I’m afraid I’ll jinx it by saying the course doesn’t look that tough except for the giant section of silt that I hope we can avoid.
Category: Baja 1000
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Baja 1000 – We’ll be back
Desert Dingo appearing in a VW TV commercial back in 2007.
We’re not doing the Baja 1000 this year, but will return in 2013. Since I’m not there, I’m compiling all the ways we can follow the race live online. The fun starts 6 a.m. Thursday.
Race Dezert has live updates and and live streaming Weatherman. Drink any time he says “Richard Cranium” or tells a blonde joke.
A ton of people are posting on the Twitter about #BAJA1000.
Track all your favorite Baja 1000 teams via IRITrack – GPS tracking of all race vehicles.
The Baja 1000 Facebook page here.
This is us (shameless plug):
People at the Baja 1000 doing interesting things online:
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What people think we do
This meme has been beat to death, but I love this. It’s about autocross, which I’ve done, but applies equally well to desert racing. (Click for full size.)
Same for this…
Also click to see full size.
Wait…one more…since I co-drove for most of 2010…
Click for full size. This time with feeling.
But wait! There’s more. Here it is in Spanish, courtesy of fellow co-driver Armando Castro:
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And so 2012 begins
Dakar is over, it’s two weeks til Daytona, so it’s time to get to work on 1107. Crusty came by today and installed the steering box. He and Bob picked up a second beam and Crusty will set to work on it this week.
This time last year we were searching for a new place to work on 1107. This year we’re working on freshening the engine, building a second one and collecting spare parts for the Baja 1000 in November 2012. Quite a bit of progress.
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Baja 1000 2011 is a wrap
Gustavo’s guy is driving the piss out of 1148.Like several thousand other racers and fans, I spent Friday and Saturday staring at computer screens tracking the Baja 1000. Two time Desert Dingo Racing driver Paul Hartl went off the start line mid afternoon Friday in Gustavo Garayzar’s 1149 VW.
Paul set a blistering pace which was doubly impressive because shortly after he dropped down into the Ensenada aqueduct he closed a 30 second lead by 1101 and was in first place back on the pavement headed to the dump. 1149 got the lead back and Paul needed to pull over at around RM 20 to fix a radio issue, but at the end of 100 miles Paul delivered a good car and his work was done.
We kept in touch throughout the race via SMS texts, me relaying locations of 1148 and 1149 as they raced down the peninsula. 1101 broke somewhere around San Felipe and headed back to Ensenada. Paul reported 1148 had alternator issues and never caught 1149 again, eventually breaking down just north of San Felipe on the way back, ending the race for them.
Final note: Paul just SMS’d me at 6:15 saying he’s at the border and there’s a 3-4 hour wait. I wrote back “Have a churro.”
Also this weekend we say goodbye to the utility truck we used for a few races to haul 1107 around. It’s been parked in my front yard for two years. Now I have room for new junk.