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Mark Handley / Solar
Racing return to winning ways against formidable competitor!
One hundred twenty miles south of the Mexican border in the
seaside town of San Felipe, the Solar Racing team came ready to race the 20th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250, which was Round 2 of the five-race
2006 SCORE Desert Series.
Solar Racing was just one of a race-record of 362 entries
from 20 States, Canada, Colombia, England and Mexico competing in 24 Pro and 5
Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs.
Solar Racing competes in the Stock-Full sized pick-up
class. Competitors included a trio of
4WD H-1 Hummers, including the 4 time past winner of the race and last 5 years
Class-champion. In
addition was the new Titan of another former champion.
The most formidable competition for the Solar Racing 2WD Ford
F-150 however was going to be the Baja race course itself, a challenging 240.34-mile
rock-shrouded, silt-laden desert. The
three previous years the team suffered disappointment with 3 straight DNFs (did
not finish).
The mighty SR F-150 raced back and forth with the Titan
after already passing one of the Hummers.
This went on for the first 35 plus miles, passing each other 6 or 7
times. The huge rollers for the first
35 miles really tested the suspension.
Since the truck is equipped with Bilstein
Shock Absorbers and National Leaf
Springs, it made the best of the roughest of sections.
As the other pair of Hummers was seen in the distance, the F-150
pulled away from the Titan not to be seen again. For the next 20 miles the lead was to whoever chose the best line
in the expansive sandy wash.
The dust was kept to a minimum since rain was beginning to
fall. Without windshields, it made
visibility quite difficult at speeds exceeding 90 miles per hour. It also brought back memories of a previous
race in Baja that encountered flash floods.
As the SR 150 passed race mile 55, the team was now in the
lead both on course and corrected time.
The rain continued to fall and the high speed sections became more and
more slippery. This was not to be a problem
though since the race truck was equipped with Goodyear
Mud-Terrains which clawed through the Mexican desert.
By race mile 135, just over half way, the lead was just 8
minutes over the 2nd place H-1.
The SR F-150 kept going and made it to RM 161 with a 30 minute lead and
entering the infamous Matomi Wash, considered 27 miles of the “Best of
Baja”. 80 miles to go with a 30 minute
lead! The truck was performing great
and ahead of pace.
The rain made it difficult to see variations in the terrain,
and the incredible rainbows over the Sea of Cortez proved to be somewhat
distracting. However, it seemed one end
of the rainbow was the end of the infamous wash, and the other seemed to be
back at the finish line.
Not wanting to repeat the Team’s previous disappointment,
the pace for the race truck would be kept well within its limitations trying to
avoid any stupid mistakes. It turns out
the only stops for the race truck the entire day was once for a co-rider
change, and then a couple of quick refueling stops. The “DuraWall Puncture Resistance Technology” of the Goodyears
ensured a flat-free day.
It turned out the “end of the rainbow” was the San Felipe
Arches and the finish line. The Solar
Racing F-150 earned 1st place with over an hour lead on 2nd!
The total time on the course was just over 7 hours to complete the rugged 240
miles.
Although there was
a total of 362 entries, there were only 340 starters. Of that, there were only 219 finishers, a 64% finishing rate,
which was better than the Stock-Full class with only 40% finishing.
The win moves Mark just 3 points out of 1st place
in season points, trailing behind the
5-time class champion.
It also keeps him in contention for the Milestone Award, which is for those
racers who complete every mile of every race in the five race series.
A special thank you to the
sponsors of Solar Racing: Solar Funding, Tristar Capital,
Bay Club Hotel & Marina, Spectrum Assembly, Help-U-Sell,
Strider Knives, Insurance4Mexico.com, ACE Motorsports, DesertRacing.com, Desert Racing Concepts, Lincoln Welders, PrimeSynthetics.com, Sign Pros Lettering, RLH Communications, F & L Race Fuels, Kartek.
For more information, contact Mark Handley 760-750-1907 or info@solarracing.com
For information contact:
SCORE International at its Los Angeles headquarters
(818) 225-8402 or visit
the official 2005 SCORE Desert Series website at:
www.score-international.com
For
Sponsorship Information, contact:
Mark Handley
(760) 750-1905
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