Desert Dingo Racing

Here’s a quickie video of us prepping all the vehicles on Race Day morning. We all headed across town in a caravan around 10:15 to line up for an 11:30 a.m.-ish start.

The neighborhood kids would hang out with us. I took some photos. You can check out the gallery here.

Another angle, courtesy of Aura 360 of our flight off the Red Bull jump in the Ensenada wash.

There’s been a lot of discussion (if you consider three of us instant messaging each other as “discussion”) about how much air Scott and Seth caught off the Red Bull jump in the Ensenada wash.

I think Richard thought it was about 12-18 inches. I maintained three feet, based on watching the video something like 50 times. I forget what Skid thought. I got a call from Eric Solorzano today and he maintains we could have jumped another Class 11.

Judge for yourself. I edited the full Ensenada Deportes video down to our jump. (I included a trophy truck for comparison).

I like this photo. It was the last time the car was clean.

To Be Called “Racer”: It’s the highest honor, and the Baja 1000 finds them.
ESPN Magazine online, November 25, 2008
In motorsports, there is one word above all others that exemplifies what our twisted metal, burning rubber, death-defying pursuit is all about. The term is never used lightly and bestowed upon only those have earned the right to wear it.

Racer.

And we’re back! About 12 hours from Ensenada to Felton. 1102 is safely ensconced on the trailer in the front yard. We’ll be needing a couple of new fenders, a rebuilt transmission, a short throw reverse lock out shifter and some other bits and bobs, but we should be back in business in short order.

Here’s a gallery of photos from Contingency Row on Thursday and the race on Friday. More to come.

First video is shot from the hood-mounted GoPro Motorsports DV camera. Each car rolls up on a mound of dirt, rolls down to the start line, Sal Fish reaches in and shakes hands with driver and co-driver and then get the 10 second count down. Cars start at 30 second intervals. This shot includes the start, first turn and run along Ensenada’s streets down into the wash and over the Red Bull jump.

I had the cameras set for “high sound level” because it’s freakin’ loud in side the car. I’m guessing they mean “shuttle launch loud” not “race-fueld VW Beetle loud” so you really can’t hear anything.

This second video is of Scott (driving) and Seth (co-driving) rolling up to the start line and into the wash. The wide-angle GoPro camera sees 170 degrees. YouTube doesn’t do them justice. The video is TV-quality.

+

Folks are starting to post videos of this year’s Baja 1000. Fans are sure obsessed with Fast. Just about the time I said "enough with the trophy trucks," here comes 1102 up the hill (screenshot above, embedded video below). You’ll need to exercise patience. Desert Dingos show up six minutes into the video, but man, the engine sounds good!

I kissed a lot of frogs, so to speak, before stumbling across that video. Here are a couple at the starting gate. You’ll be amazed at how close vehicles soar by the onlookers, and even more amazed that people actually cross the road at this time. Note: there’s a 30 second interval between each start. WARNING: The video quality is crappy, but the audio is worse. I recommend reducing your audio settings by 50%.

This is the view on the other side of the Arch. Baby’s got air!

. . . on Unlimited Dirt. Click the thumbnail to view the full-sized photo.

When the team returns, we’ll have photos and likely video from the car, but for now, here’s a taste of this year’s Baja from others who’ve already posted on the Internets.

First, another video of Contingency Row:

Racers faced two major challenges in the first leg of this year’s course, the silt beds (here’s video of a hummer hitting the silt) and the “goat trail” at Rumorosa. Here’s a clip of bikers pre-running that area.

Yesterday evening, one of the chase vehicles called and said, “It’s dark out here. I mean, Really Dark.” This is for you city dwellers who don’t know the difference between “dark” and “Really Dark.”

That’s why Everyone is a Winner.

Chris Juedemann @ glasskitchen.com was among the loyal followers who tracked Desert Dingo Racing during the 2008 Baja 1000. He sent a link to this pic. Chris, thank you for the link and your messages of encouragement throughout the race!