SideXSide Action - November 2007 - (Page DF4) 500 2007 Score Baja BY MIKE LASHER This year’s running of the Score Baja 500 marks the 41st time the field took the line in Mexico. This year’s event was a recordbreaking event with a total of 492 entries set to charge the 424 miles of grueling terrain in Baja. Of the 492 entries, there were nine Side X Sides ready to battle it out for the win. Making up the lineup in the UTV class there were two Tom Cars, two Polaris RZRs, an Arctic Cat, and four Yamaha Rhinos. Our first spot that we could catch the Side X Sides in action was the Red Bull Jump where over fifty thousand locals line the banks of the wash to watch the racers leave the pavement of Ensenada and hit the dirt to start their adventure. The Baja 500 is one of the toughest off-road races in the world and has yet to be tamed by a UTV. Looking through the quality of vehicles in the field this year, it looked like there was a good possibility this could be the year. The RZRs from Dragon Fire were the first to drop out of the race, failing to make it to checkpoint one. Reports were that one had a motor issue and the other had a tie rod issue. The 1848 of Custom Motorsports had electrical issues early on which eventually led to their demise after checkpoint one. The 1808 Yamaha Rhino of TAG Engineering wins the distance award for being the only Side X Side to make it past checkpoint four. They also made it all the way to the finish line but, unfortunately, they were not able to make it within the time limit and were not awarded an official finish and win. We will have to patiently wait on the edges of our seats until next year to see if we can get the first official finish in the Baja 500 by a Side X Side. . 40 www.sidexsideaction.com http://www.sidexsideaction.com
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