The Johnny Campbell Racing team’s thrill of victory is dampened by the loss of fellow competitor Kurt Caselli in an accident during the race
For the 17th year in a row, a Honda crossed the finish line first at the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in Baja California, Mexico, last night, the Johnny Campbell Racing Honda team of Tim Weigand, Colton Udall, David Kamo and team newcomer Mark Samuels covering the 883.1-mile distance in a time of 18 hours, 29 minutes, 14.240 seconds, at an average speed of 47.768 mph.
It was another great moment in the constantly updating legend of Honda’s dominance on the Baja California Peninsula unbeaten streak, but the event was also marred by tragedy, as reigning AMA Hare & Hound Champion and ISDE veteran Kurt Caselli, of Murrietta, California, died in a solo high-speed racing accident near Race Mile 792 while leading the race on Friday afternoon. Caselli was the lead rider on the factory-backed FMF Racing/Bonanza Plumbing KTM team, and he was on his second stint in the race when the accident occurred. Caselli was 30 years old.
The 883.1-mile race course was the most technical course that racers had experienced in years, and it could be argued that the JCR Honda team’s unbeaten streak was more vulnerable than at any time in recent years. Both Udall (knee) and Kamo (shoulder) came into the event injured, and then rider of record Tim Weigand suffered a crash on the Monday before the Baja 1000, forcing Weigand to drop out and his sections taken up by Kamo. Caselli’s brilliant run for KTM during Thursday’s timed qualifying served notice that the Orange Brigade was ready to battle Big Red for the Baja 1000 crown. With the professional motorcycle and ATV teams starting their race on Thursday evening, starting at the front of the field could have been a huge advantage in the race.
Udall was well aware of that, and he put together an inspired ride to keep the flying Caselli, Udall’s hero by his own admission, in sight through the first 200 miles as they rode through the darkness.
“The fog was tremendously bad all the way out to Ojos Negros,” Udall said, “Every year I am really prepared with Roll-Offs, and this year I came to the line with no Roll-Offs. It was the first time that I have ever started. I was just cruising in second gear with not too much gas because I couldn’t see anything.”
But Caselli was also slowed by the fog, and while Udall said that he could see Caselli’s headlight off in the distance, Caselli was able to maintain his advantage over Udall before handing the FMF/Bonanza Plumbing KTM to teammate Kendall Norman during a pit stop. Udall stayed on the JCR Honda and began to shave time off the KTM team’s physical lead.
“I could see his taillight, and I passed Kendall in the whoops,” Udall said. “Then I just put my head down through Puertecitos, and when I handed the bike off, we had a seven-minute lead on them.”
JCR Honda rookie Mark Samuels took over for Udall and race to Race Mile 570, which included Coco’s Corner and the bottom half of the course.
“It was a lot of silt and a lot of rocks, and it was pretty awesome,” Samuels said. “I’ve been working for this for two years, so to get the call from Johnny Campbell to be a part of the team is awesome.”
But the KTM team battled back, and FMF/Bonanza Plumbing rider Mike Brown and JCR Honda rider David Kamo traded the lead multiple times as they wound their way back north on the western side of the Baja Peninsula. Kamo said that the two even had time exchange “pleasantries” while riding side by side in one of the numerous 60 mph highway sections that were part of the course.
“I won’t say what we said to each other,” Kamo said. “But basically he (Brown) accused us of speeding. I told him not to worry about it.”
The drama for the JCR Honda team came after Udall climbed back aboard and suffered a damaged rim while hitting a cattleguard crossing at high speed around Race Mile 795.
“I was wide open, but they (KTM) were pulling away,” Udall said. “I know that Kurt is pretty fast, and I was just riding over my head, and I came to this cattleguard near Nuevo Junction. I have been through it a million times, but we were going in reverse. It came up quickly in pre-running, but in the race it was even quicker. I hit the concrete so hard that it taco’d my front wheel completely. I had to radio the pit for help, and it took them 20 minutes to get there. I just took my front wheel off and waited, and I thought to myself, ‘You just lost the race. You’re such a knucklehead.’”
Udall kept going, expecting to be behind Caselli.
“But when I got to the last Honda pit, they said that the KTM was out,” Udall said. “It was a rollercoaster. Coming in it was just smooth and solid. The whole team did an awesome job, you know. I had an awesome ride.”
Udall handed the bike off to rider of record Weigand for about the last tenth of a mile. Weigand rode the bike across the finish line.
The THR Motorsports/Monster Energy Kawasaki team also suffered a bad crash, as team rider Robby Bell went down hard and reportedly suffered ankle and arm injuries. The team’s decision to have spare rider Steve Hengeveld chasing in the team helicopter paid off, as the team reportedly landed the helicopter and Hengeveld took over, getting the battered bike to Taylor Robert. The team soldiered on to finish second overall with a time of 20:21:19.638, 1 hour, 52 minutes and 5 seconds behind the JCR Honda team, with an average speed of 43.384 mph.
Third overall and first in Class 30 went to the Honda-mounted team of Francesco Arredondo, Ryan Dudek, Shane Esposito, Scott Myers and Chris Haines, with a time of 20:47:09.73. The team averaged 42.486 mph.
2013 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Baja California, Mexico
Unofficial Results (pending SCORE review)
1. Timmy Weigand/David Kamo/Mark Samuels/Colton Udall-Hon (Class 22) 18 hours, 29 minutes, 14.240 seconds*
2. Robby Bell/David Pearson/Taylor Robert/RickyBrabec/Steve Hengeveld-Kaw (Class 22) 20:21:19.638
3. Francisco Arredondo/Shane Esposito/Scott Myers/Brian Pinard/Chris Haines-Hon (Class 30) 20:47:09.730*
4. Mike Johnson/Francisco Septien/Gerardo Rojas/Jason Trubey-Hon (Class 30) 22:13:50
5. Dustin Paloposki/Klade Glassgow/Geoff Nielsen/Tyler Murray-KTM (Class 22) 23:23:18
6. Ryan Gutile/Kyle Abney/Paul Luce-Yam (Class 30) 24:34:15
7. Jeff Benrud/Clint LaRue (Class 30) 24:59:52
8. Cody Schafer/Olaf Satre/Matt Kukendall-Kaw (Class 21) 25:01:12*
9. Brian Garrahan/Arik Swan/Bobby Bartholomew-Kaw (Class 22) 25:31:36
10. Scott Yenzer/Bill Gilbert/Marin Camp/Shihab Alireza-Hon (Class 40) 25:36:27*
11. Fernando Beltran/Emmanuel Verdugo-Kaw (Sportsman Motorcycle) 25:42:58*
36. Alexander Smith-KTM (SCORE Ironman) 27:04:00*
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