Stage 1

NORRA delayed the official start, and Dusty officially began the quest for victory at 11:35 from downtown Ensenada. The day started with Erich driving and Hans navigating.

The first section was a transit, which does not count toward the race time because it is on a highway and racing would be unsafe and illegal (even in Mexico!). Erich passed a few cars during the transit, mostly due to some savvy maneuvering In a construction zone. Dusty finished the transit at 12:51; it took over an hour and a quarter to go 28 miles!

Dusty began the first special in beautiful Santo Tomas. Dusty got off to a great start and was running fast and steady. After driving across some mountains, we reached the Pacific coast. It was absolutely beautiful!

Unfortunately, Erich found himself going off the left side of the course into a ditch, then he overcorrected and rolled the car. It tripped over the driver-side tires, hit the top of the driver’s side, the top of the passenger’s side, the passenger-side tires, and then ended up on the driver’s side, for a total of 1.25 rolls.

After Hans and Erich got out, some very kind locals helped push Dusty back onto its tires, pick up the debris, and get us ready to get back on track. Damage included the passenger-side upper A-arm, the passenger-side lower radius rod, the light bar brackets, some roof mounts, two GoPros and cases, the passenger-side headlight assembly, the front bumper, the roll cage, and probably more. It was a minor miracle that we escaped damage to our GPS and radio antennas on the roof. After a significant delay, Erich and Hans got back on the horse. Erich limped the car to the first pit stop, where we took fuel and assessed the situation. Hans finished the special at 4:54 in Lazaro Cardenas, and the car seemed to be holding up okay.

We met our chase team at the end of the special, and they recommended we push on. At the end of another transit, we took fuel and Hans began the day’s second special with Erich navigating. The second special has crossed El Diablo dry lakebed in prior years, and we were disappointed it did not do so this year. We went nearly to the lakebed, but then turned east and north to cross the mountains north of San Felipe.

After a solid run, we arrived in San Felipe after dark. The NORRA ladies sprayed us with beer at the finish line; while it had been our most challenging day of racing it was a finish worth celebrating. We had pasta and beer at the NORRA fiesta, while the Fab School worked some magic on our radius rod so we could continue racing.

After a very long day, we arrived at our hotel in San Felipe and headed to bed. This was not the start we had been hoping for.