Pre-running opens Saturday on rugged loop record 898.40 mile race course—starts and finishes in Ensenada, Mexico
Iconic season-finale of two-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship;
Internationally televised event to air domestically on ABC’s World of X Games
As online racer entry applications continue to climb in these uncertain times, pre-running opens Saturday at 8 a.m. PT on the rugged loop-race record 898.40-mile race course for next month’s iconic internationally-televised season-ending BFGoodrich Tires 53rd Annual SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts, in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
To date, 68 official entry applications have come from 20 U.S. States along with host country Mexico, Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and South Africa.
Starting and finishing under strict BioSecurity health and safety protocols in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico, the final round of the pandemic-abbreviated two-race 2020 SCORE World Desert Championship race-week festivities and the Granddaddy of All Desert Races itself will be held Nov. 17-22.
The SCORE Baja 1000 is at the pinnacle of motorsports as the most iconic, oldest, prestigious, toughest and longest continuously held desert race in the world.
Because of the Pandemic BioSecurity protocols mandate that all race-week activities and the start/finish line area will be closed to the public. Spectators, adhering to the protocols, will be allowed to watch the race from around the race course.
PRE-RUNNING
Pre-running on the official 898.40-mile loop race course will open at 8 a.m. PT on Saturday. The course will run in a counter-clockwise direction after the two-way section to the Ojos Negros area and down along the Pacific Ocean and around San Felipe and the Sea of Cortez before heading back up through Cordillera de Molina and back to Ojos Negro and the finish in Ensenada.
Pre-running will start at race-mile 33.53 and finish at rm864.87. The first 33.53 miles of the course, which will be run in both directions during the race, will be open for pre-running outbound only on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday or race week (Nov. 17-19).
This year’s course map, GPS files, racer’s pre-run brief and schedule of events are available on the SCORE website under race info on the SCORE Baja 1000 page at www.SCORE-International.com.
ONLINE RACER ENTRY APPLICATIONS
Racer entry applications are available at www.SCORE-International.com under Race Info on the SCORE Baja 1000 page. Questions should be directed to SCORE Registration and Membership Director Audreonna Garcia at 775. 852.8907 or via email at
53rd SCORE BAJA 1000
Many of the world’s best desert racers will be in action at this year’s massive BFGoodrich Tires 53rd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts. The race will be televised on a delayed basis as a one-hour special on ABC TV’s World of X Games programming.
Ensenada, “The Off-Road Capital of the World” is a coastal city on the Bahia de Todos Santos area of the Pacific Ocean, 80 miles south of the U.S. border at San Diego.
Over 200 vehicles are expected at the start line with racers from nearly 30 U.S. States and as many as 15 countries anticipated. Long-time SCORE sponsor and race title sponsor BFGoodrich Tires has also posted a US$25,000 contingency bonus for the overall 4-wheel winner to help commemorate the renewal of this legendary SCORE race.
This year’s SCORE Baja 1000 will be a loop race of a spectacular 898.40 miles in the northern state of Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula.
It will start for the 46th time and finish for the 27th time in Ensenada and the race is annually the finale of the SCORE World Desert Championship, which has been held exclusively for the past five years in Baja California.
With a total time limit of 40 hours in the elapsed-time race, the motorcycle and quad classes will start at 4 a.m. (PT) on Friday, Nov. 20 and the car, truck and UTV classes will follow with their start on at 10 a.m. (PT). While the fastest vehicles are expected to cover the course in approximately 18 hours, all vehicles will have 40 hours from the time each starts to become an official finisher.
OH! WHAT A COURSE
This year’s 53rd SCORE Baja 1000 race course will be the longest loop race in the history of the Granddaddy of all Desert Races at 898.40 miles. The previous longest loop race course was 883.1 miles in 2013.
The race features a course, as finalized and plotted by SCORE President/Race Director Jose A. Grijalva runs in a counterclockwise direction on both the West and East sides of the Baja California peninsula.
The historic race course is another memorable example of all that Mexico’s Baja California has to offer, including high-speed dirt trails, sandy, rocky and silty natural terrain, dry lake beds, majestic Baja washes and canyons, stretches along the ocean with elevations from sea level to over 3,000 feet. The course is another jewel reflecting the stark beauty of Baja California.
There will be four physical full-stop checkpoints and 355 numbered virtual checkpoints. Physical checkpoints: CP1 (race mile 206.60), CP2 (rm407.95), CP3 (rm602.85) and CP 4 (rm838.50). The race route also has a total of 20 Speed Zones.
The course starts with a two-way section to Ojos Negros before heading down the Pacific coast through Uruapan, Santo Tomas, San Vicente, Colonet, Camalu, San Quintin and El Socorro.
The course then turns northeast back to Vicente Guerrero on the east side of Highway 1, through Pena Colorada/Santo Domingo wash, Rancho Meling, Rancho El Coyote, downhill on Simpson’s trail, Leandro Valley, Valle de Trinidad, San Matias pass and Las Cuevitas canyon.
The challenging race course then winds its way through four of Baja California’s infamously magnificent washes: Amarillas, Chanate, Huatamote and Matomi before heading through the San Felipe area along the Sea of Cortez and through Cordillera de Molina and then back to Ojos Negros to the finish in Ensenada.
All Sportsman classes along with Pro classes 7SX, 11 and 9 will run an abbreviated course of 767.06 miles.
STATES, COUNTRIES
Included in the first 68 official entries of the more than 200 anticipated for this year’s renewal of the world’s most iconic desert race are racers from 20 U.S. States and seven countries.
U.S. States represented in the field of competitors to date are from Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin.
Besides the United States and host Mexico, countries represented to date in the total entry field are from Argentina, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala and South Africa.
BIOSECURITY PROTOCOLS
As was the case at the recent SCORE Baja 500, significant BioSecurity health and safety protocols are being finalized by SCORE and the government authorities and health officials to be implemented at the event. With everything still fluid in regards to this pandemic, announcement of the specific protocols for this race are expected to be similar to those implemented at September’s SCORE Baja 500.
For certain though, no spectators will be allowed to attend pre-race contingency, the start or the finish of the race itself. They will be allowed to watch the race around the course, following BioSecurity protocol requirements.
Source SCORE
