Team Quad75Dezert Clinches Class 24 and Overall ATV Title at 2011Baja 1000
- Jan 20, 2012
Heading into the granddaddy of all desert races Quad75Dezert had already amassed four overall ATV wins, five Class 24 wins and one win in Class 25. "We had three overalls in a row going into the 1000 this year," said team owner Brandon Brown, "And we were hoping for four straight but it didn't work out. Regardless, we were stoked on the season and the getting the season ATV Overall Championship. Everyone involved put in a tremendous amount of work and it felt great to have it all pay off." Brown's first Baja 1000 experience came in 2006, when good friend and fellow WORCS Racer, Josh Fredrick got him on the team with the factory Can-Am effort. They ended up third overall that year. "It was a great experience and something that I had always dreamt about doing since I was a kid," said Brown. "After that I was hooked and fortunately was asked back the next year to ride with the team again for the season." For the 2008 Baja 1000 Brown and fellow Polaris teammate, Nick Nelson teamed up, once again finishing third overall for ATV's. After that they put together a program for the entire 2009 season, where they won the Overall and Class 25 in the Baja 500. The following year Brown decided to put together his own program, involving longtime friend and mechanic, Kenny Sanford and racer Jorie Williams.
"Nick (Nelson) ended up racing with us too, as his program fell through at the last minute and we gladly welcomed him back for the season," explains Brown. "We had a good year and ended up with the overall for the point-to-point Baja 1000 from Ensenada to La Paz. Then we managed to follow that victory with Overall and class victories at the San Felipe 250 and Baja 500 and another Class victory at the 2011 Baja 1000." Team Quad75Dezert drew the first quad off the line for Class 24 and Jorie Williams took off on a tear. "This kid is an animal, but he knows when to ride within his means, and he has plenty of experience down there. We trust his judgment," remarked Brown. Next up was Kenny Sanford, Sanford wasted no time reclaiming the positions lost during the first pit, coming into the race mile 95 pit second overall. Williams once again took over the ATV, and he battled back-and forth for the lead the entire time until passing off the quad to Brown at the Borrego Road crossing. Brown then passed it back to Sanford, and then Jamie Kirkpatrick. Kirkpatrick was once again battling for the lead until he crashed on the infamous Old Puertecitas Road. According to Brown, Kirkpatrick rode his heart out trying not to lose too much time before handling over the controls to Williams again. The mishap took its toll on Kirkpatrick and he had to pass his next ride over to Brown, a section Brown had not pre-run before the race.
"I rode hard to race mile 424 where we had a scheduled four tire change pit stop and full bike check," said Brown. "The pit went well and I was on my way. I made my way back through the whoops of San Felipe and Borrego, up to Mike's Sky Ranch, then down to the Valley De Trinidad. I handed the bike off to Jorie (Williams) one last time for his short section over to the coast. At this point we had a good lead on second in our class and the rest of the field but the Honda team had 34 minutes on us and we still were gunning for the overall. The fog was horrible coming in, and Jorie dealt with it safely and swiftly before handing over the bike to, Richie Brown at San Vicente near the Pacific Coast." "Richie had a great ride on the coast and chipped away at our deficit his entire time on the bike. As he was coming into the field at Ojos, where he would hand the bike of to me for the finish, I heard him on the radio letting saying that we had no rear brakes. We had a quick pit to check and then I got back on for the final stretch into Ensenada. I was able to chip a couple more minutes off of the gap but simply ran out of miles. We had a great race and a crew that made great decisions under adversity. Fortunately Jamie was fine after a day or so and we had a Class win and Overall Championship to celebrate!" Brown say that the team attends WORCS races when they can, but mostly just local races up around the Northwest. "There is some really good desert terrain on the east side of both Oregon and Washington that we like to train in as well," continues Brown. "And yes, we'll be back in Baja for 2012. We would like to thank K&N as well as the rest of our sponsors and support crew that helped make it all happen." Find K&N products for your vehicle using the K&N application search then use the K&N dealer search to find a K&N dealer in your part of the world. |
