PREVIEW: 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship – Baja 1000

It is once again that time of year: the 2022 SCORE International World Desert Championship comes to a close with the fifty-fifth running of the legendary Baja 1000.

Out of safety to avoid clashing with cars, the Bikes will begin their race at 3 AM Pacific on Friday, 18 November. The Four-Wheelers commence at the usual 10 AM.

The Course

Unlike in 2021 where the route started in Ensenada and ended in La Paz, the 2022 race will be a loop beginning and concluding in Ensenada. The course tends to vary between the “slalom” and loop, with the 2018 through 2020 1000s also using the latter after doing the southward dash in 2017.

Designed by SCORE race director Jose A. Grijalva, the course is 828.25 miles for professional classes. Sportsman divisions get a shorter distance for safety reasons, with Moto and Quad riders going 760.91 miles while Four-Wheelers in Class 11 and Class 7SX navigate 695.79. Three physical checkpoints are located at El Chinero (Race Mile 200.22), Ejido Jaramillo (RM 579.98), and El Alamo (RM 726.57) All entries will have thirty-six hours to complete the race.

Due to storms and floods that swept Baja California in September, those pre-running the course have reported plenty of rocks being exposed for uneven terrain in various areas. Nevertheless, the weather forecast appears to comply with the 1000 and the race will proceed without issue.

Credit: SCORE International

The Grid

As of this article’s publishing, 266 entries have locked a spot on the grid, with on-site registration continuing until Thursday (online registration closed on 2 November). The Trophy Trucks have the most entries with thirty-eight while Pro Moto Ironman leads the Bikes.

Since the Baja 1000 is the final and most difficult leg of the season, it comes with little surprise that many drivers have joined forces. Besides friends working together, many of these alliances help those vying for class championships, such as Trophy Truck rivals Luke McMillin and Bryce Menzies respectively renewing their partnerships with Rob MacCachren and Andy McMillin. The Luke McMillin/MacCachren duo won the 1000 in 2021 to secure the TT title for MacCachren, so the latter is now repaying the favour by sharing McMillin’s #83. Luke McMillin enters with a victory in the San Felipe 250 while MacCachren won the Baja 500 and Menzies took the Baja 400 to start on the pole for the 1000.

Other TT and TT Spec partnerships between otherwise opponents include Apdaly Lopez and Broc Dickerson, Tavo Vildósola and Alan Ampudia, Elijah Kiger and Jason Coleman, and Cayden MacCachren and Christian Sourapas. 2021 Pro UTV NA runner-up Kaden Wells is working with J.D. Marsh.

Juan Carlos Salvatierra has won the Bikes overall in all three SCORE races so far, though defending 1000 champion Mark Samuels and his team hope to play spoiler. Samuels was the highest finishing rider in the last two 1000s.

Some racers arrive with success in other forms of off-road racing. 2022 Dakar Rally T4 class champion Austin Jones returns alongside Rodrigo Ampudia. In the Baja Challenge class, the #BC2 will be a rally raid veteran-led effort in António Marmolejo, Xavier Montasell, Ariel Jatón, and Gerard Farrés; Jatón, Farrés, and Marmolejo have Dakar experience with Farrés set to run the 2023 edition next month, while Montasell is Marmolejo’s co-driver in the FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Bajas. Former 1000 Class 1 winner RJ Anderson is sharing the #2937 Pro UTV FI with brother Ronnie and father Randy, a week ahead of his maiden Extreme E start.

NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Riley Herbst, two weeks removed from the end of his third season in the division, returns to the 1000 in the #264 TT Spec alongside cousin Pierce. He is not the only person with NASCAR experience in the field as he joins fellow Las Vegas native Brendan Gaughan (Class 1), Justin Lofton (Trophy Truck), and P.J. Jones (Pro UTV FI). Gaughan and Lofton have become SCORE regulars since departing NASCAR as race winners, and both will seek to turn their fortunes around in a difficult 2022; the former won Class 1 at the 2019 1000.

Stadium Super Trucks driver Max Gordon will share the #1977 UTV with 2021 CODE Rookie of the Year Mario Gutierrez Jr. Gordon first raced the Baja 1000 as a nine-year-old (though not officially included on the roster due to age requirements) in 2018 alongside father Robby and NASCAR Truck Series champion Sheldon Creed, and has been heavily involved with Robby’s Trophy Truck entries since.

Multiple countries beyond the United States and Mexico are represented, most notably the Team Australia TT duo of Dakar bike star Toby Price and Paul Weel in an AWD truck after racing the Baja 400 in a 2WD. Étienne Gélinas, a Canadian who aspires to compete at the Dakar Rally in 2024, makes his SCORE début in Pro Moto Ironman. From Japan, Tomonori Noto and Asia Cross Country Rally outfit Team JAOS will take part in the Stock Full class in alliance with 2020 class winner Canguro Racing. Rudram Das will be the first Indian to attempt the 1000 solo in Pro Moto Ironman after previously helping his Indian Motorcycle Riders team complete the Sportsman race in 2021.

The #773 Ford Ranger Raptor in Stock Mid-Size is an Australian-American joint effort between Ford Performance, Supercars Championship team Kelly Racing, and Lovell Racing. Recent Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame inductee Brad Lovell will lead the effort alongside Australian Off Road Championship father/son duo Andy and Danny Brown, fellow Ultra4 USA star Loren Healy, among others.

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