SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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PACK LEADERS Moto & Quad Classes Battle For Top Finishes By Dan Sanchez, Paul Hansen, Cindy Clark, Isaac Flores, and Ariana Medrano The Moto and Quad racers had cool weather conditions during the BFGoodrich Tires 57th SCORE Baja 500 race. Starting early in the morning, riders stormed out into the Baja desert, trying to see through the dark, dense fog, and lots of dust. The battle between the top Pro Moto Unlimited teams had the 7x team of Tyler Lynn, the 1x team of Arturo Salas Jr, and the 15x team of Eric Hold out battling for the lead unphased by the limited visibility on the course. Starting in the fog, which seemed to plague their visibility throughout the course, these riders didn’t give up and maintained their positions throughout the race. Lynn and his co-rider Carter Klein, rode almost flawlessly, keeping an average 10-minute gap between them and the 1x team. “It went really well, and we had a nearly perfect day,” says Lynn. “I think the bike only hit the ground once, but other than that, we had a perfect day.” Klein rode on the coast and managed to keep their lead. We pulled ten minutes throughout the whole race. So, we’re stoked. Me and Carter came here with a goal in mind. And we put in the work, and it showed today.” This win gave the 7x team the lead in the chase towards the class championship, and their second-in-a-row win after the SCORE San Felipe 250. Not far behind in second place was the 2024 Champions on the 1x bike with co-rider Shane Logan on the early morning start, Salas Jr. riding the mid-section, and Ciran Naran riding to the finish. “We always want to cross the finish line first, but we’re one step closer than we were at the last race,” said Naran. “It seemed like it was a close one. We lost a little bit in the morning because of the fog, dust and everything, it was brutal. Starting at 3am in the morning makes it tough. Shane rode incredible today, so did Arturo. I think the boys and I know where we each need to work, and we’re going to go home and put in the homework that’s for sure.” Holt and the 15x team were also not far behind to take third place in class. “We don’t quit down here no matter what,” said Hold. “We had some issues about race mile 130, where we had to change the rear brake caliper and the brake system in the rear of the bike and lost some time there. Then we had to just battle back throughout the day. Early on in the morning it was really tough. The moisture and the dust made conditions hard to see, but as the day went on, the course got faster. Over on the coast side, the dirt was wet, so it helped really make a good race. We’ll be back for sure for the SCORE Baja 400, hopefully with a better outcome. And thank you to SCORE and everyone that puts on this race. We know how much work it takes, and we appreciate it.” Ramani Takes Another Win Another two-timer at this SCORE Baja 500 is Bhaskar Ramani and his 127x Pro Moto Limited “international” team. Team members come from England, India, Mexico, and the U.S.A. making for a great display of camaraderie, coming together to create a winning team. “This is like an International project management exercise,” said Ramani. “We come together, and we race and the work the team has put in is coming together.” During the race, one of the 116x team riders, of David Navarro Limon was down and Ramani provided aid. “When I got on the bike at race mile 385 the 116x team had a little bit of a lead on us. After about five to six miles on the course, I came around a turn and a 116x rider was laying down in a ditch. He got up and was standing so I got on his bike and pivoted it and turned it around and pulled it out of the ditch, then got back on my bike and took off. So, you know it’s good karma and that’s what Baja is about. That’s what I learned.” The aid was appreciated and Limon and the 116x team finished in third place behind the 112x team of Brayan Avalos. “The race was really good, and we kept it on two wheels pushing forward,” said co-rider Dylan Avalos. “We made a couple of mistakes that brought us to second place, but we’ll come back stronger for the SCORE Baja 400. With the fog, I couldn’t see more than three feet ahead. We were just fighting with the fog and the dust. It was a hard one, but we managed to push through to the finish.” Shane Esposito Makes It Two With several racers making repeat wins so far this season, Shane Esposito added his name to the list with another win in the Pro Moto 40 Class. The veteran rider on the 400x 2024 class championship team continued his dominance in this SCORE Baja 500 with other legendary racers including, Francisco Septien, and Jim O’Neal (his 43rd), along with Rene Magana, and Jason Miller. “The race went well,” said Esposito. “I got the bike into fourth physically, leading our class, and then I had a little crash. It was nothing big. But I know Eric had no issues and everyone rode solid to make it to the finish. I think because of my section with the fog, it was really slow compared to what we expected.” Alosi Wins Double In Pro Moto 30 Also gaining a second victory this season was Jason Alosi and the 308x team in the Pro Moto 30 class who triumphed over the 324x team of Edgar Najar who came in second place, and the 300x 2024 class champion team of Ethan Wheeler. “The day went really well,” said Alosi. “Honestly, I was a little worried about the fog in the morning, but I did the best preparation I could and was able to manage it pretty well. We got out to an early lead and we just maintained it all day. There were no issues with the bike. Everyone’s safe and this looks like the second win of the season for us. The goal is four and we want to have the championship at the end of the year.” Two For The Ironman Larry Serna on the 715x bike was another rider who won twice so far this season, taking the Pro Moto Ironman division over four other competitors racing in this class. It was a rough going for any of the Pro Moto class competitors, but the Ironman racers had to tough it out alone. “It was a very heavy morning because of the fog, and I couldn’t see anything,” said Serna. “The first 80 miles I couldn’t see anything, I took off my goggles. It was something I shouldn’t have done. When I put on new goggles, everything started to flow better. I started to gain confidence. That was when I had a pretty big accident.” Serna hit a rock speeding at 60-70 mph, yet he didn’t quit and kept moving forward for the win. “I flew off and the radiator was broken, but other than that, nothing happened to me. It could have been much worse. My whole race consisted of stopping every 20 miles to put antifreeze in it. There were moments that seemed like war. I brought bottles and bottles of antifreeze and had to stop so that the motorcycle would not heat up. The bike stayed cool. I’m very thankful to Felipe Venegas, who prepared the bike for me. I think the SCORE Baja 400 will be easier after this. But now that I’m here, I’ve been thinking about the race for the SCORE Baja 1000. I don’t know what to think, but we’re going to give it a go.” Winning At Any Age In the Pro Moto 50 Class, Gerardo Rojas and his 330x team took the win with the 2024 class champions, Mike Prunty and the 500x team finishing in second place. “We had a very fun day and enjoyed the whole course,” said Rojas. “We are very happy to finish, and everything went well, no problems. The preparation of Diezpro, Poncho and the whole team, we had a very good day. Our sponsors are here. I hope to see everyone at the SCORE Baja 400 and the SCORE Baja 1000.” Harold Harris and the 600x team gained a second victory this season, winning the Pro Moto 60 class. “This was my first start out of Ensenada,” said Harris. “I’ve started out of San Felipe a bunch of times, but never out of Ensenada. I didn’t like the fog that much. But I arrived in San Matias sooner than I thought. I was thinking I’d be there about 8:30am and I think I got there at 8:10. So I was happy with that. It took four hours to go 135 miles.” Sportsman Classes Heat Up While the Sportsman Classes had a shorter course than the rest of the Pro Moto and Quad classes, there was lots of competition that made it difficult to win. Filiberto Garcia and his team on the 211x bike won in Sportsman Moto , while Jorge Martinez (101a) won in Sportsman quad. SJ