30th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
14 - 15, November 1997

American Honda riders Johnny Campbell and Tim Staab made it a clean sweep of the SCORE Baja desert series by winning the 701.4-mile (1137 Km) desert course in 13:19:59, averaging 52.61 mph (85.3 kph) and defeating Larry Ragland, the four-wheel winner, by 33 minutes. Staab had won the San Felipe 250 in the spring and Campbell the Baja 500 in June, where Staab was runner-up. Their 628cc XR four-stroke machine (Fox / FM / Pirelli / Showa / D.I.D. / Acerbis / Renthal / ProTaper) performed flawlessly: "Problems? None!" Tim stated emphatically noting that they beat their nearest competitor, Marc Burnett, by almost 90 minutes.

Their original third man, Paul Otsbo, had to bow out after suffering a broken left femur ... in two places. Greg Bringle was drafted to take the third leg over to the Pacific Ocean after John had ridden the first 250 miles (405 km) and Tim the following 237 (384 km). John rode the final 71 miles (115 km) to glory.

Honda originally wanted to run two teams in the "1000" but three riders were felled by injuries. Otsbo, Campbell's brother Jamie, and Casey Longman all had broken bones. So, Bringle was switched to the winning team.

The only 'complaint' was the mud in the morning ... due to a steady rain the day before. "The course was pretty slick," Campbell commented. The first part was all red dirt and clay but John was pleased with the MT18 Pirelli on the front and the German Metzler "Karoo" on the rear.

Johnny Campbell attended the 1997 International Six Days Enduro in Brescia, Italy as a novice American club rider. He was asked to compare the two events.

"The 'Six Days' is like the '1000' in that you put in a lot of miles during the event. You are on the bike for long periods of time. It's unlike 'Baja' in that, of course, this is desert, but mainly the difference is the high speeds that are required here: the whole thing is like a "Special Test" (referring to the timed sections at the Six Days that actually determine the winners).

(Backgrounder: John rode a stock XR600R Honda in Italy ... a bike seldom seen. Most riders use KTM's, Husaberg's and Husqvarna's. He lost serious time early in the event. Only by hard work was he able to move up from a Bronze medal to the Silver.)

"Like the Six days," he continued, "the weather played a part in the challenge. Here we go from 40 F (4 C) to 90 F (32 C) then back down to 32 F (0 C) with rain and sun thrown in. At the Six Days, it poured down on the second day. I thought, 'Man, I'm not going to finish this at all'."

"The Six Days was more difficult (than the 'Baja 1000') for me. It was, obviously, more 'foreign' and I'm not accustomed to that much technical trail riding. It was tight and twisty all day long. But it has made me a better rider!

"The biggest difference here is that you have to remain focused to ride a 60 mile an hour average (97 kph). You can't let your mind wander at that rate of speed" ... alluding to the fact that a "sixty" average requires many sustained top speed blasts throughout the race.

"Another thing is that the Italian spectators don't lay out any booby traps" --- ill-designed jumps and holes guaranteed to snare the unwary. Tim offered that whenever you see a big crowd of onlookers, you have to be very careful and, probably slow down a bit. Fact: spectators do not come out to watch a flat fast section.

Both Staab and Campbell said that they never fell or even stalled the motorcycle during the day-into-night ride which began at 0630, first light. "I had my best ride in years," Tim smiled. "We had a '60' average until halfway then (Team Manager) Bruce Ogilvie had us back off the pace."

Tim " ... would love to ride the ISDE but in 1998 the Australian Six Days falls around the time of the 'Baja 1000' and Honda wants us to win that one, too. This time that goes to La Paz." La Paz is at the far south end of the peninsula ... the "1000" to La Paz is around 1070 miles (1735 km). According to Honda's wishes, Campbell and Staab race during the year only to keep in top form to win the "Baja 1000." "We ride a mixture of national and local events -- enduros, desert races, GPS -- but never any complete series. Honda only wants us and the pit crews to be ready to win this one," explained Johnny. "The only reason we exist is to win this."

Mission accomplished.