SCORE Journal - The Official Publication of SCORE Off-Road Racing
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THE FIGHT FOR FIRST PLACE Moto And Quad Racers Survive To Win By Dan Sanchez, Isaac Flores, Ariana Medrano, Adilene Ponce, Paul Hanson, and Jamie Lopez Amador Photos by Get Some Photo In the extremely competitive Moto and Quad classes, it was a brutal fight to the finish for many riders during the BFGoodrich Tires 58th SCORE Baja 1000. All of the Moto and Quad classes began the race early before sunrise, allowing them time to get through much of the course ahead of the SCORE Trophy Trucks and the rest of the four-wheel vehicles. There was also a lot at stake during this race, including a combined total cash purse of $14,500 that was distributed among various classes by sponsor companies including, TacoMoto, MexLegal, Baja Bound, AHM and Inter-Sky. Winners and up to fourth-place finishers in various classes had some prize money at the finish line, but only if they could make it there. The race began with the Pro Moto Unlimited class starting first off the line, continuing the battle between the 7x Slam Life team of Tyler Lynn and the 2024 Championship 1x team of Arturo Salas Jr. For these two teams, who have been battling all season, it was an all-out assault on the course, with each team not wanting to make any mistakes, as it could cost them the win. The 7x team, consisting of Lynn, Carter Klein, and David Kamo, rode at a fast pace and didn’t have any problems on the course to finish first in class, ending the season with a full sweep of wins in every race. “To win every round is really cool, and to finish off with winning the SCORE Baja 1000 is awesome,” said Lynn at the finish. Although the team did extremely well this season, they are a young bunch of riders who know they have more experience to gain next year and in the seasons to follow. “Obviously, the race was pretty tight there for the first half. So we definitely still have some work to do to be better, but we’re going to come back next year, a better version of ourselves.” For the 1x Salas Jr. team, consisting of co-riders Shane Logan, Jake Hogan, Cory Hammond, and Ciaran Naran, their effort was hindered by issues with the bike. Despite it all, they demonstrated their incredible riding abilities, overcoming everything. Unfortunately, the issues were enough to net them a slower time, and they finished in second place. “We had a problem in the morning, where the lights were failing,” said Salas Jr. “We lost about 15 minutes fixing it. Ciaran made up 10-minutes, but when Jake got on the bike, he ran out of gas. We lost about an hour, and when I got back on, I had a minor fall.” Alosi Sweeps Pro Moto 30 After injuries kept Jason Alosi from racing the 308x bike in the SCORE Baja 400, he got back on at this race for a short stint, with his teammates Shane Shorno, Michael Lange, Mickey Fermoile, and Tucker Hopkins to win the class and sweep the 2025 season. The win didn’t come without problems, however, with a crash around race mile 350 and a battle with the 338 team of Michael Watts. “We basically clawed our way back and were able to come out victorious,” said Alosi. Watts finished in second place, followed by Sam Hardy and his 377x team in third. Rivas Takes Over Pro Moto Limited In SCORE’s Pro Moto Limited class this season, it had been dominated by the 127x team of Bhaskar Ramani. Problems would plague Ramani’s team, and Rivas and her 119x team ran a phenomenal race to win the class. Starting eighth in class, the 119x team ran their own pace and avoided any issues. “I was able to keep a strong pace and was able to advance,” said Rivas. “The truth is, this race was a dream come true for me. I lived here in Ensenada as a child, and I always went out in the morning, and I told my mom that one day, I was going to run here.” Ramani finished in second place, less than two hours behind Rivas. Scott McIntosh and the 111x team finished in third place. Esposito Takes A Broom To Pro Moto 40 Sweeping the SCORE Pro Moto 40 class with his third win of the season, Shane Esposito and the 400x team of Francisco Septian, Jason Miller, Eric Mangana, and veteran Jim O’Neil took the win to finalize a championship season. “The race was good,” said Espositio. “I know the bike touched the ground one time, but no one got hurt. Nothing really happened to the bike other than just some scratches, so everything’s good. I did enjoy doing it. It’s a big thing for this race. So I’m glad we did get to finally do it again.” Serna Hangs On For An Ironman Win Facing challenges as an Ironman rider is perhaps the toughest of all. With no breaks, no rider changes, relying only on yourself, Larry Serna on the 715x bike persevered and won the class. “I was the first one to start in the class, and then I broke a battery terminal,” he said. “With my mechanics, we ended up putting a screw directly into the battery to fix it. From then on, I started to recover time. I positioned myself first, and from there, the fight was all day. I hit a giant rock and broke the engine cover, but we managed to change it in a record time of about ten minutes. That served as a break for me. From there to here, to the finish line, I fought with everything I got.” Finishing second in Pro Moto Ironman was Erick Estrada, followed by Cyle Turnis on the 751x bike. “It was a race that we were not destined to compete in, but thanks to sponsors, it was possible to be able to fight for the championship, to race the last one,” said Estrada. “We had a fuel problem and had to drain all the gas, and put a battery in it because I drained it trying to start the bike with bad gas,” said Turnis. “So, it was tough, a little bit of adversity at two o’clock in the morning.” Pro Moto 50 and 60 Classes Repeat Wins Mike Prunty and his 2024 Championship 500x team swept the class with this latest win at the SCORE Baja 1000. Although they crossed the finish line first, it didn’t come without any problems facing them on the course. “ We had a bunch of challenges in the beginning, down over on the beach side,” said Prunty. We had some mechanical failures over there, but we were able to get our chase crew in and get some stuff rectified. That took a while, so that put us way behind, and that’s why we’re finishing the next day.” Prunty and his team finished about thirty minutes before the time limit, managing to secure another class championship in this class. Likewise, 2024 Pro Moto 60 Champion Harold Harris and his team on the 600x bike finished first and secured back-to-back class championships. “We had a subframe issue, a crack, with about a 100-mile lead,” said Harris. “We slowed things down. We spent a little bit of time in El Crucero fixing that, zipping it together, 20 minutes or so. And then just kind of watched it the rest of the way back, all the way to the finish. I couldn’t ask for more. It was great to have my son Jason with me. It’s always great memories to bring a family member down and share the glory or share the pain.” Pro Moto Adventure Class The Pro Moto Adventure riders came face-to-face with more than a Baja adventure. The course conditions went from dark, to dusty, then muddy, and rocky, making this race truly an adventure if they could survive. Fortunately for Travis Turner and his co-rider Arthur Smith on the 808x bike, they managed to finish the course for the class win. “We faced a lot of adversity, and a lot of broken parts,” said Smith. “But we pushed hard and repaired the bike. Everybody had to run a little bit longer sections than we planned, but we made it happen. We had a fuel pump go bad, and so we sat at the top of San Felipe for about three hours trying to find a fuel pump and then changing it. The front brake went bad, too. We had to take the front brake off another bike and put it on. So there was a lot of little stuff, but we got it here.” Sportsman Classes Survive Baja Many Sportsman Moto and Quad racers came to challenge the SCORE Baja 1000, including Arnaldo Casteñeda and his 269x team of riders. Although they had a shortened course of 720.95 miles for safety reasons, the 269x team finished in 21:10:03 ahead of nine other competitors in the class. In the Sportsman Quad class, it was a challenge between the 138a team of Gabriel Vazquez, the 168a team of Mario Jouaquin Navaarette Vale, and the 127a team of Martin De La Torre. With all the challenges presented to them in the course, all three teams in this class finished on the podium. Finishing first, however, was Vazquez and his team with his first win of the season. “It was a very close race,” said Vazquez. “From the first miles, we had a very good competition with some very good riders. It was a very close race until the last miles. We had some setbacks, our tires got punctured, but thanks to the effort of the riders.” SJ