SAN QUINTIN, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO- Multi-time SCORE Baja 1000 Champion Colton Udall claimed his first overall rally raid championship with an impressive victory at the Six Day BAJA RALLY® Powered by Rally Comp September 29-October 5, 2024. After six days of competing in unusually higher temperatures, Colton defended attacks by 2023 OA Champion Mike Johnson and winning all but two of the six stages comprised of more than 1500 kilometers of Baja California's notoriously challenging off road terrain.

RALLY PRO HIGHLIGHTS & HEAT UP
Racers in the tightly-held elite category chased Colton Udall all week long during his third appearance at Baja California's only rally race for motorcycles- and he did so handily. While defending champions and podium standers fought over the scraps, Durban Racing's Steve Varni made advances on podium regular Tony Palandrani. American Rally Originals' Jim Pearson (P3 in Rally Pro) kept his name near the top of the daily standings while fellow Dakar Rally racer Ace Nilson struggled with mechanical issues and some get offs that left their marks. The 10th edition of Baja Rally® was beset by unusually higher than normal temperatures averaging more than 10 degrees Fahrenheit above normal. This phenomenon caused issues for racers in every category and set a serious tone for all of the racers from the onset.
Colton Udall, the Californian with a racing lineage and groomed by Hall of Fame Inductee Johnny Campbell, is highly regarded among desert racing circles as an authority on bike builds, endurance fitness and technical preparedness strategy. He performed a weeklong Masterclass on these topics while simultaneously keeping his growing audience apprised of daily highlights with short videos posted on socials.
Perhaps Colton will call out other high performing, globally-recognized rally racers to throw down the gauntlet in future editions Baja Rally®, the longest running motorcycle rally raid in North America. The Rally Pro classification is open to anyone who qualifies to race any category of Baja Rally® events, but required for those who have placed top 3 in Rally 1 on prior events.

Overall Champion: #5 Colton Udall
P2 in Rally Pro: Mike Johnson

It should be noted that longtime rally torchbearer Mike Johnson has never missed a Baja Rally and, as creator of the Rally Comp suite of metering and safety platforms, has consistently finished near the top of the podium since the Inaugural Baja Rally in 2013. Johnson won his first OA title at the Six Day BAJA RALLY® last year and it was very clear that he came to the 2024 edition with every intention to compete for the win and defend the #1 plate.

RALLY 1
Rally 1 is the amateur default category for racers who haven't been forced to advance into the Rally Pro class. And it's the proving ground that prior rookie names like Tony Palandrani, Mo Hart and Trent Burgiss, to name a few. 2023 Rookie of the year Adolfo Alonso climbed up the ranks of Rally 1 in 2024 to secure a P2, adding his name to this list and moving into directly into Rally Pro next season.
Durban Bro's Dave Huntley had a humbling week in the Valle de Los Cirios desert on his second try. After an ignition failure before stage 5 last year, Huntley was on a redemption mission to "do Baja" in this edition. He Pete Rose'd onto some rocks on Stage 5 and his roadbook tower fell to scrap in the final kilometers of SS6. So as it turned out, it was a case of Baja "doing Huntley".

Rally 1 Champion: #23 Juan Carlos Duarte
P2 in Rally 1: #32 Adolfo Alonso
P3 in Rally 1: Digby Norris

ROOKIE HIGHLIGHTS & SHAKEOUTS

Rookie is a one-time status and you can only start here once. Early standout Tim Donaworth (ADV-Tim), had the best shot at winning this title after he smoked the field by nearly an hour on on Stage 1. When fellow rookie teammate Tim Roush withdrew from a badly broken collarbone, Donaworth's logistics program failed, forcing him out as well, further illustrating the picture of desert rally racing as a multi-faceted arena and discipline of motorsport.
SoCal Rally's Project Mayhem bros Taylor Burch and Andrew Palmer cut their teeth making roadbooks for underground raids. For their respective debuts in mainstream rally, they went into the Six Day BR preoccupied with the rookie status. Both prevailed but not without substantial trials.

2024 Rookie of the Year: CJ King

Rookie Podium
P1 CJ King - Rookie of the Year 2024
P2 Ken Downey
P3 Eric Ander

SENIOR MOMENTS - The 55+ Club

Canadian's swept the Old Men's category after Baja vet #60 Bill Gilbert was leading through 4 stages before a mechanical issue midway through the hard day. A timing glitch from SS1 that would later be reversed gave Gilbert a 2 hour false sense of security- and he backed off the danger in later stages. This became a moot point after

MALLE MOTO- Selfish Selflessness
The unsupported category had a 2-Stroke entered with Martin Gibson flying his bike over from the UK. It's the first time a two smoker has entered the Baja Rally. This year's rules for the Malle Moto group were somewhat relaxed but that didn't slow down the competition. Class winner Jordan Reed used the Baja Rally strictly as Dakar ego/ mindfulness training-it worked.

Malle Moto Podium
P1 Jordan Strachen Reed
P2 Josiah Harvey
P3 Maciek Obryk

Now that another year has passed and Baja Rally moves into its second decade of operations, the organization has announced dates for the 2025 Six Day BAJA RALLY® with the possibility of trekking further south on the peninsula. A waiting list for preferential entry and pricing on New Years Day is already filling up. If you have reasons to procrastinate and hold off on committing, DON'T click on the link to SAVE MY SPOT.

Source: Baja Rally Media
Photos by GetSomePhoto & Okay OK Media