When NORRA returned to the off-road racing scene six years ago everyone said it'd be a one-off, one-time deal. The idea that anyone would build or restore vintage style off-road cars for the soul purpose of racing once a year seemed far-fetched. But the ever changing and growing event has long since put that notion to bed.

Starting in Ensenada for the second time, the rally hit its traditional stop at Bahia de Los Angeles (LA Bay) for an overnight stop in the little fishing town. The rally took a turn for some new terrain heading west from L.A. Bay up to Mission San Borja and then turning south toward El Arco, San Ignacio, El Datil, Scorpion Bay and on into Loreto.

From Loreto the racers return to some familiar terrain running west up to the mission at San Miguel de Comondu, through the town of Insurgentes and into the interior of Baja until turning toward the coast where racers would challenge very unforgiving silt. Many racers’ fate would change here, as the bottomless silt stopped nearly 40 cars dead in their tracks. Little by little each made their through the silt bed, either plowing their way through, driving around or simply waiting for someone to give them a pull. Dusty and battered, racers continued into La Paz for one more day of racing.

The final leg of the NORRA Mexican 1000 would take a new route to its final destination into San Jose del Cabo running down the East Cape of the Baja peninsula. While traveling on the coast, the racers were treated with the scenes of beautiful ocean meeting lands end, as the course meandered small fishing villages like Los Barriles, Punta Colorada and Cabo Pulmo.

The final run in the San Jose arroyo led the racers straight to the sea and the heart of San Jose del Cabo to the finish.

“I think this is cool,” Cameron Steele said after the race. “From what I do and what the big races do there’s a disconnect. We come down for our Trail of Missions, Rip to Cabo or other trips and it’s all about the camaraderie, sharing with the people of Baja and sharing Baja with all our friends. So the races we come for like the Baja 1000 is very busy and we don’t get to do that. I think the NORRA race is a hybrid; you get to see the magic of Baja and share the magic of Baja, and you still get to race. It really is the best of both worlds. If you want to race it’s a great way to do it.”

As much as the even if based in fun, there is still an element of competition that cannot be denied. Robby Gordon took the top spot at this year’s Mexican 1000 in his chassis No. 2 Dakar Gordini.

“For us this was an opportunity to come down and do the NORRA run which is always a great race to do,” Gordon said at the finish. “We tried to get some Trophy Truck guys to come and play; we ended up getting eight guys with our NORRA Challenge class. It’s something I want to do into the future; heck, it’s probably the richest off-road race in the world as of today. It’s pretty cool and we’ll do it again next year for sure.”

Another icon of off-road brought his legendary Bronco out of the museum to take on the Baja peninsula once again. Rod Hall and his granddaughter Shelby held off most of the field in the largest class of the event.

“It was a great run for me,” said Hall at the finish in San Jose. “We really had a great time and NORRA did a great job putting this rally on. I want to say thank you to Chris Collard for all his help and being our crew chief for this race. Chris did an amazing job at organizing all this, and making it here to the end is a win for us no matter how the results come out. Also, it was an absolute pleasure to share this all with my granddaughter Shelby; I’m sure she drove more miles than I did on this run. She did an amazing job. It’s been an all-around awesome experience for us.”

All in all, the event may have been best summed up by off-road legend Walker Evans. “In 1300 miles there were 1300 smiles,” he said. “This race is a great event we're so glad to have a part of it again.”

MORE NORRA COVERAGE
2015 NORRA Photo Gallery

Rod Hall Returns to Baja in 1969 Ford Bronco

2014 NORRA Mexican 1000