I have raced a bike in Baja a number of times. The 500 was always my favorite race. Although the 1000 is the "granddaddy" I liked the 500 better.
Anyway, are you planning on doing any Pre-running? I usually arrived in Baja a week in advance to pre-run. If you are new, you may want to pre-run in pairs so if anything breaks you can have help. And it can help keep you from getting lost. A handle bar mounted GPS can be helpful as well with the course downloaded on it to reference while pre-running. Depending on the course route, you may need a chase truck driver too. Although riding your bike on the highway back to the truck is not an issue either as long as you have enough gas. Don't pre-run on the race bike, save it for the race. I did pre-run on our race bike once, it was a fresh frame up re-build, so I wanted to shake it down and break in the engine, and then I went over it all the next day after about 100 miles of pre-run. Remember pre-running is just that...don't do it at race speed. There are many locals on the roads and you don't want to have a head on collision. I would try to have as much gas range as possible while pre-running. Anti-freeze bottles work pretty well to pack gas in a back pack. They are slim and usually don't leak. Try pre-running on a KX 500! Sucks the gas!!
What do you plan to do for pits? Baja Pits and Mag 7 both offer great service about every 50 race miles. I've never used them. I was always on a Honda and we used Honda pits. They were really great back in the day. I have run the whole race on one set of tires when riding with a sportsman team. While riding pro, we always changed the rear tire and the front only if we got a flat. We didn't run a bib in the early days. Later on we never changed the front during the 500 with a bib or tire balls.
Do not leave your vehicle with dirt bikes unattended at contingency or tech. You may come back to an empty parking space. I like to install a simple starter interrupt switch. Pretty easy to do and while they may break into your truck, it won't start.
The lead off rider needs to be decent riding in dust. I understand you are just wanting to finish, but as a sportsman you will have the pro quads breathing down your neck and they make a lot of dust. Lead off rider also needs to be prepared for FOG! Often the fog sets in and he will be riding in dust and fog on the way out of town. Honda factory guys used to cram a clean pair of goggles in their kidney belt and when they got clear of the fog, give the used goggle to a fan and ride on with a clear pair. I never started the race, but we never went to this length, but the lead off guy would tuck a clean rag in his kidney belt to clean goggles with if need be.
If there is a crowd of people along the course slow down. Especially if they are telling you to go fast through water or hit some "jump" they have built. Beware, never blindly trust the spectators, especially near the start. A headlight is a must have, you never know how long it will take you. Have a spare, have helmet lights. In a pinch you can finish the race with a helmet light. I've seen it done. Radio coms to the bike is nice, but I never had it. Coms between chase trucks is wise and now with cell service as good as it is and the use of sat phones, I don't know that I would install radios in chase trucks. If you need to talk to the Weatherman, you can always find someone with a truck team that will loan you a radio, I've done that several times. Try to do rider changes at the pit service you use. The reason for this is the pits usually communicate with each other so you can get a handle on when your rider will arrive at the exchange.
If you have an identical bike for pre-running as the race bike, carry it with you on race day in the chase truck. The spare parts can be a race saver! Been there done that...when your rider throws the bike off a cliff onto the rocks along the coast breaking the handle bars, an extra set kept us in the Baja 2000. (way to long of a story to tell here)
When the TTs catch you, get out of the way! Do not try to out run them. You can't, and if you crash trying to get out of the way it can be deadly. Once it is dark, you will have no problem realizing there is one behind you. But once one passes, wait til the dust clears before jumping back on course. Those guys drive blindly with the GPS and you will not be on it! Once you start getting caught, be patient, you are just trying to finish and those guys are still in a race and you don't want to be in the middle of it. If at all possible, pull off the race course on the inside of turns, not the outside. In fact, never stop on the outside of a turn if you value your life.
Okay, that is a lot of info, take and use what you want. But in my humble opinion it is all good stuff and worth doing. Have fun and good luck. If you want bike prep tips, I can give you a few, but I never raced a KTM.
Remember to have fun and get home safely to your families.
Braappp