A Tale of Two Bajas – 2009 Baja 1000 Race Report – #1005 & #616
Since I had not raced anything since the Vegas to Reno race in 2008, I was eager to find a ride for this year’s Baja 1000. I guess that old saying about being careful what you wish for is certainly true, because I ended up with two rides this year. Fortunately both of the team owners were willing to let me drive for the other team and they were able to give me sections that made it logistically possible. A special thanks goes out to Lars Ferry of Xtra Fly Racing (#1005) and Steve Kovach of Kovach Racing (www.kovachracing.com) (#616) for the opportunities.
#1005
I started the race in the Xtra Fly Racing class 10 Jimco of Lars Ferry. The plan was for me to drive the start to Race Mile 206, with Lars riding with me. At RM 206, Lars would get into the drivers seat and Taylor Rawak would navigate. Lars would drive the car to RM 530 where Dan Ragland would get in and take it to the finish. We started 5th out of 10 cars. Car 1004 was broken early, probably around RM 20 or so. One down, three to go. After we crossed the highway by Ojos Negros there was another class 10 that had blown a turn and gone down a small embankment, and was trying to come back up on the course as we arrived. There were several locals trying to push and pull him back on course. Wanting the position, I didn’t slow down and let him back on course, which I’m sure didn’t make him too happy, but he shouldn’t have blown the turn. Of course the locals were in the road and we nearly hit one of them, but we still got by. Two down, two to go. From Ojos, the run was clean until about RM 60. There was a big silt bed that someone had just gone through so the course was completely invisible. I stopped momentarily to let the dust clear enough to see the road and was nailed by the car behind us (which I’m sure was the guy we didn’t let back on the course earlier). I guess that meant it was time to go. The dust cleared and we made it through without incident. Around RM 70, the eager beaver finally got back by us. No worries, it’s so early and that guy has already been off course once, I’m sure he will be again, so I let him go.
We continued on without incident up and over the summit. As we entered the wash after the summit around RM 120, a tardy class 1 car went by and then another class 10 car went by. A single seater with a big water-cooled engine has the power to go by in the wash. No worries, it’s still early. I told Lars that I was comfortable with the pace and that my objective was to just get the car in good shape to the driver change. About 15 miles later that 10 car that passed us in the wash was parked.
Our first pit was at RM 160. All we needed was one dump can of fuel. The stop was quick and we are back on the road. The last 25 miles into Borrego was brutally rough. We caught a class 1 car that was moving slowly but causing a lot of dust and poor visibility. But I had to get up to him to give him a bump so he knew to pull over for us. In the dust we slightly blew a turn and had to do a little bush wacking to get back on the course, but it all worked out. Once the course opened up, he saw us and pulled over. It was clear sailing the rest of the way to the driver change at RM 206. We did the driver change, filled the car full of fuel and Lars took off for his first desert race behind the wheel. Lars had raced a couple of races on a bike, but this was his first time in a car. What a way to start, in the Baja 1000!
Lars had a flat tire around RM 230. After changing it, he continued on and made it through the nasty silt bed that claimed many victims and into the Matomi wash. Unfortunately he had another flat in Matomi and no more spares, so he had to drive on a flat for many miles. Once he reached the highway, he stopped at a random pit, which turned out to be a Desert Assassin pit, to try and bum a tire since our pit was still a ways down the road. Without even saying a word, the DA pit put on a new tire, of their own, and sent him on his way. Thanks guys!
Lars made it back to the Borrego pit where we filled him full of gas and sent him on his way. He was doing a great job for his first time out and we were still running up front. Now came the toughest part of the race, the mountain section up around Mike’s Sky Ranch and Coyote Ranch. Lars made it to somewhere between RM 440 and 450 when he encountered a chase truck that was tipped over on the course right before a 180 degree uphill turn. He had to crawl by the chase truck and start from a complete stop to try and make it up the hill. Unfortunately, the poor clutch had given it’s all and finally gave out. That was the end of the race for 1005.
But the antics didn’t stop there. The “helpful” locals tried to tow him up the hill and out of the way. However the tow strap was too long and the pulling truck was around the corner, so all it did was pull the car over onto its roof. So now Lars had his first rollover after he was already out of the race. Another local rancher came over and offered to tow him up to Coyote Ranch for the low low price of $1,000. It’s hard to negotiate in a situation like this, but Lars got him to take $300. The rancher didn’t want to do it until the sun came out, so Lars and Taylor found a fire and prepared for a freezing sleepless night.
Thinking they were in a safe place after seeing many cars negotiate the turn and not come anywhere near their campfire, they began to relax and try and get some rest, when suddenly a very tardy trophy truck blasted through the turn and was heading directly for the guys and their fire. They managed to bail out of the way but the truck drove over their fire and shot hot logs and embers in all directions, with one of them hitting Taylor in the head. The truck never slowed down and continued on with its race like nothing ever happened. Needless to say, Lars and Taylor didn’t get much sleep.
The sun came up and the rancher towed them up to Coyote Ranch where the crew was there to pick them up and haul them back to Ensenada.
#616
My usual co-driver and father-in-law, Steve Stroud, and I were tasked with bringing the Kovach Racing Ford Ranger from RM 495, or the Valle de Trinidad area, to the finish. This team was comprised of 4 driving teams. Steve Kovach started the race and took it to Borrego. Steve did a great job, with the only problem being that they got stuck around RM 160 trying to get to a virtual checkpoint. Luckily there were several locals close by and they helped him get unstuck and on his way without losing too much time.
At the Borrego pit, Chip Carr got in and drove the San Felipe loop. Chip said that it was a clean run and that he had to thank the guys from the Fiberwerx crew because they pointed him to the safe line through the silt where there were about a dozen vehicles stuck.
At the second Borrego pit, Preston Schmidt got in and drove the 90 treacherous miles through the mountain section without any problems.
These 3 guys and their co-drivers all did an outstanding job and they delivered a great truck to me at RM 495 with a 30 minute lead. All I had to do was get it to the finish line without blowing the lead. It was about 2:30 AM when we took off. Right off the bat Steve could not hear himself talking to me so he was yelling the directions. On top of that, the intercom was turned up so loudly that it was blowing my ears out. But neither of us could take ours eyes off the road or the GPS, to try and adjust the volume on the intercom, because there were so many turns and dangers. So we just had to adapt and try to fix it whenever we had a chance.
I wish I could say that we had a clean run, but we made a few mistakes and were lucky to get away with them. During this section I kept thinking to myself that the lights were adjusted way too far down, so I was having trouble seeing the horizon, especially on the fast sections. We stopped for fuel at BFG pit 5 and took a moment to turn down the intercom. After we were gassed up we took off for the beach section. We cautiously picked our way through the twists and turns and fortunately didn’t crash into the ocean even though there were a few opportunities to do so.
Our last pit was off of Highway 1 where the course heads back into the hills. We stopped for fuel and the crew asked us why the top lights were not on. Wow, just goes to show how your brain loses its ability to think clearly after being awake for 20 hours. The reason we couldn’t see far away was because the top light bar lights weren’t turned on and we didn’t even think about checking to see if they were on or not. So we turned them on and headed into the hills.
This last section had two really difficult silty hill climbs that I was a little worried about. We got to the first one and climbed right up it. Sweet, one down and one to go. The next one was a little more difficult. It took all the truck had to creep up the hill, but it did and we made it up.
Now the sun was starting to come up and the thoughts of winning the Baja 1000 began to creep into my head. I kept telling myself we still had 60 or so miles to go and a lot could happen in that time. Just as I was thinking that, I went just about a foot too far on a turn and it looked like we were heading down into a large ravine. I stopped instantly and tried to back up but the rear wheels just dug into the ground and the truck got stuck. Oh no, this isn’t good at all. I asked Steve to get out and assess the situation. He told me I could crank the wheels to the left and drive forward and right out of it. From where I was sitting all I could see was this giant ravine below us and I sure didn’t think that was possible. But I trust Steve, so I did it and he was right. It drove right out. So Steve jumped back in and we took off again. That was a close call but we survived. Again I started thinking about the win. We were through the worst part of the course, we still had a good lead, I was feeling good and we had just avoided disaster.
Then, with about 50 miles to go, we came out of a left hand turn and I went to step on the gas and the pedal went to the floor. I knew instantly that we were in trouble and that the victory was gone. The throttle cable had broken. I put the truck in neutral and we coasted to the side of the racecourse. Steve is a master mechanic so I got out of the way so he could take a look. The cable was broken in a bad spot and was not repairable. Fortunately the Kovach crew had another cable in the truck, so we pulled out all the tool bags and found the cable. Unfortunately the spare cable was too short so Steve had to try and figure out a way to make it work.
After we had been out of the truck for a while the second place truck went by and on to victory. Now the objective had changed from winning to finishing. After approximately two hours, Steve was able to get it fixed using zip ties and ingenuity. So we loaded the truck back up and headed for the finish. Knowing the new cable was barely attached and pulling at a very unusual angle, I drove like a grandma the rest of the way to ensure a finish for the Kovach team. The repair job held up and we finally made it to the finish around 9:30 AM. Even after all the trouble, we still finished in second place, which was very satisfying.
I would like to thank all of the volunteers and crew members from both Xtra Fly Racing and Kovach Racing that took time off of work and away from their families to help support our teams. We could not do it without them. And I especially want to thank Lars Ferry and Steve Kovach for trusting me and for their willingness to give me the opportunity to drive two great race vehicles in the greatest and most difficult off-road race, the Baja 1000.
Rob Martensen Team At Finish Line
