Grider Wins Inaugural Baja Rally by Klim

The Baja Champion, Dakar entrant and profiled character from the movie Dust To Glory claims Baja California’s first-ever Rally Raid

ERENDIRA, BAJA CA, MEXICO-The Inaugural BAJA RALLY de MOTOS Presented By KLIM ended Sunday in San Quintin, Baja California, Mexico, on the sand dunes of the Santa Maria Hotel, with Baja Champion and five-time Dakar entrant Andy Grider winning the first-ever navigation based rally raid staged in Baja. Cameron Steele and Chilly White completed out the podium in second and third place overall, respectively.

Quinn Cody enjoyed a comfortable lead from the first mile of the rally until his engine blew up only 10 miles from the finish line. Grider crossed the finish line and waited for Cameron Steele, Ned Suesse and Nino Rojas to finish. After reviewing rider data, Grider, who ran all of stage 3 without the essential odometer, was deemed the champion over rally rookies Steele and White. Grider beat Steele by a mere 6 seconds after Grider incurred a 30-minute penalty Grider for not navigating into a dune section near Costa Brava.

Local champion Gerardo Nino Rojas (who is expecting first son Sebastian in a few weeks) held his own for the stage 3 win on Sunday, narrowly beating out the fast and efficient Dakar competitor Ned Suesse. Suesse, who rode an otherwise great rally, might have won the entire event had it not been for a time-consuming navigation error on Saturday’s stage 2.

Riding in her first modern rally, Baja matriarch Anna Cody (Quinn’s sister and first female to solo the BAJA 1000 on a bike) fought a worthy battle in her own right, struggling through two days of expert level navigation. On Sunday, Cody was riding from the back with the legendary “Mr. Baja” Larry Roeseler, who had his own navigation and compliance issues from Saturday. After the pair shared the track for most of Sunday, Anna’s bike gave out only 27 miles from the finish, and she found herself cast away on a remote beach west of San Quintin. Two Baja Rally teams search teams tracked down Anna, and she was presented a loaner bike so that she could cross the line and make an un-official finish. Cody was riding the #208 bike in honor of her fallen friend Jimmy Stocker, who passed away racing the NORRA Mexican 1000 last May.

The Baja Rally was warmly welcomed by Mexican authorities and hosts looking for new and interesting events in Baja where newly introduced visitors can take time to learn the varying cultures of Baja’s diverse landscapes. Baja Rally creator Scotty Breauxman deemed the event a smashing success.

“Our dedicated team of officials carried out our goal with the blessing of state and local governments, tourism officials, land owners and host hotels,” Breauxman said, “I am truly proud of our entire team, the riders from far away and their support crews for this amazing collaboration. It has been a group effort and I credit everyone else involved with this success.”

Breauxman already has plans to hold the Baja Rally II May 21-25, 2014, in Northern Baja, California. Baja Rally II will be a four-day event that includes a short prologue “super stage” on May 22. More information will be available at www.bajarallymoto.com