There was a lot of energy at this weekend’s Off-Road Expo in Pomona, California.
One of the biggest surprises was the unveiling of the highly anticipated race course map for the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE 2017 Baja 1000. SCORE International CEO and President Roger Norman and SCORE Race Director Jose A. Grijalva have been hard at work all year planning and finalizing this year’s race course. The point-to-point race will span approximately 1,200 miles starting in Ensenada, Baja California Norte, MX, make its way through some of the most challenging and scenic terrain down the Baja peninsula, and conclude with an epic finish in La Paz, Baja California Sur, MX.
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The 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 will have a total of five checkpoints en route to the finish line. They will be located at Coco’s Corner, Mujica Baja Sur, near Loreto, road crossing at the Lopez Mateos Highway and at Loma Amarilla before the last sprint to the finish line in La Paz. Over 350 entries, from 40 U.S. States and 30 countries are expected to compete in this year’s 50th-anniversary celebration of the BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000. The week-long festivities and race begin November 12th and run through November 18th, 2017.
SCORE Media Relations Director Dominic Clark shared details for this year’s Baja 1000 race course with us. He noted that the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE Baja 1000 will start in the heart of Ensenada in front of the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center. The first 20 miles will stretch to Ojos Negros, then the course heads south from Ojos down the ‘Goat Trail’ to Valley de Trinidad and around Kiliwas on a new trail that will drop into Kiliwas Wash before going back to Highway 1 on Mike’s Road.
From San Matias to San Felipe and the Sea of Cortez, the race heads over a new trail that will start at Morellia Junction all the way to Zoo Road, skipping the infamous bad whoops. South of San Felipe the course winds to Coco’s Corner running a new trail before checkpoint 1 at Coco’s. The course then goes to Bahia de Los Angeles and south to Mujica where checkpoint 2 is located before crossing Highway 1 again to go to the Pacific side of the course.
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Past San Ignacio the course goes on another new trail to El Datil which skips the silt and highway on the way to Scorpion Bay, La Purisma and San Isidro. Before Loreto will be checkpoint 3 and then a run up to San Javier Mission before heading to checkpoint 4 at the highway crossing to Lopez Mateos. The course will go behind Ciudad Constitution to Santa Rita where another new trail goes to Loma Amarilla where the final Checkpoint (No. 5) will be located. Getting closer to La Paz, the course will go through the ‘silty’ Santa Fe area and on to Punta Conejo.
The last stretch of the race course travels down by the ‘Waterfall’ before La Paz and at El Centenario and the final pavement section to the finish line at SCORE race headquarters, located next to the Grand Plaza Hotel in La Paz.
Pre-running for race teams starts on Friday, October 20th at 8 am PT from Ojos Negros. Make sure to stay connected with Off-Road.com as we take you inside the 50th BFGoodrich Tires SCORE 2017 Baja 1000 time this November.
Click on the map below to see a bigger picture.
