Another radically rugged race route for November’s BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by K&N, was unveiled Saturday at the SCORE Baja 1000 exhibit area in Building 7 at the Off-Road Expo at the Fairplex in Pomona, California.
Always the fitting season finale of the four-race SCORE World Desert Championship, the BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by K&N, will be held November 13 to 18. Nearly 300 entries, from 40 US States and 20 countries are expected to compete in this year’s legendary Granddaddy of All Desert Races.
The world’s most iconic, oldest, prestigious, toughest, and longest continuously held desert race, this year’s SCORE Baja 1000 will start for the first time in race history in La Paz, Baja California Sur, and finish in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. It will be a point-to-point race of 1,310.94 miles up Mexico’s majestic Baja California peninsula and will start for the first time in La Paz, and finish for the 29th time in Ensenada.
The race is annually the finale of the four-race SCORE World Desert Championship, which has been held exclusively for the past eight years in Baja California. The race festivities will be held pre-race along the picturesque El Malecon in La Paz and adjacent to the historic fan-friendly Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada.
With a total time-limit of 50 hours in the elapsed-time race, the motorcycle and quad classes will start on the La Paz Malecon at 1 am (PT) on Thursday, November 16 and the car, truck and UTV classes will follow with their start in on the Malecon at 9 am (PT). Pre-running on the official race course will open 8 am (PT)on Saturday, October 21.
The 1310.94-mile race course, the longest ever between La Paz and Ensenada for the BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by K&N, runs for the first time from La Paz to Ensenada, up Mexico’s magnificent Baja California peninsula.
The iconic race will start for the first time on the picturesque El Malecon in La Paz along the Sea of Cortez and finish on Boulevard Costero, adjacent to the historic Riviera del Pacifico Cultural Center in the heart of Ensenada. The incredibly beautiful and ridiculously rugged race course will have 30 Speed Zones, 308 Virtual Check Points, three physical, full-stop Check Points and feature nine BFGoodrich Tires Pits.
Physical Check Point 1 will be a race mile 233.88 (Valle de Santo Domingo), CP 2 will be at RM 599.34 (South of Vizcaino) and CP3 will be at RM 922.25 (South of Catavina). After leaving El Malecon in La Paz, the course begins its windy road North from the Mexican State of Baja California Sur to the Mexican State of Baja California. The race course will pass near several of the legendary Spanish Missions on its way North.
From RM 50 across Arroyo Seco, the course will run adjacent to the Pacific Ocean for the first time up to RM 220. At RM 277.46 the course will pass by Mission de San Javier on top of the Sierra de La Giganta and at RM 300.05 for the first time in SCORE history, the race course go through El Malecon in Loreto, again by the Sea of Cortez. At RM 632.75, the course crosses from Baja California Sur into Baja California for the final half of the race. At RM 821.35, the course is near the Pacific Ocean for the final time near Bahia Blanco.
While the race course includes numerous Baja washes, at race-mile 1014.24, the course will begin a treacherous trek through six of the gloriously majestic washes around San Felipe: Matomi, Azufre, Boulder Canyon, Huatamote, Chanate, and Amarillas. At RM 1200.75, the course passes Valle de Trinidad and up the infamous Goat Trail, behind Santa Catarina (RM 1226.36) by Rancho El Mezcal to Ojos Negros (RM 1277.04) and to the finish line in Ensenada.
All the Sportsman classes along with Class 11 and Class 7SX will run a reduced course of 1197.04 miles. For more information on this year’s historic Baja 1000, be sure to visit the SCORE website.
