The Baja 400

Oct 13, 2022

I have to say, it has been a year of huge highs and and tear spilling lows for the 3x Motorcycle of Mojave Racing, served up in the cruel fashion that racing seems to favor. Endurance off-road racing like the SCORE Baja races, show no mercy and ultimately fate wades in and it goes better for a random few, more than most. Personally, I have had an especially toxic relationship with racing in Baja. It dates back to my first foray as a rookie in the summer of 2015. The mechanical failures I’ve experienced over the years have followed like a black cloud since that first event. Back in the 2015 Baja 500 it was a teammate's mistake and the subsequently missing air filter that ended our race day with a cooked motor. Mind you, I was as green as could be and just happy to get some experience under my belt.

It took nearly two years before I was able to get back down to another Baja, this time the 2017 Baja 1000. I was there with my great friend, the legend, the late Carlin Dunne (RIP). This time we came into it more experienced, we had a great crew and a brand new motorcycle built by JCR Speedshop, a winning machine it was. Unfortunately, despite the reputable build and team experience, we lost the stator (freak failure) at around the halfway point and only salvaged a finish. Another tough go, but that is Baja and her reputation, in my mind, was building.

Yet another two years passed before I could again race in Baja. Let’s face it, this is an expensive undertaking and in reality, I had been super busy with other more tropical pursuits… However, this time would be different! Or so I thought. For one thing, I was partnered with one of Baja racing, all time, greats. Then five times Baja Champion, Colton Udall. A man who had won nearly every Baja Race he had entered. Not to mention built just about every winning motorcycle for the past decade. We signed up for the inaugural Baja 400 that year, to get some seat time and build as a new team, and after some transponder issues ended the day in a disappointing 3rd place. Me I was more than satisfied, but the team, well let’s just say they were used to the top step and anyway you look at it, we were not there. When the Baja 1000 rolled around we were a lot more tight and had our sights set on a win. With Honda’s all new 2nd Generation CRF450X under us we mounted up for a race. At about the halfway point our engine failed while running second overall. Damn the luck! ( We made a movie about it if you are interested in the details… The Desert Said Dance

Anyways, all that was all history and after spending most of 2021 away from racing with a torn ACL, I got a call from my friend Ciaran Naran in early 2022. He was fresh off a couple of wins and a class championship in the Pro Moto Limited division on a team that I had connected him with when I was down in Baja. At the time he’d been inexperienced in racing in Baja, had limited resources, just about winged it in every way he could and somehow, he’d pulled it off. First timers’ luck? I’m not sure, but I do know his positivity and determination would have had a whole lot to do with it, and let’s not forget he’s got a whole lotta skill that would have helped immensely to carry him through.

But, back to this year…. After that call from Ciaran we ultimately decided to team up and tackle this year's Four Round Baja Championship series. For all you folks that have been following along, you probably remember our experience at the first round, The Baja 250, where, after a stalled motorcycle shipment, we were left without any pre-running motorcycles (a crucial component, not only to Baja racing, but with any racing) Instead we were relegated to a few borrowed bikes which unfortunately ended up broken. On race day, while leading in the first half of the race, our race bike landed Ciaran on his head. With nothing left in our arsenal, we scratched that one off as bad luck with perhaps too large a dollop of overzealousness.

We rebounded for the second round of the year, the Baja 500, we went into it with our heads down and our eyes on the prize, our only goal being to execute a carefully crafted race plan, make zero mistakes, and get the bike to the finish line as quickly as possible. And as lady luck would have it, we did just that. Fate helped us to minimize the few errors thrown our way and we ultimately finish 2nd place overall. We were satisfied but not stoked with that result and knew that was what we had earned, but the feeling all round was the next round had to be OURS to win! Maybe that dark cloud had gone its separate ways!

We worked, we trained, and we built our race machine with every spare second we had. We rode together as a team, we trained together, we pre-ran the course like no other team out there. The motorcycle got a completely rebuilt engine, and just about everything else, we wanted to ensure that a mechanical failure would not be the cause of us losing. Race day for the Baja 400 came around and our strategy remained the same as the race prior. Execute a carefully crafted race plan, hit all our marks from our days spent pre-running, ride our arses off and get that motorcycle to the finish line as quickly as possible.

It was an exceptionally foggy morning in the hills above the start line in Ensenada, Mexico that day. 5am was our call time and I sat there, outwardly calm but with perhaps a little more nerves than usual. The desire to win for the team was stronger than ever and we all felt like we deserved it. We’d left no stone unturned in our preparation and we knew it. As the 4th motorcycle off the line, I rocketed down the Highway out of Ensenada at 113mph for about 5miles before hitting the dirt race course. Over the ensuing 70 miles I carefully picked my way through the dense fog and dust and made two passes getting the motorcycle into second overall. Suddenly I was smacked in the face, our Stella tracking device strap had broken sending the unit bouncing around wildly. I slowed slightly while trying to mount it back in the bracket, but of course the terrain was so rough that I couldn’t make it stay with one hand. After about a mile of fooling around with it I had to slide to a complete stop and rip the entire tracking device out from its wires and shove it into my vest. This became a job we would have to remedy at the next pit. Cursing, I regained my pace and screeched into our first pit where Ciaran would hop on the motorcycle. We got the tracking device remounted and off he went! In about an hour's time he had ridden the motorcycle into first place overall and quickly gapped the field with a 17 min lead. He rode flawlessly and pulled into checkpoint 1, the site of our full-service pit, where Nick Lapaglia would mount the motorcycle. Abruptly and unexpectedly, the motorcycle died and wouldn’t restart. We all had a mad scramble about to find a solution, determining that the piston rings had failed and a top end motor rebuild was in order if we wanted to finish the race.

The black cloud seemed to have blown back in or maybe it hadn't ever quite left yet!

Taz, our mechanic, set to work and what I still find incredible, got the motorcycle running again. A miraculous task considering the environment and circumstances. Nick mounted the motorcycle and started picking off a few riders from other classes and handed me the motorcycle at race mile 320, from where I took it to the finish. Another Baja race lost, but a hell of a lot of lessons learned.

Oh, and if you are wondering, I’ve decided to make friends with that dark cloud! You know the old saying… keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer!

- Forrest Minchinton / Team Deus Ex Machina

Photography by Brett Dickinson

ENGLISH TEXT BELOW

Sabtu pagi, 17 Juni 2023, menjadi hari yang ditunggu-tunggu oleh 250 peserta reli sepeda motor dan 80 kontestan flat track race di Bali. Itu merupakan acara Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure keempat yang diselenggarakan oleh komunitas pecinta motor trail vintage yang lebih dari sekadar menggemari motor dual purpose era 80-90-an. Dikenal sebagai Trail Asik Adventurer, AKA… Tasik Adventure yang telah menunggu setahun untuk merencanakan dan mengerjakan nya demi tidak mengecewakan siapapun yang ikut berpartisipasi.

Coba kamu bayangkan , ada dua sisi koin berbeda pada event kali ini. Yang pertama adalah Reli. Mereka memberi nama Challenge "Tantangan", menjadikan setiap peserta sebagai "Penantang" Challenger. Jadi, di tempat parkir Sangeh Monkey Forest, sambil menikmati keteduhan pohon jati raksasa yang awet muda, 250 Penantang parkir untuk menerima kode QR untuk etape pertama rute reli. Seluruh perjalanan adalah 3 etape dengan 3 titik pemberhentian. 4 jika Anda menghitung tujuan.

Ada beberapa motor keren di sana, Honda XR, Yamaha DT, Suzuki TS, Suzuki DR, dan beberapa custom modern, motocross dan scrambler. Sekitar sepuluh atau lebih, mereka berbaris di titik start dan memulai rally dari sana. Misi setiap orang adalah menyelesaikan setiap tahap dan berhenti di 3 titik pemberhentian untuk mendapatkan kode QR untuk bagian berikutnya. Keindahan Bali selalu menjadi pendamping, saat kami terbang di sepanjang kombinasi jalan aspal, jalan pedesaan, dan jalan tanah di daerah Tabanan. Kami perlahan-lahan terbang tinggi dan semakin tinggi ke perbukitan dan pemandangan sawah dan hutan akhirnya habis, sebenarnya lebih seperti perlahan menjadi satu ketika kami sampai di tujuan. Bali Outbound Farmstay (BOF) yang juga menjadi tempat berkemah semalam. Jika Anda mengumpulkan semua kode QR Anda, Anda mendapat medali Rally sebagai bentuk penghargaan.

Sisi lain dari koin yang disebutkan sebelumnya, atau event kedua, adalah balap jalur datar (flat track). Atau dalam hal ini jalur dengan landasan yang tidak rata karena tempat mereka membangun jalur itu berada di atas tempat yang dulunya terdapat dua sawah terasering. Jadi titik start finish lebih tinggi dari jalur lurus pertama dengan penurunan pada tikungan pertama dan sedikit menanjak pada tikungan kedua. Saat kami masuk ke BOF, kami sudah bisa mendengar suara motor flat track dan sorakan penonton yang berkumpul. Kami parkir dan membuat jalur jalur seperti lebah.

Keseruan seutuhnya pada acara, disaat tingkat kesulitan tambahan dimasukkan ke dalam jadwal sore hari menarik perhatian yang sangat luar biasa. Mereka berhasil menarik sekitar delapan puluh peserta, terbagi dalam 4 kelas: Kelas Mesin Horizontal, Kelas FFA 4T Max 250cc, Kelas FFA 2T Max 250cc Flat Track, dan Kelas FFA Big Bore.

Antusiasme untuk balapan flat track sangat terasa. Kegembiraan tumbuh saat kami melewati babak penyisihan dan membangun sesuatu yang luar biasa untuk final setiap kelas. Tidak ada kata menahan, mereka hadir untuk memenangkannya. Pembalap dari setiap komunitas bersaing sengit di setiap kelas. Nama-nama seperti Maulana Sandi, Dewa Dimas, Harris Manasi Ride, Nova Rider Sing Mebekel, Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel, Bontok Giga MX, dan lain-lain tak main-main, sebagian besar dari memamerkan skill mereka tanpa mengesampingkan sportifitas dan keselamatan.

Trek dengan permukaan tanah liat merah keras yang kering memberikan tantangan. Di awal, para pembalap disuguhkan dengan bagian menurun pada tikungan pertama, setelah itu mereka memeras gas di bagian trek lurus sebelum berputar ke kiri lagi tapi kali ini menjadi bagian menanjak pada tikungan kedua. Itu memaksa mereka untuk menggabungkan keterampilan balap trek datar mereka dengan banyak teknik motocross. Pada akhirnya, semua pembalap bersenang-senang dengan debu tanah liat merah yang menutupi segalanya dan semua orang.

Saat matahari terbenam ke arah cakrawala, saudara dan sahabat motoran kami meraih pecahan cahaya terakhir untuk mendirikan tenda mereka dan dalam persiapan untuk berkemah malam. Matahari menghilang di balik Gunung Batukaru memberi semua orang pemandangan yang menakjubkan, tetapi segera menyelimuti kami dengan udara yang jauh lebih sejuk dari dataran tinggi di Baturiti Tabanan ini.

Percakapan tentang rute reli dan balapan flat track mengalir dari pintu tenda semua orang yang berkemah, yang lain membaringkan tubuh mereka yang lelah untuk mengantisipasi perjalanan keesokan harinya, perjalanan yang relatif santai ke Pantai Pasut.

Dengan begitu, acara Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure 2023 pun berakhir. Sampai bertemu lagi tahun depan, salam untuk semua penantang, pengalaman yang luar biasa.

Berikut daftar pemenang Kelas Flat Track:

Flat Rack Horizontal Engine Class Winners:
1. Chiko GTT Bali
2. Panduk Pisaga Delodan
3. Andika Monkey Brothers

Flat Rack FFA 4T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Nova Rider Sing Mebekel
2. Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel
3. Bontok Giga MX

Flat Rack FFA 2T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Sandi Maulana
2. Dewa Dita
3. Eponk Road Country

Flat Rack FFA Big Bore Class Winners:
1. Dewa Dimas
2. Haris Manasi Ride
3. Sandi Maulana

Saturday morning, June 17, 2023, was a highly anticipated day for 250 motorcycle rally participants and 80 flat track race contestants in Bali. It was the Fourth Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure event organized by a community of vintage trail motorcycle enthusiasts who love more than fanging about on their dual-purpose motorcycles from the 80s and 90s. Known as the Trail Asik Adventure Community, AKA… Tasik Adventure people had waited a year for the follow up and none were disappointed.

Just so you can get it straight in your head, there’s two very different sides to this coin. The first one was the Rally. They hung it under the banner of “Challenge”, making each partaker a “Challenger”. So, in the carpark of Sangeh Monkey Forest, which enjoys the shade of giant ageless teak trees, 250 Challengers parked up to receive the QR code for the first leg of the rally route. The entire ride was 3 stages with 3 stop points. 4 if you count the destination.

There were some amazing bikes there, Honda XR’s, Yamaha DT’s, Suzuki TS’s, Suzuki DR’s, and some custom modern motocross and scrambler bikes. In lots of ten or so, they lined up at the starting point then let them out for the event. Everyone’s mission was to complete each stage and stop at the 3 stop points to get the QR code for the next bit. Bali’s beauty was the constant companion, as we flew along a combination of asphalt roads, rural roads and dirt tracks in the Tabanan area. We slowly winded up high and higher into the hills and the views of rice fields and forests finally ran out, actually, it was more like blurred into one when we reached our destination. Bali Outbound Farmstay (BOF), which was also to be the overnight camping spot. If you collected all your QR codes you got a Rally medal as a form of appreciation.

The other side of the aforementioned coin, or second event, was the flat track. Or in this case staggered track because where they had built the track it was over a spot that had once held two rice terraces. So the Start finish straight sat higher than the return straight with a drop on the first turn and an uphill bit on the second. As we were pulling into BOF we could already hear the flat track bikes and the assembled crowd cheering. We parked up and made a bee line track side.

What an absolute corker of an event, the added degree of difficulty jammed into the afternoons schedule made for the most marvelous distraction. They’d managed to attract around eighty participants, split over 4 classes: Horizontal Engine Class, FFA 4T Max 250cc Class, Flat Track FFA 2T Max 250cc Class, and FFA Big Bore Class.

The enthusiasm for the flat track races was palpable. The excitement growing as we whittled down through the heats and building to something of a crescendo for the finals of each class. There was no holding back, they were in it to win it. Racers from each community fiercely competed in each class. Names like Maulana Sandi, Dewa Dimas, Harris Manasi Ride, Nova Rider Sing Mebekel, Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel, Bontok Giga MX, and others were letting nothing slip, flaunting their skills without compromising sportsmanship and safety. Mostly.

The track, with its dry hard red clay surface, presented challenges. Off the start, the racers were presented with a downhill section on the first turn, they hit the gas on the bottom straight before spinning left again but this time into an uphill section on the second turn. It forced them to combine their flat track racing skills with a slew of motocross techniques. In the end, all the racers had fun with the red clay dust lay across everything and everyone.

As the sun dipped towards the horizon, our compadres and accomplices grabbed the last shards of light to set up their tents in readiness for a night of camping. The sun disappeared behind Mount Batukaru affording everyone a magnificent view, but immediately enveloping us in the much cooler air of these high grounds here in Baturiti Tabanan.

Conversations about the rally route and the flat track race flowed out of the tent flaps of all those who camped others bedded their weary bodies down in anticipation for the next day's ride, a comparatively leisurely meander down to Pasut Beach.

With that, the Rally & Camp Tasik Adventure 2023 event came to an end. Until we meet again next year, greetings to all challengers, what an amazing time.

Here is the list of the days winners:

Flat Rack Horizontal Engine Class Winners:
1. Chiko GTT Bali
2. Panduk Pisaga Delodan
3. Andika Monkey Brothers

Flat Rack FFA 4T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Nova Rider Sing Mebekel
2. Ferry Rider Sing Mebekel
3. Bontok Giga MX

Flat Rack FFA 2T Max 250cc Class Winners:
1. Sandi Maulana
2. Dewa Dita
3. Eponk Road Country

Flat Rack FFA Big Bore Class Winners:
1. Dewa Dimas
2. Haris Manasi Ride
3. Sandi Maulana