great, I think it could to another 500 miles.
ALBERTO MENDEZ, No. 1019 (Third in class) – I drove the first 260 miles and there was a lot of back and forth and tough competition. The summit was tough because of how rocky it was so we were taking it easy so we could hand the car to the other driver in good shape. We were somewhere between third and fourth when we changed drivers but we had a little mishap that took us back to seventh. We got back to third, but did a pit stop to make sure we’d get here and finished fourth, which was still pretty good for us.
TED BAKER, No. 1060 (Fourth in class) – We actually had no trouble, no flats, nothing. We had a good run and are probably in the top five. It was a tough course, but we had a good day. I got the second half and there was a lot of fast and technical stuff. It was challenging, but fun.
MANLIO F. DIAZ, No. 1079 (Fifth in class) CO-DRIVER MARIO DIAZ said: Manlio drove the first 320 miles and it was a very tight race. There were several cars in the mix, but they got a flat tire around race mile 80 and they fell behind, going to seventh place. We kept pushing after that and slowly managed to find our way back to the top of the pack. My section was a good mix of technical and fast. We had a little mishap that cost us about five minutes, but we kept going and made it here.
CARLOS GUILLEN, No. 1020 (Sixth in class) – It was tough, but also very fun. My co-driver did a really good job even if it was very hot in the desert. Our pit crew was excellent and took care of us very quickly when we needed.
ELISEO GARCIA, No. 1075 (Seventh in class) CO-DRIVER JAVIER MONTOYA SR said: We made it to the finish line, so things went well as that was the goal. I got the second section and didn’t have any major problems. It was tough, technical and there were a lot of rocks, but we didn’t have any issues with that. We had a few minor problems with the car, but nothing that really slowed us down.
TAMARA MYERS, No. 1023 (Tenth in class) – The race went very smoothly. We had a little hiccup at the beginning as my dad got a little lost, but we got that figured out. I got in about 20 miles earlier than planned because I was ready to go, but everything went smoothly. My dad and our other co-drivers did an amazing job. My section was super rough and super technical. I faced a lot of fears today but it was a lot of fun. The car did amazing too.
 
  PRO UTV OPEN (two-seat open UTV open-displacement)
CAYDEN MacCACHREN, No. 1821 (First in class) – I remember parts of the race, thinking I would never make it here to the SCORE finish line. It was an absolutely hectic day. We went through a lot of silt beds and it was really tough. We kept charging and once we got up the summit, I started thinking that I love that San Felipe area, the car just flows there. That got me to change my mindset and we got here in one piece.
BRANDEN SIMS, No. 1886 (Second in class) – People probably won’t believe it, but we just had one chase car and three people chasing us all day, which is pretty impressive. Our entire crew, driver and navigator included, was five people. We didn’t get out of the car one single time today, we had absolutely no issues. We caught some traffic on the way here and the big trucks are hard to pass for us. The early start was cool and going into San Felipe early, when it wasn’t so hot. The first hundred miles were pretty brutal, but after that it was fast and fun. And the coast was super nice. It looks like we did pretty well today and that’s awesome.
MITCHELL ALSUP, No. 1861 (Third in class) – It went great, zero issues. I got in for the second half and brought it home. It was a solid day for us. We got a little bit of everything on our way here, but the car was flawless and we got no flats all day.
CRAIG SCANLON, No. 1831 (Fourth in class) CO-DRIVER TRAVIS CLARK said: Craig had a great start and got the car in third place. I was running third for most of my section too, but I hit a rock and got a flat tire. We couldn’t get the spare off and had to find some locals to help us out, which took us some time, but other than that, all went well. It was a great course, SCORE did a good job, and there were tons of people out there cheering us up.
VITO RANUIO, No. 1825 (Fifth in class) – It didn’t go as well as we wanted, but we’re happy to have made it to the finish line. We had some issues right out of the gate that cost us some time and just couldn’t make up for that all day. We got beat by Baja, but sure love being out there. It’s a feat just to make it to the finish line 11 hours later. I’m super pumped that I made it. It was super fun, one of those races that you love it and hate it at the same time.
WAYNE MATLOCK, No. 1871 (Seventh in class) – The race was going great until it didn’t. We had an issue at about race mile 260 and tried to limp it in, but it was a bad call, we just destroyed more stuff. We were down for quite a while replacing parts. We got back in the car and then didn’t have any other issues.
OSCAR R. ALVAREZ, No. 1824 (Tenth in class) – Gustavo (Pinuelas, co-driver) got us in first place when I got in, so I just wanted to keep pushing and bring it here. We had no flat tires. Just had some issues with the brakes and overheating in the first half, but nothing that made us stop. I had a very clean run and didn’t get a lot of cars on my way here.
SIERRA ROMO, No. 1829 (13th in class) – It was a good day. My co-driver Victor was killing it on the driver’s seat, but we ended up having an unexpected failure with a new part that we put on the car that set us back a couple of hours. That’s racing. Our team fixed it and we made it to the finish line, which is all that matters.
 
  PRO UTV FI (two-seat Forced Induction, OEM engine UTVs)
PHIL BLURTON, No. 2944 (First in class) – We had a really good day going until race mile 200, when we lost our transmission cooler and we had about 30 minutes of downtime, but we are here. Baja is always fun, you always get a little bit of everything here. The new car is awesome, we’re still figuring some things out, but it’s a really fast car.
ERICK KOZIN, No. 2940 (Second in class) – It was good, it was a long and hard race. I think I broke my hand at race mile 15, but just fought through it. It’s Baja, you have to make it to the finish line. It’s tough, but that’s why we’re here. We had no issues with the car, we just lost the hood after we bumped up with a SCORE Trophy Truck at the summit.
ROBERTO RUIZ, No. 2920 (Third in class) – We had a very good race, it looks like we were third. Most of my section was already heavily damaged by the trucks and there was a lot of dust. But that’s part of the game. It was the first time we made it to the finish line without any problems and that was great.
EDGAR GARCIA, No. 2987 (Fourth in class) – The race course was fun and technical, but we had a lof of problems. We got two flat tires and had to replace one belt among other things and lost about two hours working on the car. But it was still a fun day.
STEVE ALLEN, No. 2943 (Fifth in class) – I’m exhausted. It was an incredibly long day. We blew a shock at race mile 80 and took the shock off the pre-runner and used it upside down. Our crew did a great job today. We got it done and made it here. It was an amazing race, we thank SCORE for doing it.
 
  CLASS 7 (unlimited, six-cylinder, production appearing trucks or SUVS)
DANIEL CHAMLEE, No. 700 (First in class) – The race went really well. We just had one minor repair to do in our pit and got stuck behind someone in the silt, but that was just a few minutes. I started at the back, but got the lead at about race mile 30 and went back and forth with 711 (Richard Fant) all day. We never actually passed each other, but when one stopped, the other one would get by. Once I knew I had a good lead, I just drove it conservatively to the finish.
 
  SCORE LITES (Limited single-1776cc- or two-seaters-1835cc VW engines)
MARIO ALCALA, No. 1277 (First in class) – Making it to the finish line is a big accomplishment for us, especially in such a traditional race as the SCORE Baja 500. It was a great day. We had an issue with oil leaking from the engine and we’ve been battling it from Mike’s Sky Ranch to the finish line, but we accomplished our goal and are here. Baja is always tough and nothing is ever easy here.
 
  PRO UTV NA (two/four-seat Normally Aspirated OEM engine UTVs) 
DAVID PEDDER, No. 1984 (First in class) – The day went great, we didn’t change a tire. We got off to a quick start, pushed up and never looked back. It’s the first race we’ve ever had that we never had a problem and that’s awesome.
 
  CLASS 5 (Unlimited Baja Bugs, VW concept engines allowed)
ELI YEE, No. 500 (First in class) – My son drove the first half and I got the second. We didn’t have any problems and only left the car to change drivers. It was really great. We probably finished over an hour ahead of the second-placed car in our class. This is our fourth victory in the SCORE Baja 500 and we just won the SCORE San Felipe 250 earlier this year. Things have been going really well for us in these last few years.
 
  PRO UTV STOCK (Stock UTVs, FI or NA)
KADEN WELLS, No. 3925 (First in class) – It was a pretty clean day. We only had a couple of issues, but nothing big. We got the car back on the road and kept going. The coast was probably my favorite section and having a couple of climbs was very interesting. I had one flat tire and one axle broken, but that was about all.
FRANCISCO BELTRAN, No. 3921 (Second in class) – It was a mentally tough race. I went into it knowing that there would be three key sections – the start, the summit and Mike’s Sky Ranch. These were technical sections and I thought that the cars that went through them well would flow in the rest of the course. I’m very happy to have finished the SCORE Baja 500. We’ve been racing with SCORE for quite some time and now everything went well and we had a clean, nice race.
JORGE CANO, No. 3900 (Third in class) CO-DRIVER MARCO VALENZUELA said: We had a very good start, but had a little crash coming down the summit and that took us some time. We got a little fire going on during a pit and that set us back a little bit as well. We pushed hard after that and made it here in fourth place, it seems. It was a good day, after all.
ANTONIO MENDEZ, No. 3959 (Fourth in class) CO-DRIVER ALONSO GONZALEZ said: My section was tough. There were a lot of rocks and we damaged the car a little bit. But we managed it well and made it here.
ANIBAL LOPEZ, No. 3919 (Fifth in class) – I got to drive the first and the last sections. The car was great, like always. We got one flat tire, but that was about all. This car has quite a few miles on it, but continues to deliver and we’re thankful for that.
 
  CLASS 1/2-1600 (VW-powered, single or two-seaters to 1600cc)
DANIEL GOODRICH, No. 1606 (First in class) CO-DRIVER MATT WILERT said: All things considered, the race went pretty well. We had a little bit of an issue coming in early through some of the silt beds at around race mile 80. That put us down kind of early, but we just hammered down, got the car to each next guy and were able to make it here. We had some other little issues, such as a flat tire and an alternator problem, but it was a pretty smooth race considering the course.
 
  CLASS 8 (Full-size two-wheel drive truck or SUV. No limit on displacement)
JOSH KLENSKE, No. 809 (First in class) – It was never-ending rough. This is the roughest, most brutal race I’ve ever been at. I’ve seen some rough stuff in Baja, but this tops it all. I’m just amazed that I was able to drive through it and not get stuck and that I got to climb everything. We tried to keep it safe and drive very reasonably. My pre-runner broke and I didn’t have the time to pre-run. I did some sections out there, but not all of it. I was a little bit blind on some areas.
 
PRO MOTORCYCLES
 
  PRO MOTO UNLIMITED (400cc or more)
ARTURO SALAS JR, No. 11x (First overall motorcycle) – I ran out of gas right after the Valle de la Trinidad and some fans who were up at the mountain helped me with it, but I still had to push the bike for two or three miles uphill, which was tough. Unfortunately, we got passed by Justin (Morgan, No. 7x), but the bike ran very well all day and everything works fine, so we did a good job with it. I think Ciaran (Naran, co-rider) laid the bike over, but it wasn’t a big deal at all. We’re really thinking about the points for the season and just wanted to get here, so I’m really stoked that we did it.
JUSTIN MORGAN, No. 7x (Second in class) – We had an issue with the bike a few hundred yards before the finish line and had to push it, so I think it’s going to be really close on timing. I did the first part and lost some time in the dust, but kept the bike off the ground and just tried to be smart and have a smooth ride. We had no crashes and nothing really bad happened, so we just kept it smooth all day. Baja is always a challenge and that’s why I love racing here. It’s not over until it’s over, I always say that and today was a great example of it.
ADRIAN ORTIZ, No. 13x (Third in class) CO-RIDER SERGIO GARZA said: I thought it was a great race. My part had a lot of fast sections, but I heard that my teammates had a harder time, especially Adrian at the beginning as he started behind and had to deal with a lot of dust and fog. But we all did a good job and didn’t have any major problems during the day. CO-DRIVER ALBARO ORTIZ said: My part was a bit rough. I got the desert section and there were a lot of rocks. After I got past Mike’s Sky Ranch (race mile 280), I could push it a little bit more and it was a lot of fun. We lost some time at the start with the dust and to get to finish third was incredible.
 
  PRO MOTO 30 (Riders over 30 years old)
ETHAN WHEELER, No. 317x (First in class) – CO-RIDER CASEY THOMAS said: We had a good day overall. We had some mechanical issues and lost our front brakes after the first 150 miles. But everybody managed to make it through their sections and we’ll see how it plays out. My section was very clean, I did the best I could without the front brakes. The bike was working really well.
FELIPE BARRON, No. 354x (Second in class) CO-RIDER DAN EASTWOOD said: It went really well. It was pretty dark and dusty when we started, but everybody rode well and had a good time. My section was good, it was the coolest section I ever had, at the coast. We didn’t have any issues with the bike, so it was a good day.
JUAN VALENZUELA, No. 311x (Fourth in class) – There was a lot of dust and fog in the first 75 miles and that just made it difficult for us to see much far ahead. The course was a little bit banged up after the trucks went by but we still got here in a good time. We didn’t get to pre-run part of the course because one of our riders had a crash. The bike had a little fall at the summit, but other than that, it worked very well.
 
  PRO MOTO LIMITED (less than 450cc)
ARMANDO ORTIZ, No. 110x (First in class) – The entire team worked very hard for us to be ready for the SCORE Baja 500. I think we did a great job in pre-running these past few weeks and picked our lanes very well. It was a great team effort. I had the coast section and it was very smooth and fast. I had raced there before and it was a similar course as in past years, so I didn’t have many problems. The summit and the whoops in San Felipe were more complicated, but my teammates did a good job. The bike did great all day, we managed to execute our plan well and had a lot of fun.  
 
  PRO MOTO 50 (Riders over 50 years old)
MIKE PRUNTY, No. 547x (First in class) – The race was incredible. Dennis (Bellingheri, co-rider) absolutely killed it all the way from the start to the summit and Brian (Storey, co-rider) was phenomenal there too. I was on and off pretty quick and these boys did a great job. Everything went well with the bike too, the guys from Reno Motorsports killed it. It was a great job from our entire team.
 
  PRO MOTO 40 (Riders over 40 years old)
FRANCISCO SEPTIEN, No. 411x (First in class) – I got the summit section and it was a little complicated because there were so many rocks and it was very hot, even early in the morning. But I heard the entire course was difficult, so it was a challenge for everyone. The bike had some problems with leaking oil and the front brakes were failing on some moments, but we managed to bring it here.
 
  PRO MOTO 60 (Riders over 60 years old)
DONALD LEWIS, No. 649x (First in class) – It was great to see that we had five teams in the Pro Moto 60 class this race. It’s been a while since we last had that many. My section was good. I had some trouble with the SCORE Trophy Trucks, but that’s part of what we do. I had a good time, I was happy. The bike was excellent all day. We didn’t have any flats or anything else. Age is just a number, so just get out there and do it.
MIKE KAY, No. 628x (Second in class) CO-RIDER MIKE WHITMAN said: It was exciting and fun, typical Baja. That’s what we all like. The summit was intimidating, but fun. The bike run very well and it’s ready to go again.
 
  PRO MOTO IRONMAN (Solo Riders)
DANIEL MASTRUDE, No. 792x (Frist in class) – It went smooth, I didn’t have any issues all day, just rode my race. My hands were failing a little bit in the last hundred miles, so that part was a little bit tough for me and I was getting tired too.
PATRICIO CABRERA, No. 745x (Second in class) – The entire course was really challenging. I had never started a race in the middle of the night, so I had to take it easy at the start to not have issues with the dust and the fog. It was also hard to control my nerves. The course was really difficult and I tried to be smart with my decisions and had great support from the team. The bike did amazing. I didn’t have any falls and replaced everything we needed during the race to get here with the bike running great and it did.
BRIAN ROBERTS, No. 788x (Third in class) – The course was really tough. I wasn’t expecting it to be that tough, but it was a lot of fun. The team put everything together and we made it work and that was great. The silt was no joke out there, but it’s all part of it. The bike ran well, we only had some GPS issues. We’ll make some changes for the next race and make it work.
 
  PRO MOTO ADVENTURE
GERARDO RUBIO, No. 827x (First in class) – It was a very complicated race for us. We didn’t get to pre-run and our GPS failed, so it was hard to know where we were going. Some parts of my section were really nice because they were fast ones. My brother rode the first part and he had more issues. We had some little bumps here and there, but nothing really major.
 
PRO QUADS
 
  PRO QUAD (Open engine displacement)
EDUARDO HERNANDEZ, No. 7a (First in class) – We started in third place and were there for the first 170 miles, but then we took the lead. It was a tough race as one of our riders had an accident and we also had some issues with the quad. We couldn’t pick up our best pace, but kept going and got a very good result. Our team did a great job. I had two sections and the first one was really fun, but also a little demanding. I got back on the quad at Mike’s Sky Ranch (race mile 280) and it was very technical and difficult. I left the quad with my hands destroyed.
 
SPORTSMAN
 
  SPT M/C
JHOAN SANCHEZ, No. 259x (First in class) – The course was really tough and demanding. I got the first 30 miles and it was challenging. There were so many hidden rocks that we had to be really careful and it was difficult to see things with all the dust and the fog in the first few hours. It was a challenge, but that’s what brings me here. We only had a couple of light falls, but nothing big. I’m glad we made it here. The bike run well for the most part.
FRANCISCO ROSAS, No. 205x (Second in class) – We had a good race. It was a tough one, but we made it. I had three sections and the first was hard with the dust and the fog, but all in all, it was a lot of fun. I had a little fall, but didn’t get hurt or anything. The bike ran perfect, we didn’t have any issues at all.
ERNESTO SOSA, No. 250x (Third in class) – We had some issues to go down the summit, but the team worked on the bike and got it all sorted out. The course was a little different than what we had seen during pre-running, but we did a good job and brought it here. We had some little issues with the bike, bug nothing major, and also didn’t have any flat tires or accidents, which was good.
DANIEL FELIX, No. 275x (Fourth in class) CO-RIDER ALEX HILL said: We had a smooth run, we just had one tire change at race mile 245. I got a really fun section, it was super fast and right by the beach. We just had a small issue with the bike, but it didn’t stop us from keep going.
 
  SPT QUAD
IRLAMM GUTIERREZ JR, No. 110a (Second in class) – We had a very good day. We started in 12th place but in Ojos Negros (race mile 30) were already up in third place. We were pushing in the top three and got to first place, but then we had an issue with the quad and one of our drivers got into an accident. After that, our goal was to make it to the finish line and keep fighting for the Championship. I got a lot of dust and fog and had some heavy work to do, but we made it here.