ROSARITO, Mexico — Something old, something new and someplace very, very special awaits the SCORE desert racing community as online racer registration for the upcoming internationally-televised Rosarito Beach 20th SCORE Desert Challenge has officially opened.
Round 3 of the four-race 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship will be held Sept. 14-18 in Mexico’s Baja California Norte, starting and finishing just south of Rosarito, the colorful resort area on the Pacific Ocean, just 19 miles from the U.S. Border south of San Diego.
Many of the world’s best desert racers, competing in classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads will be in action at this year’s Rosarito Beach 20th SCORE Desert Challenge.
SOMETHING OLD
The SCORE Desert Challenge has been held 19 previous times since it first began in 1995. It was held in Laughlin, Nev., USA, from 1995 through 2012 and in Plaster City, Calif., USA, in 2014.
SOMETHING NEW
Unique for SCORE, the race format will have all classes racing a total of four laps over a surprisingly rugged 32.7-mile race course (130.8 total miles) split into two, two-lap sessions.
For cars, trucks and UTVs, they will be divided into four groups, running their first two laps on Friday (Sept. 16) and their final two laps on Saturday (Sept. 17).
The motorcycle and quad classes will run as one large group, running all of their laps on Sunday (Sept. 18), their first two in the morning and the final two in the afternoon following a break.
It is an elapsed-time race with vehicles in each group starting in 30-second intervals.
Racing for the cars, trucks and UTVs will start at 6:20 a.m. on Friday (Sept. 16) and Sunday (Sept. 17) and the course will close each day at 6 p.m. The featured SCORE Trophy Truck division for high-tech, 850-horsepower unlimited production trucks will start their laps along with the Trophy Truck spec class each day at 12:40 p.m.
On Sunday (Sept. 18), motorcycles and quads will start their first two laps at 9:30 a.m. and their final two laps at 12:40 p.m. with their course closing at 2:35 p.m.
Nearly 150 total entries are expected at the start line with entries from 20 U.S. States and five countries anticipated.
SOMEPLACE VERY SPECIAL
Race headquarters will be the iconic Rosarito Beach Hotel, the historical landmark in the heart of Rosarito that opened in 1925. The SCORE World Desert Championship will be visiting the popular Playas de Rosarito for the first time in its long and storied history. Contingency will start on the beach in front of the massive Papas & Beer Beach Club, just a block away from the Rosarito Beach Hotel.
Located 19 miles south of the border near San Diego, this scenic location between the alluring beaches of the Pacific Ocean and majestic coastal foothills of Baja California Norte helps to make Rosarito one of the leading resort towns in all of Mexico.
The main urban district of Rosarito is a four mile stretch along the beach on Boulevard Benito Juarez that is filled with hotels, condominiums, restaurants, night clubs and gift shops.
ENTRY FEES LOWEST IN 20 YEARS
Online registration, by class, for Pro and Sportsman cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads, is ongoing through the SCORE website. SCORE has announced that entry fees for this year’s race have been reduced to the lowest amount in 20 years. The SCORE website has information on all SCORE races which can be found on the home page under the Race Info tab.
For more info, visit http://score-international.com/raceinfo/rosarito-desert-challenge/.
Official entries received after the drawing will be given the next available starting position within their respective classes. Online entries will be accepted until Sunday, Sept. 10. Late entries after that date must all be completed at registration in Rosarito.
START DRAW DEADLINE
The deadline to enter the race in order to be included in the drawing for starting positions is Wednesday, Sept. 7. The drawing, to determine the start order within each class, will be held on Thursday, Sept. 8. Because of the nature of the event and location, there will be no qualifying for any classes, giving even more importance to the start draw.
PRE-RUNNING
Official practice, or pre-running, on the official race course will be held only for entries with fully-paid entry fees. The pre-running will be held on Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 10-11 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each of those two days.
HISTORIC COURSE
The race features a colorful course, finalized by SCORE CEO/President Roger Norman along with Race Director Abelardo Grijalva of 32.7 miles through the foothills and around a mountain to the south and east of central Rosarito.
This historic race course will be another memorable example of Baja California Norte diversity in terrain starting near sea-level and climbing up twice to around 2,000 feet. The course will be another unique jewel reflecting the majestic beauty of Baja California going through more ranches than most SCORE race courses.
A HAPPENING…
Colorful race week festivities will start Thursday (Sept. 15) with the day-long, pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway and contingency festival starting on the beach in front of the famed Papas & Beer beach club and finishing on Blvd. Benito Juarez almost in front of the legendary Rosarito Beach Hotel.
SCORE sponsor partners Monster Energy and Bud Light are finalizing plans for their respective pre-race parties to be announced in the near future.
During the race days of Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the massive double-sided SCOREvision LED screen broadcasting race festivities and finish line interviews on the beach in front of Papas & Beer beach club.. Pre-race interviews on Friday and Saturday will also be held for the final three race groups on the SCORE ramp at the Papas & Beer beach front. After staging at Papas & Beer, the three groups each day will parade with a police and SCORE escort to the start line 9.5 miles south of town.
All of the week’s festivities will air live, including the three race days, via the internet on the SCORE website.
ROSARITO BEACH HOTEL
The iconic Rosarito Beach Hotel, in the heart of Rosarito, will be the site of many of the activities surrounding the Rosarito Beach SCORE Desert Challenge. Racer registration and Media registration will be held at the hotel on from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 15) the pre-race driver’s meeting for the car, truck and UTV classes will be at the hotel at 7 p.m. (Sept. 15).
MOTO/QUAD REGISTRATION
Rider registration for motorcycle and quad classes will be part of regular racer registration on Thursday (Sept. 15) at the Rosarito Beach Hotel as well as a special rider registration, tech and SPOT tracking installation for moto and quad classes only will be held from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 16) at a location to be announced.
SPECTATOR AREA
Local organizations sponsoring and supporting the Rosarito Beach 20th SCORE Desert Challenge are developing a unique and slightly-elevated spectator area with line-of-sight viewing of the start line, finish line, hot pits and first and last portions of the race course. The spectator area will also include food and beverage stands and novelty vendors. The spectator area will also have its own access road with ample directional signage to the area.
The rest of the course will be closed to spectators as it is entirely fenced in with gate guards as the challenging course winds through several private ranches in the area.
CBS SPORTS NETWORK COVERAGE
All races in the four-race 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship, along with the special SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience and qualifying for the SCORE Baja 1000 from Las Vegas Motor Speedway are once again airing in the USA and Canada on the CBS Sports Network. The spectacular shows feature not only SCORE Trophy Truck coverage, but also top action and highlights from many other classes of trucks, cars, UTVs, motorcycles and quads – making sure that the most exciting footage and most compelling stories continue as part of each race event broadcast.
Capping off the 2016 broadcast season, the SCORE Baja 1000 broadcast on CBS Sports Network will air as a full two-hour special for the second straight year.