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Rider at Mile 328 of the Baja 1000
Rider at Mile 328 of the Baja 1000
Four-wheel vehicle known as a Truggy
Four-wheel vehicle known as a Truggy

Baja 1000 is an off-road race that takes place on Mexico's Baja California Peninsula in the fall. A truggy or truggie is a specialized off-road vehicle Truggy is a Portmanteau of the words '''tru'''ck and bu'''ggy'''. Off-road racing is a format of racing where various classes of specially modified vehicles (including cars trucks motorcycles and buggies compete in races through Off-road The Baja California peninsula ( English: Lower California peninsula) is a Peninsula in western Mexico. The event includes various types of vehicle classes such as small and large bore motorcycles, stock VW, production vehicles, buggies, trucks, and custom fabricated race vehicles. MotorCycle is the title of a 1993 album by Rock band Daniel Amos, released on BAI Records. "CARTS" redirects here For the transportation system see Capital Area Rural Transportation System, or Chautauqua CARTS. The course has remained relatively the same over the years with the majority of events being either a point to point race from Ensenada to La Paz, or a loop race starting and finishing in Ensenada. La Paz (Spanish for "The Peace" is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California The name of the event is misleading as the mileage varies for the type of event (loop or point to point) and has represented Kilometers in the past. The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand

The first official race started in Tijuana, Baja California on October 31, 1967 and was named the NORRA Mexican 1000 Rally. Tijuana (ˌtiːəˈwɑːnə Spanish, ti'xwana|ti'ʍana is the largest city of the Mexican state of Baja California, situated on the U Baja California (pronounced ˈbɑːhɑː kælɨˈfɔrnjə in English is the northernmost state of Mexico. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. The course length that year was 849 miles (1,366 km) and ended in La Paz, Baja California Sur with the overall winning time of 27 hours 38 minutes (27:38) set by Vic Wilson and Ted Mangels while driving a Meyers Manx buggy. La Paz (Spanish for "The Peace" is the capital city of the Mexican state of Baja California Baja California Sur (pron BAH-hah kahl'-ee-FORE-nyah SOOR is one of the 31 States of Mexico. Minutes also known as protocols are the instant written record of a Meeting or hearing. The Meyers Manx Dune buggy was designed by Californian engineer artist and surfer Bruce Meyers and built by his company between A dune buggy is a recreational Vehicle with large Wheels and wide Tires designed for use on sand Dunes or Beaches The design

From 1967 to 1972 the race was organized by the National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA). Types of racing Unassisted human racing Using only the Human body 's own Muscles Running: Cross country In 1973, Baja California governor Milton Castellanos handed over sanctioning of the event to a non-profit Mexican corporation called Baja Sports Committee (BSC). A governor is a governing official usually the executive (at least nominally to different degrees also politically and administratively of a non-sovereign level of government A non-profit organization ( abbreviated "NPO" also "not-for-profit" is a legally constituted Organization whose objective is to support or engage A corporation is a separate legal entity usually used to conduct business BSC renamed the event to Baja Mil (Baja 1000) and scheduled the race to run on the original dates chosen by NORRA. Though NORRA held a competing event in the United States that same weekend, BSC successfully ran the race from Ensenada to La Paz like the years prior. Unaware of the challenges, BSC found promoting Baja races more difficult than anticipated. Instead of giving up the race, the Mexican government requested help from Short Course Off-Road Enterprises (SCORE) in hosting and promoting future Baja races. SCORE International is an Off-road sanctioning body in the sport of desert racing and is famous for its flagship event the Baja 1000. Through negotiations with Mickey Thompson and his SCORE organization, the Mexican Government agreed to give exclusive rights to SCORE to hold Baja races and also reluctantly allowed SCORE to cancel the event for 1974. Marion Lee "Mickey" Thompson ( December 7, 1928 - March 16, 1988) was an American Off-road racing legend SCORE hired Sal Fish as president and took control of the Baja 1000 from that year on with the Baja 1000 race resuming under new control in 1975. Sal Fish (born May 2 1939 in Los Angeles, California) is CEO/President of SCORE International, the leading sanctioning body in the

Contents

Prelude to the event

First timed run

When Jack McCormack and Walt Fulton of American Honda decided to hold a long distance run to prove the reliability of Honda's new CL72 Scrambler, they approached well known off-road dirt biker and local Honda dealer Bud Ekins for suggestions. () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. Off Roading is a term for driving a specialized vehicle on unpaved roads such as Sand, Gravel, riverbeds Mud, Snow, Rocks, Bud Ekins ( May 11, 1930 &ndash October 6, 2007) was one of the foremost stuntmen of his generation Bud suggested the Tijuana to La Paz route (Mexican Highway 1) which was 950 miles (1,530 km) of rocks, sand washes, dry lake beds, cattle crossing, mountain passes, and paved road. Bud Ekins declined to perform the run because of Triumph motorcycle ties, however, Dave Ekins (Bud's brother) and Billy Robertson Jr. Triumph Motorcycles is a British Motorcycle manufacturer originally based in Coventry. Dave Ekins (born 1932 in Los Angeles California) is an American Off-road racing pioneer having set the first Tijuana to La Paz timed agreed to perform the trip for American Honda. After pre-running the peninsula in Fulton's Cessna 180, they began the journey to La Paz just after midnight on March 22, 1962. The Baja California peninsula ( English: Lower California peninsula) is a Peninsula in western Mexico. WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft. Please see WikipediaWikiProject Aircraft/page content for recommended layout Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Year 1962 ( MCMLXII) was a Common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1962 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. While being followed by two journalists in an airplane and using telegraph offices at the Mexican border and in La Paz, Dave Ekins recorded the first official timed run in 39 hours 56 minutes (39:56) with a total distance of 952. 7 miles (1,533. 2 km). The event appeared in the Globe, Argosy, and Cycle World magazines touting adventure, awe and respect for Honda and the Baja run. Globe is a Supermarket tabloid published in North America. It was founded in 1954 in Montreal, Canada as Midnight The Globe and Argosy also included close encounters with death and other dangers which Ekins claims were "colorful additions".

Four wheels vs two

Wanting to beat the existing motorcycle record and to help fuel sales of the Meyers Manx, Bruce Meyers used his original prototype buggy called "Old Red" for an attempt at breaking the record set by Ekins. The Meyers Manx Dune buggy was designed by Californian engineer artist and surfer Bruce Meyers and built by his company between After pre-running a course south to La Paz, Ted Mangels and Bruce Meyers started the record breaking attempt back to Tijuana from La Paz at 10:00pm on April 19, 1967. Events 1012 - Martyrdom of Alphege in Greenwich London. 1529 - At the Second Diet of Speyer Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. With journalist from Road & Track magazine following the two to witness the attempt, the final official time was 34:45 beating Ekins run by more than 5 hours. Upon returning back to the United States, the journalist documenting the run sent out press kits with photographs and a news release with the headline "Buggy Beats Bike in Baja. " to hundreds of magazines and newspapers. Soon, more stories of adventure, close calls, and broken speed records flooded media coverage around the world. Following the event, Bruce Meyers and his Meyers Manx became an overnight sensation and the competition between four wheels and motorcycles for the fastest Baja run began.

In the following months, more attempts at breaking the record would continue. One of the attempts included a multiple vehicle run organized by Ed Pearlman (Mexican 1000 founder) that ended in an official four-wheel drive record being recorded but with the overall time falling short of the record set by Meyers. On July 4, 1967, an American Motors Rambler American sedan would leave Tijuana at 9:00am to successfully break the record set by Meyers with an overall time of 31 hours. Events 836 - Pactum Sicardi, peace between the Principality of Benevento and the Duchy of Naples American Motors Corporation (AMC was an American automobile company formed on January 14 1954 by the merger of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation The Rambler American was an automobile manufactured by the American Motors Corporation (AMC between 1958 and 1969

History

As the timed runs recorded via telegraph became popular, a need for an organized event to compete for the quickest Baja run was starting to grab the attention of other competitors. Once Ed Pearlman caught word of Meyers run, Ed convinced Dick Cepek, Cluade Dozier, Ed Orr, Drino Miller and journalist John Lawlor to give a run to La Paz a try. Dick Cepek (1930 &ndash 1983 was an American Off-road Motorsports Hall of Famer He is known for starting a 4x4 Offroad tire and parts supplier in 1963 In June of 1967, Ed Pearlman and group left Tijuana and immediately ran into mechanical troubles. This trip provided much downtime for Ed Pearlman to brainstorm the idea of the National Off-road Racing Association (NORRA). After Pete Condos and Perlman put up the funds to incorporate NORRA, the group announced an official recognition of the previous record setters and created classes that related to the type of vehicle used to break the record. During the later part of summer, NORRA named the event the "Mexican 1000 Rally" and announced the first official race from Tijuana to La Paz was to be held on November 1, 1967.

Vehicles

Honda CRF450X; winner of the 2006 Baja 1000. Taken at the San Jose Motorcycle Show.
Honda CRF450X; winner of the 2006 Baja 1000. () is a Multinational corporation, engine Manufacturer and engineering corporation headquartered in Japan. Taken at the San Jose Motorcycle Show.

Although motorcyclists participate and are often the overall winners, many competitors drive modified or stock 4-wheel vehicles such as cars, trucks, ATVs and dune buggies. An all-terrain vehicle (ATV is defined by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI as a vehicle that travels on low pressure tires with a seat that is straddled by A dune buggy is a recreational Vehicle with large Wheels and wide Tires designed for use on sand Dunes or Beaches The design Race teams consist of factory supported groups that build custom fabricated vehicles and provide chase vehicles via helicopter, to the much smaller and less glamorized sportsman teams competing in an all-stock vehicle with no chase vehicle support at all. Stock Volkswagen Type One Beetles are modified for use in off road terrain, known as Baja Bugs, have been a common sight throughout the event duration, but the factory-supported all-spaceframe Trophy Truck entries are the most visible. The Volkswagen Beetle, officially known as the type 1 and originally called ‘Käfer’ is an Economy car produced by the German auto maker Volkswagen The term Baja Bug generally refers to a Volkswagen Beetle modified to operate on sand dunes and beaches although other versions of Air-cooled Volkswagens are sometimes Trophy Trucks are the largest and fastest class of Off-road racing vehicles which are designed and built to resemble modern Pickup trucks.

In contrast to the current factory EX supported modern race vehicles that overall the car and truck classes, Erik Carlsson drove a basically stock front wheel drive Saab 96 V4, finishing third in 1969 and fifth in 1970. Erik Carlsson, aka "Carlsson på taket" ("Carlsson on the roof" was born March 5, 1929 in Trollhättan, Sweden and was The Saab 96 is an Automobile made by Saab. It was introduced in 1960 and was produced until January 1980 a run of 20 years

Baja course

Sabotage and booby-traps

Each year there are reports of spectators sabotaging or booby-trapping the course by digging holes, blocking river flow, or burying obstacles. Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening an enemy oppressor or employer through subversion obstruction disruption and/or destruction A booby trap is a device set up to be triggered by an unsuspecting victim Racers are warned to beware of large crowds of spectators in remote parts of the course since it may indicate hidden traps or obstacle changes. Many of the booby traps are not created to intentionally injure the contestants but are created by the local spectators as jumps or obstacles for spectator entertainment. The haphazardly-designed jumps, created by the spectators, are very dangerous as the contestants are not aware of the course changes (after previewing or prerunning the course) and may negotiate the modified terrain at a much higher speed than the competing machine can handle. Awareness of booby traps and course changes are often part of race day strategy but competitors quickly communicate course hazards to other competitors through on-board radio communications and radio relay.

Overall winners

*Officially the race was called the Baja 2000 (1726 miles) for the year 2000.

Notable competitors

Current and past classes

Trophy truck vehicle
Trophy truck vehicle
Class 10 vehicle
Class 10 vehicle
Stock Mini vehicle
Stock Mini vehicle


Four-Wheel Vehicles

Motorcycles

ATVs

Results

References

Notes

  1. ^ Marty Fiolka, p 250-255

There are plans to change the 2009 Baja 1000 Dates, to early July or late September.

See also

Additional reading

External links

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