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For Immediate Release
Tecate
SCORE Baja 1000
November 21, 2003
Honda's
new TRX450R Conquers Baja in its debut race
 Honda
made its official return to ATV off-road racing by winning
Class 25 (Open ATV) and taking first overall ATV at the
36th-annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 with the brand-new,
never-before-raced TRX450R. The come-from-behind win over
several larger-displacement machines was backed up by a second
TRX450R ridden to fourth place despite an early race crash
that left the rider with a broken collarbone-though he managed
to nurse the damaged bike and himself 20 miles to the next
pit.
The
winning team consisted of veteran racers Poncho Castro, Doug
Eichner, Tim Farr (Honda's official factory-supported ATV
racer for 2004), John Gregory and Marc Spaeth, who covered the
808-mile course in 18 hours, 27 minutes, 34 seconds, at an
average speed of 43.78 miles per hour. That was quick enough
to earn them 16th overall vehicle of the 272 original
starters, and put a whopping 53 minutes between them and the
second-place team. Scott Callen, Shane Hitt, Alberto Marquez
and Danny Rudd comprised the riders of the fourth-place ATV,
finishing in 20:45:48 on the second TRX450R. After Callen's
injury, Rudd rode the last half of the race, and felt the
effects afterward of what was considered the toughest, most
technical Baja 1000 ever. Besides tight, rocky sections,
competitors faced conditions that ranged from hot, dusty and
dry to cold, foggy and even rainy. Of the 272 starters, just
153 finished.
This
marked the second consecutive victory for a factory-backed
Honda ATV in the 1000 after last year's rather surprising 1-3
finish by a pair of virtually stock Rincon sport-utility
quads. Unlike last year, however, the pair of TRX450s was
widely expected to vie for the win this time.
"The
main purpose of racing the 1000 with the new bikes is to
confirm the base performance for this product," Honda R&D
Chief Engineer Hajime Shogase said before the race. To that
end, both 450s were only very slightly modified-a different
carburetor and exhaust, dialed-in stock suspension, taller
seat and aftermarket wheels with Baja-oriented tires being the
notable changes. "Basically, every rider on the two teams was
happy with the suspension setting change, and they loved the
power!" Shogase reported.
Though they drew the 12th starting position, the eventual
winners were in third place unofficially by the time they
reached Valle de Trinidad about 110 miles into the race. They
continued to hunt down the front-runners until Spaeth caught
up to the lead ATV about halfway into the race and saw the
leader crash in a silt bed. Seeing that, Spaeth veered to the
left but also hit something and tumbled into the powder.
However, he got the Honda restarted before the other rider and
sped by. That essentially ended the race as the TRX450R simply
pulled away in the last half.
"The
bike worked awesome!" Spaeth exclaimed. "The only thing I had
a little bit of trouble with was the helicopter-I've never had
a helicopter over me so it was a little bit intimidating
having somebody watching you."
"Everything went smooth," Farr said. "In the past, the teams
I've ridden for have just had a lot of problems-organization
and bike problems have always plagued the teams that I've been
on. This year with Honda and Golden West Cycle it was
completely different."
"This
bike is everything you could want in an ATV," said Eichner who
took the start and finish sections. "The powerband is very
useful and very, very easy to ride. The bike handles really
well, and it's built like a Honda-it's built good!"
Baja
1000 results, Class 25 (Open ATV)
1.
Poncho Castro/Doug Eichner/Tim Farr/John Gregory/Marc Spaeth-Honda
TRX450R-18:27:34
2. Ruben Martin/Gilberto Santana-Bombardier DS650X-19:20:33
3. Carmen Cafro/Mike Cafro-Honda TRX400EX-20:29:47 4. Scott
Callen/Shane Hitt/Alberto Marquez/Danny Rudd-Honda
TRX450R-20:45:28
5. Alex Croswaite/Antonio Espinoza-Yamaha YZ450-21:06:15
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