THR Kawasaki snaps Honda’s win streak with a come-from-behind victory in the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000.
Steve Hengeveld had to be flashing back to the last time the Baja 1000 went to La Paz two years ago.
It was the dead of night, of course, and only 100 or so of the 1117 miles remained. He had JCR Honda’s Timmy Weigand in sight, was closing and had started planning his pass. But then the engine of his THR Motorsports/Monster Energy/Precision Concepts Kawasaki KX450F clattered and died (traced later to a freak incident of a bolt backing out in the connecting rod cap), and he watched helplessly as Weigand sped off to yet another Honda victory in the oldest, most prestigious desert race in the world.
This year, at the 47th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000, the fifth and final round of the SCORE Desert World Championship, “Henge” found himself in the same position: chasing a Honda in the dark, La Paz getting closer and closer. As Bob Bell of Precision Concepts said the night before the start in Ensenada, “I think I built a bike that’ll go 1275 miles.”
Indeed he did. Hengeveld eventually made the pass and pulled away for the win in 24 hours, 24 minutes and 1 second after the team was down by 40 minutes at one point. They ended up with a healthy margin over WFOx Motorsports Honda trio of Mark Samuels, Colton Udall and Ian Young, the early leaders who finished in 25:01:00 after running into problems of their own. The win also gave the Bonanza Plumbing/Hoosier Precision Machining-backed Kawasaki quartet the SCORE championship in the Pro Motorcycles Unlimited class–the first time anything but a Honda has won since the last Kawasaki Team Green triumph in 1996.
It’s not like the WFOx team had anything to be ashamed of, though. In particular, Udall chose to take an incredibly large bite that saw him on their Nicoll Racing/Pro Circuit/MSR CRF450X for about half of the race! Third off the line, he had the physical and time-adjusted lead within the first 40 miles and managed to keep that vicious pace up throughout the daylight hours despite one crash before finally handing the bike off some 600-plus miles later. When Young crashed during his stint, he suffered a broken wrist but managed to get rolling again, though at a decidedly slower pace when Udall, who is Young’s brother, got to him on a chase bike and took over until the next pit.
Light issues slowed the Honda team, but the Kawasaki crew also had to deal with light problems as well as a destroyed rear tire that Eddy ended up changing with only screwdrivers since there was no extra wheel at that remote pit!
Class 30 winners Francisco Arrendondo/Ryan Dudek/Shane Esposito/Chris Haines/Jay Rabjohn got into third overall early on and stayed there, finishing in 25:19:02, followed over three hours later by class runners-up Morgan Crawford/Kevin Murphy/Jim O’Neal/Gerardo Rojas/Mark Winkleman, who clocked a 28:32:39. Class 40 victors David Glass/Collie Potter/Mike Prunty/Sterlyn Rigsby/Bill Sekeres rounded out the top five bikes overall in 30:43:01.
In all, it was another monumental effort by all teams and underscored just how much winning the 1000 means to those who participate, even when there is no longer any true factory involvement.
2014 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Enesenada to La Paz, Mexico
Results: November 14, 2014
Overall Motorcycle
1. Robby Bell/Ricky Brabec/Max Eddy, Jr./Steve Hengeveld-Kaw/24 hours, 24 minutes, 1 second
2. Mark Samuels/Colton Udall/Ian Young-Hon/25:01:00
3. Francisco Arredondo/Ryan Dudek/Shane Esposito/Chris Haines/Jay Rabjohn (Class 30)-Hon/25:19:02
4. Morgan Crawford/Kevin Murphy/Jim O’Neal/Gerardo Rojas/Mark Winkleman (Class 30)-Hon/28:32:39
5. David Glass/Collie Potter/Mike Prunty/Sterlyn Rigsby/Bill Sekeres (Class 40)-Hon/30:43:01
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