Honda dominate the 2006 Baja 1000

[totalmotorcycle]

Honda dominate the 2006 Baja 1000
Monday, November 20, 2006 - Full Noise - fullnoise.com.au



American Honda motorcycle teammates Steve Hengeveld, Mike Childress and Quinn Cody have won the 39th Annual Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 desert race Baja California, Mexico, peninsula.

The Honda CRF450X mounted trio of Hengeveld/Childress/Cody methodically marched down the grueling 1,047.81 mile course from Ensenada in Baja California to La Pazcourse to an overall winning time of 18 hours, 17 minutes and 50 seconds. Childress took the green flag in Ensenada Thursday morning to ride the first third, Cody rode the middle section for and Hengeveld captured the checkered flag, after riding for 347 miles. The team average speed over the tougher-than-usual course was 57.27 miles per hour.

The win gave Honda its 10th consecutive victory in this desert racing classic, Hengeveld/Childress/Cody reached the finish line in La Paz at 12:55 a.m. Friday. Hengeveld, of Oak Hills, Calif., earned his seventh class win including six Overall motorcycle titles and extended his winning streak to five, Childress, Wrightwood, Calif., won his second straight and Cody, Santa Barbara, Calif., won his first overall in help provide a race-record 17th overall motorcycle win for Honda in the history of the event.

"We didn't come here to get second, we came here to win and that's what we did tonight, said the soft-spoken Hengeveld, who lets his riding speak volumes. "I didn't have any problems I just kept riding and I don't' think they had any problems either. 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. This is my fifth SCORE Baja 1000 in a row and we made history tonight so I want to thank my other two riders Quinn Cody and Mike Childress. It takes a team to do this and we did it tonight."

"All the Mexican people, thanks for cheering us on, letting us race here, and really supporting us. We look forward to seeing you out on the track. This is the best race in the world! We have a good team, we worked really hard. We made history tonight to win the first SCORE Baja 1000 for the Honda CRF450x 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," Hengeveld added.

One of the many highlights of the second and third day of the grueling race was the record-setting motorcycle run by Ana Cody, 38, of Camarillo, Calif., Cody became the first female rider to the event's history to ride solo to the finish line, covering the course on her Honda XR650R in 33 hours, 35 minutes and 40 seconds, receiving the traditional finish line handshake from SCORE President Sal Fish and a rousing round of applause of several thousand spectators on hand at the time. She was actually one of 16 successful solo riders out of 37 that started the race to earn the Sal Fish SCORE IronRider Awards.

In winning Class 30 for motorcycle riders over 30 years old, Mexico's Sergio Vega was the highest finisher out of the Mexican entries, finishing fourth overall among motorcycles on his Honda XR650R.

Veteran motorcycle racer Jim O'Neal, Chatsworth, Calif., pulled of an incredible triple victory in the event, winning three age group classes. O'Neal won Class 40 with one team, Class 50 with another, and Class 60 he was co-rider on the team led by Donald Lewis, Marlborough, Ct. All three wins were on Honda XR650R motorcycles.