2013 Baja 1000 Start Tonight

It is 7 p.m. in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, and the start of the 2013 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 is a mere four hours away for the Pro Motorcycle class.

In a new twist for the motorcycle and ATV competitors, SCORE officials have moved up the start of the race to 11 p.m. this evening in an effort to minimize interaction between the motorcycle and ATV classes, and the car classes. The cars are not scheduled to leave the starting line in Ensenada until 9 a.m. tomorrow.

Another twist: To ensure fairness and give the fastest teams a chance to start up front, SCORE instituted a timed qualifying session on a slightly modified version of the five-mile course that the Trophy Trucks used to qualify. The session was held just outside of Ojos Negros yesterday, and FMF/Bonanza Plumbing KTM’s Kurt Caselli claimed the number one starting spot by posting a time of 5 minutes, 41.690 seconds on his lap.

“It’s good, I think,” Caselli said. “You know, with the draw it is kind of just out of your hands, but when you have qualifying you can sort of strategize and put your fastest guy out there. Obviously he has to start, too, but you feel like you earned that spot, to start up front. That was our goal today, to start up front. I just wanted to be smooth, not make any mistakes or blow any corners. I think Colton (Udall} and I were pretty close at the end.”as

Indeed they were, as Johnny Campbell Racing Honda’s Udall pulled out all stops in an effort to beat Caselli, punishing his factory Honda CRF450X off one jump (see photo) as he tried to set fast time. However, Udall came up just a bit short, posting a time of 5:43.245. Udall will start second when the race gets underway tonight.

“I like the qualifying,” Udall said. “Like, say I drew 10th. I would have to pass nine other guys in the dust. Qualifying is an advantage at night because nighttime dust is twice as bad as daytime because your headlight is just illuminating the dust, and it’s just like a wall in front of your face. So I think qualifying is great. I think it was a little dangerous today, especially the day before the race. It just brings that much more risk to Baja.”

Third-fastest qualifier, THR Motorsports/Monster Energy Kawasaki’s David Pearson also said that he enjoyed the qualifying, “Especially starting at night, with no wind, if you’re 12th or 15th—I think there are 20 riders in the class—so if you draw 20th, your race is already over. If someone draws first or second, in the dust they will put 20 minutes on you in 100 miles. I think it is really good.”

And qualifying also have Pearson’s team a chance to correct a flaw that might have eluded it until after the all-important race was underway.

“Our brakes kind of faded out about halfway through my lap,” Pearson said. “They started to get mushy, but I needed to keep using them, and they were gone for probably about three quarters of a mile. But it’s all good. We will get it fixed for the race and be ready to go.”

DirtBikes.com is partnered with Off-Road.com to post up-to-date coverage of the 2013 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000. Check out http://www.off-road.com/competition/race/53822.html for complete coverage and results.