November 28, 2006
Mexico - History was made at this year’s Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 as Red Riders Steve Hengeveld, Mike Childress and Quinn Cody gave Honda its 10th consecutive victory in this granddaddy of all desert races, taking the checkers for the very first time aboard the Honda CRF450X. The win also marked Hengeveld’s sixth overall victory, extending his current streak to five as he led his talented team to a convincing two-hour-plus margin of victory in the overall Pro Motorcycle classes.
It was also a Baja 1000 record 17th overall motorcycle win for Honda.
Starting the race early Friday morning in Ensenada, the Honda trio charged through the rugged 1,047.8-mile course in 18 hours, 17 minutes, 50 seconds, averaging 57.27 mph to reach the finish line at 12:55 a.m. Friday.
“We didn’t come here to get second,” said Hengeveld afterward. We came here to win and that’s what we did tonight. The new sections were really hard but that’s what Baja is about. It’s not supposed to be easy, it’s supposed to be technical, and that’s what we had here today. We all had our tough sections, and it’s just a really good, tough course.”
And where one streak continued, another fell as Baja legend Johnny Campbell, who came in having won 10 straight Baja 1000s, finished in the runner-up spot (with teammates Robby Bell and Kendall Norman) on his CRF450X, clocking a 20:31:08 at an average of 51.07 mph.
“We made history tonight to win the first SCORE Baja 1000 for the Honda CRF450X,” commented Hengeveld, “and for breaking Johnny Campbell’s win streak and continuing mine with five in a row. I got on the bike at mile 700 and the bike still ran flawlessly, like it’s brand new to the finish line.”
In fact, Honda machines swept the top 10 spots amongst the overall motorcycle overall finishers, with the Honda CRF450X also claiming seventh and eighth, and the XR650R grabbing the remainder.
In the Pro ATV division, Honda mounted riders took four of the top five positions, with Mike Cafro, Danny Prather, Levi Marana and Marc Speath besting Jeff Hancock, Joshua Edwards and Kirk Schreier by just under two hours in 22:37:46 (averaging 46.30 mph).
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Results
Top Pro Motorcycles Overall
1. Steve Hengeveld/Mike Childress/Quinn Cody – Honda CRF450X – 18:17:50
2. Robby Bell/Kendall Norman/Johnny Campbell – Honda CRF450X – 20:31:08
3. Jim O’Neal/Tim Withers/Jeff Kaplan/Randy Morales/Tom Willis – Honda XR650R – 21:28:456
4. Gerado Rojas/Vicente Guerrero/Jorge Hernandez/Francisco Septien – Honda XR650R – 21:32:38
5. Ron Wilson/Scott Myers/Steve Garnett/Tim Morton – Honda XR650R – 21:36:50
6. Dan Walsh/Chris Gunnett/Rob Gibson – Honda XR650R – 22:43:17
7. Tom Grisham/Carl Fischer/Mike Mitchell/Mark Chicado – Honda CRF450X – 23:31:50
8. Shaun Hanson/Jim McKay/Mark Milne – Honda CRF450X – 23:34:27
9. Brian Pinard/Taber Murphy/Sergio Vega – Honda XR650R – 23:41:50
10. Scott Atchison/Greg Hauser/Larry Collins – Honda XR650R – 23:44:02
Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 Results
Top Pro ATVs Overall
1. Danny Prather/Mike Cafro/Levi Marana/Marc Speath – Honda TRX450R – 22:37:46
2. Jeff Hancock/Joshua Edwards/Kirk Schreier – Honda TRX450R – 24:27:16
3. Josh Frederick, Moapa, Nev./Tony Baker, El Cajon, Calif./Shane Strunk, Phoenix/Michael Swift, Can-Am Renegade, 24:55:54 (42.03) (Class 25)
4. Alex Camanini/Carmen Cafro/Earl Thigpen/Allen Fox/Scott Prather – Honda SRP650 – 25:04:37
5. Wayne Matlock/Chad Prull/Keith Little/Wes Miller – Honda TRX450R – 26:48:04
