SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/519117
just feet from the waters of the Sea of Cortez. At San Evaristo, racers turned inland again past Constitucion, Insurgentes, and San Javier before finishing on the Malecon in Loreto. With the assistance of local government, businesses and officials, support vehicles included eight ambulances, five 4x4 rescue trucks, and a helicopter that had to be flown down to Cabo, to insure this inaugural event was a success. Pre-Race Anticipation And Preparation Even before the race started, drivers were excited for the beauty and location of the course which threaded through the cities of Baja Sur, but they were also cautious as the race was not going to be a cake walk, despite the many high- speed rally roads within it. Many of the SCORE participants headed out to pre- run and check out the new course. "This is a really, really great race course," said SCORE Unlimited Trophy Truck driver Mark Post. "Once word gets out, next year will be a much bigger turnout. It has everything, mountains to high-speed sections to washes, to rocky sections." Post unfortunately finished the race with a DNF but was nevertheless impressed with the overall course which reminded him of earlier times in SCORE racing history. "The beautiful thing about racing in Baja Sur is there is not a lot of development, like in Ensenada. It's like the old days -- the wild west. Absolutely flat-out in a lot of areas and not as restrictive as racing in the North." Jesse Jones shared driving with Post and pre-ran his section (the start to mile 260) a total of five times. "It looked like it was going to be super fast, but it also turned out to be super slow and technical in other spots," said Jones. "The first 70 miles were very technical and included a lot of opportunities to get stuck, or go off the road." Young Gun, Eduardo "Lalo" Laguna, who ended up winning the Unlimited Trophy Truck Class, also pre-ran the course. Although at the time he couldn't have known what his performance would bring later that day, he said this about the race course, "It's one of those courses that you have to be really smart to finish." "All the wives and kids are giving this race two thumbs up as well," said Norman. "This is really unique that the families can come down here and do their own thing and have a blast on vacation while the guys race." Race Week Begins With Celebrations The race week events began on April 15 and 16th with several parties open to all participants, family members, and fans. Monster Energy started with a party at the Baja Brewing Company at the Cabo Marina. The next night, Bud Light followed up with a party at Billygan's Island right on the beach. Friday the 17th featured Technical Inspection and Contingency for the race at the local soccer fields. Thousands of fans got up close and personal with their favorite race cars and drivers, collecting stickers, taking photos and of BRANDON SCHUELER AND TEAMATES ON THIER WAY TO CLASS WIN AND CURRENT SEASON POINTS LEADER 09 SCORE JOURNAL