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It has become a tradition at the Off-Road Expo [2], in Pomona, California, that the course map for the SCORE [3] Baja 1000 is unveiled. This year that meant the course for the historic 50th anniversary of the iconic desert race.
The 50th Baja 1000 is going to take teams and drivers through some of the most popular spots in Baja. This year’s race is a point to point race, meaning the race will start in Ensenada and finish outside of La Paz.
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Being a point to point race means most of the Baja peninsula will be covered, 1,134.40 miles to be exact. In comparison to last year’s race which covered a little over 830 miles, teams will have their hands full.
Commemorating the first race, motorcycle and quad classes will start at midnight (PST) on Wednesday, November 15th and the car, truck, and UTV classes will begin their quest down the peninsula 10 hours later at 10 am (PST) on Thursday, November 16th. The fastest vehicles are expected to complete the course in approximately 20 hours, all vehicles will have 48 hours from the time each starts to complete the course and become an official finisher of the 50th anniversary race.
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Who is going to take home the win at the 50th anniversary of the Baja 1000? We will know who is starting first of the line the beginning of November.
From SCORE:
The race starts with the approximate 20 mile stretch to Ojos Negros, the course heads south from Ojos down the ‘Goat Trail’ to Valley de Trinidad and around Kiliwas on a new trail that will drop into Kiliwas Wash before going back to Highway 1 on Mike’s Road.
From San Matias to San Felipe and the Sea of Cortez over a new trail that will start at Morellia Junction all the way to Zoo Road, skipping the infamous bad whoops. South of San Felipe the course winds to Coco’s Corner running a new trail before Checkpoint 1 at Coco’s.
The course then goes to Bahia de Los Angeles and south to Mujica where Checkpoint 2 is located before crossing Highway 1 again to go to the Pacific side of the course. Past San Ignacio the course goes on another new trail to El Datil which skips the silt and highway on the way to Scropion Bay, La Purisma and San Isidro.
Before Loreto will be Checkpoint 3 and then a run up to San Javier Mission before heading to Checkpoint 4 at the highway crossing to Lopez Mateos. The course will go behind Ciudad Constitution to Santa Rita where another new trail goes to Loma Amarilla where the final Checkpoint (No. 5) will be located. Getting closer to La Paz, the course will go through the ‘silty’ Santa Fe area and on to Punta Conejo.
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The La Paz steps, the last part teams will have to conquer before heading to the finish line.
The last stretch of the race course travels down by the ‘Waterfall’ before La Paz and at El Centenario and the final pavement section to the finish line adjacent to the Grand Plaza Hotel, the SCORE race headquarters on the outskirts of La Paz.
The five checkpoints will be located at Coco’s Corner, Mujica Baja Sur, near Loreto, road crossing at the Lopez Mateos Highway and at Loma Amarilla before the last sprint to the finish line in La Paz.
Qualifying for the 2017 SCORE Baja 1000 takes place out in Las Vegas, Nevada during the SEMA show. Stay tuned for more updates on the historic running of the 50th SCORE Baja 1000!
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