POMONA, Calif., USA — Another radically rugged race route of approximately 830 miles for the granddaddy of all desert races was unveiled Saturday at the SCORE Baja 1000 exhibit area in Building 5 at the Lucas Oil Off-Road Expo at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif.
RACE INFO
The season finale of the four-race 2016 SCORE World Desert Championship is expecting nearly 250 entries, from 25 countries and 40 U.S. States to compete in classes for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads in this year’s 49th annual SCORE Baja 1000. The race week festivities will cover Nov. 16-20, with the race and all side events starting and finishing in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
Entry registration for the race is available online at RegisterHereForRace. The drawing for starting positions for all classes, except the featured SCORE Trophy Truck, unlimited Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec will be held Thursday, Oct. 13. To be included in the drawing, entries must registered online by 10 p.m. PT on Wednesday, Oct. 12. Entries received after the drawing will be given the next available starting position within their respective classes.
RACE QUALIFYING
SCORE Trophy Truck, the marquee SCORE racing division for high-tech, 850-horsepower, unlimited production trucks, Class 1 open-wheelers and the Trophy Truck Spec class will have a special qualifying session for start positions on Tuesday, Nov. 1 on the Off-Road Track at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The three top SCORE racing classes will be featured that week in the massive SEMA SCORE Baja 1000 Experience during the SEMA Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
OFF-ROAD EXPO MEET & GREETS
Crowd favorite autograph sessions took place on Saturday and will again on Sunday featuring many of the stars of the sport, both past and present who have built their legacy in the SCORE Baja 1000. Additional highlight of the SCORE Baja 1000 exhibit is the SCORE Monster Energy Cinema, featuring SCOREvision, massive LED screen showing race telecasts that have aired on the CBS Sports Network as well as historical race videos that are part of the legendary legacy of SCORE Baja racing.
Among the legends, past and present, scheduled to appear at Sunday’s 12:30 to 2 p.m. PT SCORE Baja 1000 autograph session are SCORE owner Roger Norman, Ivan ‘Ironman’ Stewart, Larry Roeseler, Rob MacCachren, B.J. Baldwin, Bryce Menzies, Colton Udall, Mark Samuels, Cameron Steele and Heidi Steele. SCORE expects some other ‘surprise’ SCORE Baja racing legends as well for the two autograph sessions.
TROPHY CASE
The SCORE Baja 1000 Exhibit at the Off-Road Expo includes multiple vehicle displays as well. Among the vehicles on display are the Roger Norman’s SCORE Trophy Truck, Rugged Radio’s Class 11 VW Sedan, CLP Motorsports Safecraft Polaris RZR XP1000 UTV and Colton Udall’s 1x Honda CRF450X motorcycle.
WHAT A COURSE!
As it has for over four decades, SCORE has put together another memorable race course, this one for a loop race, with all of the foreboding, unforgiving terrain that the northern state of the majestic Baja California peninsula has to offer. SCORE CEO/President Roger Norman and SCORE Race Director Jose A. Grijalva have designed and finalized this year’s race course.
Starting and finishing in the heart of Ensenada in front of the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center, the course travels in a counter-clockwise direction. It includes the approximate 20 mile stretch to Ojos Negros which is used in both directions. Outgoing, the course heads south from Ojos Negros through Santo Tomas and then runs along the picturesque Pacific Ocean for over 100 miles and then back across to the center of Baja California Norte.
The approximately 830-mile course covers both sides of the peninsula and includes four checkpoints.
The race will have its normal start from Ensenada to Piedras Gordas, then out to highway 3 around Rm 20.7 and will go to Km33 and get back on the dirt. The course will go past Rancho Grijalva to El Mezcal and head to Uruapan using La Lagrima Rd, a different road than in past years.
From Santo Tomas, the course heads to the coast of the Pacific Ocean and runs down to San Quintin, Nuevo Odisea and then to El Rosario. The course will travel up the well known hill La Vivora, el Arenoso, and will loop around from San Juan de Dios at approximate Rm305 to El Metate Rm 340, Los Martires Rm 363 and go back to San Quintin on the east side of the highway and run north to Col. Vicente Guerrero, Jaramillo and Colonet.
The course will travel a new route from Colonet to Llano Colorado and across to Valley de Trinidad. The race course goes along the highway from San Matias to Villa del Sol then crossing the highway at El Chinero, north to Coabuso Junction and then climb up the summit in the opposite direction as previous races from the desert to Nuevo Junction and on to Catarina. From Catarina, it will be back to Ojos Negros and from Ojos Negros back to the finish line.
The four checkpoints will be located at Santo Tomas (CP 1–race-mile 87), El Rosario (CP 2–rm249), Vicente Guerrero (CP 3–rm457) and Nuevo Junction (CP 4–rm730).
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCORE-International.com.