Online racer registration closes at 8 p.m. tomorrow (Friday, March 26) as entries continue to climb for next month’s season-opening BFGoodrich Tires 34th Annual SCORE San Felipe 250, presented by Ford. Among the most recent new entries in the race are Daniel Chamlee, Jorge Sampietro, Freddie Willert, Carolina Sanchez, Rodrigo Ampudia, Juan Carlos Salvatierra, Fabricio Fuentes, Carlinhos Ambrosio and Mike Lund.
DETAILS
Returning after a one-year absence because of the COVID-19 pandemic, online racer registration continues for the Round 1 of the four-race 2021 SCORE World Desert Championship which will be held April 14-18 in the quaint, peaceful village of San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
With 51 classes offered for Pro and Sportsman Cars, Trucks, UTVs, Motorcycles and Quads, 215 entries to date have come from 26 U.S. States, along with host Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica, Netherlands and New Zealand.
This season-opening race will be held under the same Bio-Security protocols as last year’s abbreviated season of two races that includes no spectators at contingency, the start or the finish but fans will be allowed again to watch out around the race course, following normal health and safety protocols.
Contingency, and the start/finish compound will all be located on the secured grounds of the luxurious El Dorado Ranch just north of town.
San Felipe is 125 miles south of the U.S. Border at Calexico, Calif. on the eastern side of the Baja peninsula along the azure waters of the Sea of Cortez. All four 2020 SCORE races will be held on Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula for the sixth consecutive year.
Domestically, the race will be televised on a delayed basis on the World of X Games show on the ESPN2 as co-produced by SCORE International and award-winning BCII TV of Los Angeles.
THREE DECADES-PLUS
Celebrating the 34th anniversary of the youngest of the three legendary SCORE Baja races, sometimes referred to as the SCORE ‘baby Baja’, entries are being accepted on the SCORE website under Race Info at www.SCOREInternational.com for Pro and Sportsman entries for cars, trucks, UTVs, motorcycles and quads.
ONLINE RACER REGISTRATION
The deadline to enter online and to be included in the drawing for starting positions within each class is 8 p.m. PT tomorrow (Friday, March 26). Starting positions for the other classes will be determined by a random drawing after the close of online racer registration with the exception of entries that register in person at the SCORE Ensenada office will have until 5 p.m. PT on Wednesday, April 7. Those late entries, however, will not be included in the start draw.
Late, on-site entries will receive the next starting position within the class entered.
LATEST ENTRIES
--As entries climb past the 200 mark, leading the group of latest new entries is veteran SCORE champion Daniel Chamlee, 58, of Montecito, Calif. Racing in Class 7 in his No. 700 The Factory Racing Ford Ranger, Chamlee has driven consistently to earne 16 SCORE Class 7 season point championships in the last 17 years. In the SCORE San Felipe 250 Chamlee has two Class 7 victories (2010, 2011). He has also earned seven Rod Hall SCORE Milestone Awards, presented by VP Racing Fuels, for racers who complete every required mile for that season.
--Returning to defend their 2020 Trophy Truck Spec season point championship are Jorge Sampietro, 30, Ensenada, Mexico and Santiago Creel, 34, Mexico City in their No. 200 Mason-Chevy. Sampietro has three class wins in San Felipe and Creel two.
--Veteran ‘Tres Amigos’ SCORE racers Freddie Willert, 52, El Cajon, Calif./Stan Potter, 56, San Marcos, Calif./Dan Worley, 58, Encinitas, Calif., return in Class 10 in their No. 1006 Alumi Craft-Chevy all with season point titles and individual race wins including the most recent in 2019 in the SCORE Lites class point crown.
--Following up on her stunning class win in last year’s SCORE Baja 1000, Carolina Sanchez, 34, Calexico, Calif., returns in the Pro UTV Stock class in the No. 3913 Can-Am XR3. She is one of a race-record 10 female drivers/riders of record in this race.
--Part of one of the most prominent families in all of Baja California, second-generation SCORE Baja racer Rodrigo Ampudia, 36, Ensenada, Mexico, is returning to his desert racing roots in San Felipe. Racing for several years in the now defunct Lucas Oil Off-Road Series, Ampudia is a former class winner in San Felipe.
In SCORE Baja racing, he has also been a navigator for his two younger brothers Alan and Aaron Ampudia in SCORE Trophy Truck where the Ampudias teamed to win the 2019 SCORE Baja 1000.
In 2008 in San Felipe, he teamed with his father Rodrigo Ampudia Sr to win Class 8.
Ampudia Jr will be driving this year for the first time in San Felipe in Pro UTV FI in the No. 2910 Can-Am Maverick X3 XRC Turbo RR.
--The Bolivians are back. After a successful SCORE debut last season, a pair of Dakar Rally veterans and two of the most popular athletes in their home country will both be racing again in the Pro Moto Ironman class.
Defending Pro Moto Ironman season point champion in his SCORE rookie season Juan Carlos Salvatierra, 39, Santa Cruz, Bolivia in his No. 725x KTM 450XC-F. Salvatierria won both SCORE Baja races in the pandemic abbreviated 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship.
Salvatierra’s home country teammate Fabricio Fuentes, 44 of Villamontes, Bolivia, rturns in the No. 785x KTM 500EXC-F. In last year’s SCORE Baja 1000, Fuentes finished second in Pro Moto Ironman to Salvatierra.
--Making his debut in San Felipe will be Brazil’s veteran rally racer Carlinhos Ambrosio, 55. With Sylvio De Barros and Gustavo Gugelmin as his teammate, Amborsio will be driver of record in Trophy Truck Spec in the No. 281 Brenthel-Chevy.
--Returning after an absence of over 20 years as driver of record is SCORE veteran racer Mike Lund, 69 of Todo Santos, Mexico. Lund will be the DOR in Class 1 in the No. 190 Chenowth-Ford.
Lund won Class 1 in the 1983 SCORE Baja 1000 and teamed with Ryan Thomas to win Class 10 in the 1993 SCORE Baja 1000.
DOUBLE DIGITS
The race includes 36 entries in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division (Including six SCORE TT Legend vehicles for SCORE Trophy-Truck drivers over 50 years old). Created in 1994 by then SCORE owner Sal Fish, SCORE Trophy Truck is starting its 28th season as the marquee racing division in the sport for high-tech, 950-horsepower unlimited custom trucks.
The second-highest total of entries so far is Trophy Truck Spec with has 31 entries. The other classes with double figure entries so far are the Pro UTV FI (Forced Induction) class which has 28 entries and Class 10 with 19.
COURSE SNAPSHOT
With pre-running opening Saturday, April 3 for the 34th SCORE San Felipe 250, SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva has put together another memorable race course to challenge the world’s best desert racers.
Starting and finishing without spectators in the s/f compound because of Health and Safety protocols on the grounds of the El Dorado Ranch the race is 280.2 miles, will run in a clockwise direction and feature two physical full stop checkpoints and 82 virtual checkpoints and just four speed zones for a total of 9.3 miles.
It also runs through five of the glorious infamous Baja washes in this order: Azufre, Huatamote, Chanate, Amarillas and Las Cuevitas.
With several new sections, the entire race course will be south of Highway 3 for the first time in the history of this race.
All Sportsman classes and Class 11 will race on a reduced course of 242.88 miles.
The course map is available on the SCORE website. The racer’s brief and GPS files will become available at 6 p.m. PT (Thursday, April 1) on the SCORE website under race info for the SCORE San Felipe 250.
ON-SITE RACER REGISTRATION
Being held in the Pavilion at Eldorado Ranch, a special on-site racer registration will be held on Wednesday (April 14) from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. PT for the racers who will be part of qualifying.
Regular on-site and late racer registration will start at 11 a.m. PT on Thursday (April 15) in the Pavilion. It will be held Thursday (April 15) from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. PT as well as Friday (April 16) from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. PT. No new entries will be accepted after 6 p.m. PT on Thursday and 3 p.m. PT on Friday.
GREEN FLAG SATURDAY
The motorcycle and quad classes will start at 6 a.m. PT Saturday (April 17) while the car, truck and UTV classes will begin their journey starting at 9 a.m. PT (April 17). SCORE Trophy Truck and the Pro Moto Unlimited classes will start one vehicle every 60 seconds race while all other classes will start one every 30 seconds.
While the fastest vehicles in the elapsed-time race are expected to finish in approximately five hours, all vehicles will have 14 hours from the time each starts to become an official finisher in the historic race.
QUALIFYING
For just the second time in the history of this popular ‘Spring Break’ race, SCORE will hold a qualifying session starting at 7 a.m. PT on Thursday, April 15 to determine the starting positions within each class for the SCORE Trophy Truck, SCORE TT Legend, Class 1 and Trophy Truck Spec classes. Entries in these four classes must also be fully registered by Friday, March 26 to be eligible to qualify.
Entries received in the qualifying classes received after March 26 will be given then next available starting slot within their respective classes.
Start order for qualifying will be determined by the date and time that the entries are received.
The only other time qualifying was held for this race was in 2017 when Rob MacCachren, Cameron Steele and Carlos ‘Apdaly’ Lopez were the top three qualifiers in the marquee SCORE Trophy Truck division. All are entered in this year’s race as well.
Qualifying will again be held on a four-mile loop south of the airport, which is located on the south end of San Felipe.
Source SCORE International
