Downloaded from YTS.LT
The reason why we wanted to do the championship was because no foreign, no full foreign team has done it. No foreign team, and I mean, I say full foreign team; the rider of record and all of the team are from the same country. So no one's done it in the cars or the bikes in the 50 year history of the Baja
Official YIFY movies site: YTS.LT
And so we wanted to be the first to do that. There's been lots of foreigners that have raced and won, but they've used Mexican and American riders and drivers. So for us to be able to go over there and, one, first win a race, which we did in the 250, the 400 and the 500 and then win the championship was going to be a first
a bunch of 50 year old Kiwis did it
So that was the thing. Even when I say it, it makes me feel pretty cool. It's like that was the real thing, you know, some old New Zealanders were the first to be a full foreign team to crack that
It's pretty impressive
There's lots and lots of people who do things first. But coming from a place like New Zealand and everything, every one of these bike riders were really great bike riders
But two of them on this trip had never, ever seen Mexico. Mexico has a few things that could be common: rocks, dust, endless silt. And then there could be the unpredictable: fog, rain, mud where you are in the clutch. Those things you can't put in the equation and you had to figure out on the fly. Who was it?
Patton said:
the war really starts when you
fire the first shot
[Baja California]
['We want to win The Championship']
['A group of motorcycle racers from New Zealand aim to win all four Baja races in 2023']
[SCORE San Felipe 250: Winners]
[SCORE Baja 500: Winners]
[SCORE Baja 400: Winners]
[SCORE Baja 1000? TO be determined…]
[Mexico]
[Team APS must compete in all four races in 2023 to be the first full foreign team to win The Championship]
[Baja 1000: The longest non-stop point to point race]
[SCORE Baja 1000. Baja, Mexico]
[The story of Team APS with Baja Bound Adventures]
[Team APS: A Decade of Racing]
Baja. A race to the never never. It started out in 1967. We raced down a peninsula that had no roads. Only a couple of towns
Back then it started in Tijuana, near the US-Mexico border. And it raced to Cabo or La Paz, on the very bottom of the Baja Peninsula
SCORE owns the race now and took over in 1973. But it was originally run by NORRA
It started out as a thousand miles
which was the longest
non-stop point to point desert race in the world
It was known as the Baja International, and in 1974
the 500 became a part of it
and then in
1982, the 250 became a part of it. And the 400 in 2019, and that now makes a whole series of four races. That is the Baja One Championship. The 250 is usually held in March, the 500 in June ish when it's really hot and sucks
The 400, September again is hot and sucks, and the 1000 is usually
around Thanksgiving. And man, it's a nice time to race in Baja. The Championship
and the whole series, it's got dirt bikes and quads and motorcycles, ambulances. Anybody can bring almost anything
it turned into a giant expenditure where the biggest wallets happen
People would race Trophy Tracks; the fastest thing you could possibly imagine
These things go across four foot holes at 120 miles an hour and are scary as fuck
The rider or driver represents a country of origin is
technically the team leader, but you can have any number of riders or drivers with the team
in order for you to make this arduous race
The course changes every year. It's not the same one every time
This is the first time that we've ever raced backwards. So we're actually going to start at the
end of the peninsula and race back up to the north. It's very unusual and it's going to be very challenging
Nowadays we have these things called VCP virtual checkpoints. And they're placed along the course to maintain speed and direction to
make sure the drivers go to a certain spot
Earlier it started out where there was only a few checkpoints, and you can make your way down the peninsula any way you saw it. But as the peninsula become more developed, we need to control the speeds and control access and not allow people just to go free
range in the desert. There are many places you can still do it, but where there is a
VCP you have to hit it because if you miss it, there's significant time
penalties involved
The motorcycles always won
They were the fastest down this unforgiving peninsula. But the last 15 years, the trophy trucks, the beast from the east came out
NASCAR motors
40 inch tires,
140 mile an hour maximum in the dirt
they're not scared to drive fast. They drive by GPS. You don't even need to see. And if anything gets in the way that they'll just cut it in half
All of the Baja
desert races,
are hard
But the 1000
or what we call The Mill
is largo y duro
long and tough
A brutally unforgiving race
that sometimes only 50% the
field finish
So I'm Robert Creemers. I was the rider of record for the Team APS, and my team consisted throughout the series; firstly, Sean Clarke and Kevin Archer, who raced with me for all of the races and the championship. And then we had Wayne Jennings join us in the 400 race, which was our third race, and then we had Elliott Kent and Mark Pollard join us for the 1000
[Robert Creemers: Property Maintenance Contractor]
Rob and Peter
in 2012 they asked me if I wanted to come and race the Baja 1000. And I said, Yeah, well I'll think about it. And they said, they also need another rider.
[Sean Clarke: Forestry Contractor]
It took me three weeks to decide, but I decided. I asked Kevin and he decided instantly. So we both come in 2012. That was the first time.
I've known Kevin since '92, '93 I met him and I've known Elliott about the same. Rob I've known pretty much since about
[Helmet Cam: Sean Clarke // Pre running]
2010 and Pete since about 1986.
Rob's a guy, that
wanted to do the championship and he obviously realizes he can't do it on his own
So he asked us to come and do the racing and
he's a guy that
puts 100% into whatever he does and he just enjoys coming here and racing. So you need people to do it with. So that's why we're here.
How did I meet Mark? When he was probably
[Elliot Kent: Farmer]
18 years old. He was working in a motorbike shop in an
a wrecking place as a parts boy
yeah, I used to go in and get parts for my bike and sort of hit it off
[Elliot Kent Location // Pre running]
and started sort of riding together, and I was riding trials back then and he brought an old, I think it was a KTX, came out to one of our trials and tried to ride around that and
yeah,
we just got on real well and been mates ever since and raced for 20 odd years together
we're working together now at the moment. And yeah, so is it good. Yeah, real good
So, Tim is incredible. He's, I, if anyone said to me, I want to race the 1000; who should I speak to? What should I do? He would be the first person I would come to mind. He has been amazing. I've never regretted the decision of going
[Robert Creemers: Property Maintenance Contractor]
with him in 2012. You know, like all of us, we have our faults and our little personality traits
But Tim knows his stuff, he is a true competitor
he approaches the race with the same mindset that we do. And it's along with a whole lot of knowledge and experience. He sets up a mean race bike, gives us fantastic support.
[Tim Morton: Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame]
[Jeff "Amazing Riccardo": Mechanic]
All of his support guys have been really good and helpful. We've only really generally had a really good time. And it's just overall, it's been a really positive experience every single time.
I can't thank them enough to be honest. We couldn't do it
To go from, I mean, we could
but it would be a horse's ass. I mean like to try and set up a race bike here and then go over and then rent
trucks and take a whole load of people over to help us
you know, set up the race and support it. It would be a logistical freaking headache and it would cost it truck ton. And we probably get it wrong.
[Baja 1000 2023 Pre running]
[Kevin Archer: Multi-New Zealand Motorcycle Endurance Champion]
Pre running truck
Wait there. In case we don't get there before you, and that's where I will give you gas.
First tar sealed highway?
Mile 40.
I'll see you at Mile 40
So, in 2012, Rob wanted to do the Baja 1000
And so yeah, he found or heard about Shaun and I. So he asked us to come and do it with him. And it sort of had evolved from there really.
[Kevin Archer Location // Pre running]
Yeah. Stopped at the beach and had a bit of a chat to some people
What's the plan now?
We will probably take you back and do it again.
Oh yep
Sweet
It's always good to pre run more than twice which sometimes this race we didn't. And the second time I've broken my track down into sections mentally and I know where I'm coming out for each section. Are you going to the coast? Are you going along the coast? And are you coming back in? Or something like that
and then the second time you do it, you do it a little bit faster and there is things you're picking up again. But the track is changing so much every time
the course isn't changing, but the layout is changing because of the trophy trucks and it's getting rutted. They are kicking rocks up. So there'll be a rock there that you didn't see
And that's all about reading the track the whole time. All the time. And that's quite taxing; trying to read that track constantly. Then race day comes and you're doing it the same again and then you chuck a
night time in and that puts even more dynamics on everything - and mentally. But yeah, I suppose it's just a matter of you just got to deal with it and you just go to the best of your ability and hopefully you've got the track pretty much memorized by then or a lot of it
You're not going to memorize it all, but when you break it down into sections you, I find I can, I can memorize a lot of it. You know, even at night you come up to places, and 'oh yep, I'm there' you know, 'I'm there' and it just all sort of comes together. But yeah, there's those hidden things that the vehicles are throwing up and just changing the track the whole time, the lie of the track
[Sean Clarke: Rider No. 5]
My pre running went real good. I rode all my track twice, plus one part three times. But, yeah nah, it went good
Except on the first day, I cartwheeled the bike. I hit a rock in the sand, down a sand wash. I just didn't see it. I just went over the handlebars. It wasn't too bad, but it's the sort of thing that you don't want to do. Bruised my arm and cut my hand a bit. But nothing really. A tree was just sort of hiding the rock that was in the sand and you're looking ahead and it's just instant; you can't do anything about it
[Sean Clarke Location // Pre running]
Yep. I got Joey here. This man here has done 18 x Baja 1000s. He's done it on a 125, a 250, a 500 and even a quad bike. So he's going to take me into the last bit of my section where we've got a lot of silt and we're going to try and map out some deviations
and I've taken photos of the VCPs on the course so we know exactly where they are from Google Earth, because we need to make sure we get the VCPs, but we're going to try and map out a ways to get around all the silt because you don't want to get caught in that stuff. And that's what today's all about
[Joey Lane: Former Multi-Baja Champion]
[Robert Creemers Location // Pre running]
Are you got to keep up with Joey?
Umm probably not. He's like 18 times champ or he's run it.... You've been a champ how many times, Joey?
I don't know
He's lost count! So, yeah, I'm under a bit of pressure.
No pressure. We're just having fun. We're just doing some dirt biking. No pressure. Go out and we'll make sure that he's got
a good feel for the last 20 miles, and he can be comfortable riding into that confident
Yeah we were out in a just a like 15 mile section, but it had a lot of silt beds. And what silt bands are
It's the
dirt becomes so powdery, like almost talcum powder, baby powder. And it's almost like you're running in water, but you can't see through it. And then the dust is so fine, it'll choke up our motorcycles filter and it'll cause you to have trouble. If the
dirt gets in the motor, it'll blow it up. And so what we do is we went out there and we found ways to go around the silt beds.
So it's not hard on the equipment and hard on the rider
any little thing you can do to not be in the situation of riding through that silt
you could
be four feet over and you're not in it. So you just find little ways to go around them
Racing down here,
you might be on that motorcycle for 6 hours, 8 hours at a time, sometimes even longer.
I've been on a bike for 11 hours straight one time, but you got to be able to just concentrate and not think about anything in your life that you're not paying attention to the second you're watching, because accidents happen in milliseconds down here. You know, if you're not watching what's in front of you and riding and just concentrating, especially when you're racing. When you're pre running, and you're just sightseeing, you know, you can take it easy a little bit, but when you race, it has to be 100% focused on what you're doing because that stuff just comes up quick and then, you know, things change from when you pre run.
You know, somebody could decide they wanted to build a little jump to see some action and it wasn't there the day before. So you got to be prepared and mentally
just to
be on your game per se. And a lot of people have a hard time making that connection. And I think that's what makes the best racers. They can just
focus on what they're doing, just shut the world off
These guys, you can tell they've been doing this together for a while. They all got their place and
you can tell when people joke around with each other, they're comfortable being around those people and they enjoy their company and
me and Tim give each other a hard time all the time
is just what we do. You know, we like hanging out
Look, there is three things I've seen that you need and in the Baja. You need; one, a solid bike
You need a really good bike. It needs to finish, but it needs to be fast and competitive. You need really good logistical support. Okay. And, that has to be well planned and set up and cater for any sort of scenario that can occur. And there's a lot that can happen. And three, you need to have real fast, solid riders.
Now, we can do three, but Tim does one and two
Poor motorcycles have been on the back of the truck for 20 hours of driving. They got dirty and didn't even get ridden
[Tim Morton: Off-Road Motorsports Hall of Fame]
I met Rob
I really don't remember. I'm thinking it was in 2011 and he contacted us wanting to race in Baja. And he had already ridden in Baja with another guy who does like what I do. And so he was just kind of searching around and I guess we gave him the right answers. So maybe we just lied to him a whole bunch
Either way, you know, he believed our lies. So he went with us and
Sean, Kevin and him and Pete did the 2012 Baja 1000 with us. And since then, he's brought his kids riding for fun with us. And they've also done the 2017 Baja 1000 and Sean came and did a race in Nevada, in the United States with us, Vegas to Reno.
Then of course, they are doing all of the races this year. So, a bit of history
I submarined this fucker five times
Pre running
for guys that want to go fast is key. These guys, they go, they go good. Really good. And in '12, they actually did a little better than we thought they would. You know, in '12, they're basically just tourists coming to race.
[Ricky Johnson: Motorsports Hall of Fame USA]
And then in '17, we knew they were quick and we thought we had a shot at winning the class, which I think
then was Class 40 - 40 years and over.
They actually came pretty close to it. And
once we learned a little bit about these guys, so their second race
we knew they were quick. So we took it more serious, the second year, in 2017 when they came and raced. And then this year, it's been 'hey we want to do the whole race, we want to win the Championship'
My goal is, of course, to everything boils down to the 1000.
I don't care if we win, although they did, they won their class at the 250, the 500 and the 400. But really it's the 1000. Everything boils down to the 1000
and there's going to be some good competition. And so pre running is super important. Knowing where to be and having all your marks and knowing where all the VCPs, which is a
hidden electronic checkpoint, you have to clear without getting penalties. Know where your rider changes are, know where your supplies are going to be. All of this is super important. And we are taking more serious with these guys again this year
and we are, you know, they're not Southern California or Mexico guys, so we're way more limited on time
Each guy will get to see their section probably two times and their competition maybe four or five, six times.
So we're at a bit of a disadvantage. So we have to, you know, use these few days as effectively as possible.
How would you best describe your role for this race, 2023?
Umm, there's a few different ways I could joke about that
Dad! Babysitter!
You know, someone like Sean, Sean is totally on autopilot. He studies the whole thing, he really knows what he has got to do. He knows what the other riders are supposed to do.
Me, I try to have my finger on what every rider and every chase guy is doing. So our crew for this is, five trucks, seven crew, five racers, plus Pete as a backup and yourself. I've got to balance all of those and I've got to be the one to know what everybody is supposed to be doing at anytime. And what's my role? Logistics.
I'm Jeff!
the Amazing Riccardo
How did you come to be the amazing Riccardo?
Well, it's a long story about me building a bar in a little town in Indonesia. Came into town. I was like, six months ahead of the rest of the guys. And there was no place to drink in that.
[Jeff "Amazing Riccardo": Mechanic]
And so I went in and bought a bar from a local guy and established that and I put the pool tables and everything in, and then when they opened the door; 'That's amazing, Riccardo'. And it stuck.
When I first met Tim, I did not like him at all. I called him the angry Little Dwarf.
He was a grumpy little bastard. And through the years, he's mellowed. I've mellowed. And we got to know each other. I trust him like my brother. He is one of my best friends. I love him. He will not talk bad about you behind your back. He'll do it straight to your face. You know exactly. He will never lie to you.
You can trust a man. He's as honest as the day is long.
50 years he's been racing here down here. He knows it like the back of his hand
He's one of the people that will help you out in Baja if you ever need anything; advice, parts, strategy. Maybe not if he's your competitor on strategy. We're ruthless about that.
But even this race, I don't know how long Tim's been established providing race bikes. He has a 100% finish rate
The bikes have never, ever let him down. He's got some really good prep mechanics, which I used to be one of and I've retired from that now. But he's got good bikes.
My objective was, I had; I've got some fast teammates, and a lot of the heavy lifting in our performance was going to sit with them. So I still was going to have to do a large section of the race.
And so it was limiting how much time I potentially could lose against our competition, so that they would have less to try and get back. You know what I mean? In terms of training, it was
fitness and time on bike, and getting more skilled. I mean, the more you ride, the better you get, obviously. But, but I'm not as fast as is Sean
[Rob's training ground // Woodhill Forest, Auckland, New Zealand]
and Kevin
But I can do the distance. I am fit enough. And
I will always finish. So, you know, I will get the bike there. And I think that's probably the most important thing that you
can contribute to a team is, in the Baja race is; put in a solid performance, but get the bike to the next guy
He's a bit of a superman. Like he's just is so relentless. He's just probably one of the most, one of the hardest working people I know. And he likes to do dangerous things and take risks, not in his business life, but particularly in his personal life
[Cate Creemers: Robert's Wife]
But he's just relentless. His energy. I don't know where it comes from
I mean, he does get tired, but he just yeah, he's one of the most
motivated people I know
Well, I have a lot of faith in him
He's a really good rider
like, of the team, he sort of jokes that he's not the fastest. He's sort of the weak link, but he's a really skilled rider and he really backs himself and
he probably doesn't push himself
beyond like he doesn't have lots of offs. There are some people who, you know,
always have accidents, but he doesn't tend to have lots of accidents
They're quite rare and when he does he sort of he bounces pretty well
I mean, he's done a lot of races and a lot of riding and lots of trips all around the world. So I really didn't think anything of it
at all until we sort of started watching some of the footage that came back and some of the stories around the Baja and how there's always a death.
And I don't think I sort of had a full appreciation until we actually went there. Yeah. And how hard it was, and how gruelling the race is
Every time you go out there, you just putting yourself in harm's way. It's really risky. And if anything goes wrong, then it's really hard to get help. And it's very likely that you'll be in a very remote spot.
these just more chance of him coming to
harm, the more times he does it.
If you're really pushing yourself you're more likely to come off
but even if you just going,
at a decent clip,
those catastrophic things can still happen.
So hitting a rock, regardless of whether you doing 60 miles or 80 miles, it's going to have a pretty similar effect.
Every time he leaves, I think it's getting worse, actually. And it was particularly hard
the last couple of races
the second race
before he came off
the bike and got concussed.
And then we've had, you know, we've had sort of a few
reminders of mortality this year.
And so it was really hard to say goodbye to him, particularly the third time.
But I've got huge faith in him. Like, he's not silly on the bike
He pushes it, but he's not completely on the line.
But it's still really risky.
[2012 Baja 1000]
So 2012 was our first attempt at the Baja and we wanted to do the 1000, and that particularly year it was a peninsula run. Which is the traditional one.
[Team APS 2012 Baja 1000]
That's the one we wanted to do. There's me and Pete Herd that wanted to do the race and we thought we would need some team members, and we need someone quick. And Pete recommended Sean and Kevin, and they greed. So that was great. So we went over there, and had no idea what it was going to be like.
I found Tim online and I was talking to another company, but Tim's response I found better. So without even knowing who he was, we knew he had some track record so we went with him and it turned out to be fantastic. And they didn't know what we were going to be like. And so they put in a package for us.
And basically, I think they were just going to see a bunch of Kiwis and do the 1000 as a bucket list thing. Once we were doing the pre running, they realized actually we were pretty quick. And so we got Tim's attention and anyway we did the first 1000 and I went first, and back then it was a 6:00am start in Ensenada and we weren't doing the ceremonial start thing.
We were actually riding straight up a wash in the middle of the city. Pete was next. And then he went into the night for a couple of hours, so he got a little bit lost, but found his way back again. Sean was next, and raced all through the night, and this was all a first for us, and then handed it to Kevin early in the morning.
So Kevin had a few hours of dark, and then he raced into the early morning to the finish. And yeah, we got third in our class in the Pro 40 class and we got 14th overall out of I think it was about 120 odd motorcycle and quad teams that year. So people were impressed. Kevin was posting times that got a lot of people's attention when he was doing a section down the bottom
So, yeah, he certainly made a bit of a bit of a statement on our first attempt
[Voice of: Lynn Archer]
I'm Lynn Archer, and I'm actually married to Kevin
I think it's wonderful.
And I never would ever stop Kevin
from following his dream.
Because I think he works so hard. And I think, well,
what do you work for?
you do worry because he has been hurt, but then he's been hurt on the farm
and he's had injuries just as bad on the farm. So,
I mean, you can go to town and get run over by a bus.
My dad actually raced motorbikes before I was born, and in then he raced cars.
So
I've spent my whole life being surrounded by nutters
So I'm quite used to it.
When you were told who was in the team and how they were all going to try and win this thing together? What was your thoughts when you heard who was involved?
Well, I knew they'd win. Yeah, that's what we go out to do. Like, yeah, don't come home second
Yeah.
[2017 Baja 1000]
So, for '17, Sean, he picked it up saying, hey, did you know that this year it's going to be the 50th anniversary?
And it's a peninsula run again. So instantly; Oh, yeah. Let's give it a go. And, so this time again, it's just the original four; me, Kevin, Sean and Pete. But we thought maybe it might be better if we had a fifth rider just to take the load off, because we were doing
[Team APS // Baja 1000 2017]
big distances with
a four man team
So we brought Doug along and as it turned out, because it was the 50th anniversary, every ex Baja champ that had walked the Earth and raced, turned up for this thing. And the pro 50 class, which we were now all in their 50s, was actually one of the most competitive classes in the whole race.
[The Baja 1000 is typically raced as a single 750-850 mile loop]
[Every couple of years the race becomes point to point racing +1100 miles along the Baja peninsula]
so
we came second in our class and we got 12th overall. And the team that beat us was stacked with 12 ex Baja champs. So, we were going to struggle to beat them, but we weren't far behind them. But anyway, it was still impressive. And we were pretty happy with it, and
Tim was happy too, so. It's hard to make Tim happy
[Auckland, New Zealand] [Team APS have raised over $50,000.00 in support for Painga Project through racing in Baja]
So the Painga Project
supports equity at the school gates. So anything that's going to enable our students to have the same opportunities that students have in public schools.
[Sarah Corson: Founder, Painga Project]
[Papakura Intermediate: 2024 Leaders]
we now have 100 kids with glasses, wearing glasses every day to school, a we've tested
about 700 students in that time.
And with hearing we've
piloted in one school and we now have about
22 kids that have gone through the super clinic for hearing support. So either having surgery or getting hearing aids.
there's no hearing testing in New Zealand schools at all. So they are the stereotypical normal kid.
And with vision testing, it happens in year seven here. So a child's, you know, intermediate age. But
that testing hasn't happened in our school since 2019 due to COVID and just due to the
pressure really on the resource.
APS have been the backbone of Painga since we began. So when we first founded the charitable Trust
we realized we needed transport for our schools because the biggest barrier for our schools was getting children outside the school gate to see what they can be, to participate beyond Papakura.
when we've needed something, APS have
stepped up straight away and said, we'll help you.
And it's not just financially, it's
it's practical help. So at the moment, we need to fund a
vision and hearing testing trailer because our schools are too noisy and
there's no room for us to fit. So we need to be independent.
but we needed some help with that because it's actually hard to figure out what you need or how to design it when it's never been done before.
it's both the financial and non-financial support has allowed us to do what we do. And without them, yeah, we would have really struggled.
My name's Sarah Stewart and I'm the Senior Strategy and Partnership manager, and I've been APS for nearly six years, [Sarah Stewart: Senior Strategy & Partnerships - APS]
we do
property maintenance and remediation
most of our business has done through core clients because relationship is the way that we develop our business
When he tasked me to go out to
potential sponsors again, I really had to explain to them that
every single cent of it goes straight to Painga
Interestingly, for a few years, the people that we were asking for that support thought that they were funding Rob's
racing
So with, say, the Baja race,
in this instance it afforded them to be able to buy equipment that they really needed for a vision and hearing trailer to be able to test the kids
We really feel the government needs to step up and provide their actual the glasses or hearing aids or that support themselves because this is our future
[Sarah Corson: Founder, Painga Project]
[Team APS have raised over $50,000.00 in support for Painga Project through racing in Baja]
You know, if our children can't learn and how do we expect them to be contributing members of society?
[Pre Race Day // La Paz // 08:30am]
[Jennifer Morton: Tim Morton's Wife]
I'm Jennifer, Tim's wife. And I guess I'm behind the scenes organiser of stuff
Make hotel reservations, make sure everyone's GPSs are programmed
provide books for everyone with the program
I basically take what's in Tim's head and deliver it to the riders
It's awesome having guys that you already have a rapport with
They trust us and we trust them
It's more of a collaborative effort
with guys like this that have Baja experience
You know, they know to look for cattle prints on the ground
look for cattle. When you see a cow pie, slow down
New racers, they're so nervous about everything that is happening
it's like a warzone out there
with all these sensory things
coming at you
That guys like this who have seen it before. They've seen military checkpoints
They've seen road crossings, they’ve seen boobie traps. It's much easier for them, they're more calm
and yeah, we're definitely excited that they wanted to come back
So it's obviously an electrical issue. Not sure if it's the battery being a lithium one that just stopped or there's something to do with the Stella. The Stella was actually poorly installed by the SCORE guy when we went through tech spec yesterday. Anyway Tim's working it out. So they'll just goes through the whole bike and check the wiring, and we've got some spare batteries, and Tim will find what the problem is.
[Pre Race Day // La Paz // 10.10am]
But you know. So he's hoping to starting tonight with a bike that's 100%.
Any stress around that?
Ah, there's always a bit of a worry and stress I think. I mean, if we hadn't had done the test last night, I would have gone down the road last night and that would have happened with me on the start.
Yeah, so testing it last night was a good thing cause it's found the fault, so it'll be okay
Hopefully
Yeah
Well, I think that, you know, being that we're behind the scenes, I get to do a lot of stuff behind the scenes that they don't see. GPS programming
And like we talked about; making hotel reservations. It's really, really gratifying to see it
all come together and be a piece of that puzzle, you know
The riding, I think, I kind of secondary. When all of the pieces fall into place
and you have good riders, in between, it's a huge sense of accomplishment and I like being part
of the team. Of course everybody wants to win, and we want that
to be the end result right?
Being part of the team that goes home healthy and is happy at the end
[Pre Race Day // La Paz // 03.25pm]
It's really satisfying. I get a little choked up at the finish line, because I know what they've put in and what we've put in
At the beginning we are a bunch of strangers - we don't even know each other
We get to know each other over the week and we get to share in that goal.
So it's really gratifying
Our plan for this Baja 1000, which is 1309 miles, will need to be
finished with the 50 hour max time. Rob will be rider number one as the rider of record, and he'll start about 1:25 a.m.
And he's only riding about seven miles to the edge of town to get the starting points. Kevin will be rider number two, going from mile
07 to mile 106 at night
He'll have our full set of headlights, and then they'll be removed at the end of his section. Rob's first actual race section will be from mile 106 to 240 at night, using the small headlight.
Then Kevin's second race section will be from mile 240 to 410. At the end of that, Rob's second race section will happen and he'll ride from 410 to 526.
Mark Pollard is our third rider and he'll start the race at mile 526 after Robert's section and then hand off to Elliot Kent, who's rider number four. Elliot's racing from 747 to 1014 at night, and he'll have that full set of headlights back on. Then last is Sean Clark, rider number five. Hopefully Sean gets on the bike still in the dark at mile 1014 and will be removing those big headlights right before sunrise.
And he'll take that final push to the finish in Ensenada. The plan is an 8:30 a.m. finish with approximately 31 hours of racing
At the start of the race,
[Baja 1000 2023]
it's always nervous, it doesn't matter what racing you do. And I think it affects everyone. Everyone will tell you the same thing; there is always going to be an element of nerves. You have all of these things running through your head and so on. You don't sleep. I always start the race feeling a bit nervous and anxious, but once you're into it. It takes me, especially in the Baja, because we are doing such long sections,
[30 second interval roll outs. 25 bikes have already started]
[Race Day // La Paz // 01.00am]
Within 20 minutes, half an hour, you start to
get into a bit of a groove and you get into more comfortable and there's always the adrenaline and it's just pumping through you the whole time
[Baja 1000 2023 // The second longest Baja race at 1309 miles]
So,
but at the start
[Rider No.1 and Rider of Record: Robert Creemers]
of any section, there's, it's always been anxious and nervous for me, but that's for all racing, whether it be dirt bikes or circuit racing, I have the same feeling every time, but the Baja more so because I've got that weight like I mentioned before about trying not to let my team down
[Restricted speed zone // 60mph]
[Race Day // Crew on the move // 01.45am]
And so it begins
[Restricted speed zone // 60mph]
These guys have raced the Baja 100 in 2012 and '17, I'm sure they told you about that. And then they've been here for all three SCORE races this year. This is their fourth. Sean, on the team, raced Vegas to Reno on one of our bikes. You know, they're all phenomenal riders independently, and then when they come together as a team, they're a very strong team. They don't need a lot of guidance, they are racers at heart. They know to hydrate, they know to eat well, they know to sleep. Things that newer racers need reminding. So they're definitely less work for me
[Tactical rider change // Start of the first two section for Kevin // Race Mile 07]
[Rider No.2: Kevin Archer]
Fuck. That fucker is bright.
So I got my first motorcycle, dirt bike, when I was six and my brother Ron, who's a Multi-time SCORE champ racer and he also has soloed the Baja 1000, but phenomenal rider, phenomenal racer. He and I grew up together riding dirt bikes as kids.
We're only a year apart, so we were riding buddies for a while and then I married Tim and got a new riding buddy, but Ron's part of our team and he and Tim have partnered quite a bit.
Our logistics planning doesn't start until the course map comes out.
When the course is released, which is usually at the end of October. I know a lot of people plan for, you know, a year for all of this and then getting all their stuff together. We already have all of that,
in our shop and in Tim's brain. And, you know, we have our chase guys that are awesome.
We pretty much have everything in place when the course map is released, that's when he decides who's going to ride each section which chase trucks going where, fuel mileage, things like that. So we don't really even start the planning until about a month before. It's kind of like second nature. So the only thing that really changes is the course itself.
Well, we just started with the Santa Rita Road. You kind of see. It's going to be pretty messy, but I'm going to write down every bike that passes by and what time they come by. That way, as we make our way up, we'll kind of know where Kevin's going to be and how to expect them when
At the end, the best part is at the end of the race, with all my messy, messy notes, they all sit there and examine it like; 'I had 3 minutes on him in this section'. It's pretty funny.
So I grew up riding, grew up racing. I've been around it a lot. I sort of feel like the mom sometimes asking the guys, Okay, does your GPS have batteries?
[Race leader // Rider 1x // 03:19am]
Is your spot tracker on? You know, I think that it comes from
a loving place. You know, I try not to be too overbearing, but I try to guide them, I guess you could say. Because I've done it myself. I've raced the Baja 500 on a bike, I've raced the Baja 1000, I have a Carlsbad motorcross championship, I've done the Tecate Enduro four or five times, and I've won the women's class three times. I've done Vegas to Reno, I've raced the Baja 1000 in a car and on a bike, and the Baja 500 in a car and on a bike
So I know about navigation. I know about calories in, calories out, staying hydrated, eating well.
I try and feed them, keep their calories high. You burn a lot of calories at this race. When your adrenaline kicks in, your hunger goes away
You know, you get tired. You don't think clearly. You know, your
body is exerting so much energy, it's not going to your brain is going, your muscles, and you forget. 'Hey, where's my next pit stop?' or 'how many miles until I see the truck?'
So sometimes in a pit, I'll hand him food and hand him water and tell him, you know, hey, we'll see in an hour and a half just to kind of help mentally get him back on track.
I want no drama
It looks like the best light out here
Here he comes. That's him
[First in class: Pro Moto 50 // Team APS 501x // Race Mile 109 // 04:25am]
[End of Kevin's first section // Start of Rob's first race section]
We got it. We got it
Good job. Good job
How's it running? Everything good? No concerns?
You alright?
Yeah
You can grab the phone, Pete
Are we on Joey?
Yep
Where is the phone mate? Back one?
Yep
Bottom?
Umm, no it's in the camel pack one
Is it running ok?
Yeah, yup
Passed a few
[Tim removing the main headlight due to logistics of rider changes and support truck locations]
[Rob will race the remaining hours into sunrise utilising only the smaller headlight]
It's dusty. If you're behind someone you'll slow right down
I fell off
Wait, you fell?
It's dodgy man, along the coast
The fog and everyone's got fires going. So that and the fog
Oh, there was fog?
Yeah, there was fog and then all the fires, the smoke
the Stella's asking me, 'Is everything okay?'
[Helmet cam // Rob // Start of his first race section]
[First in class: Pro Moto 50 // Team APS 501x leads by 8 minutes]
Do you want an honest answer? Our guys can beat them, no problem. I really think that
I would rather have one 50 year old than two 25 year olds on the team. They're clear headed. You know, they're fit guys. They're excellent riders. Of course, that's kind of not as important. You know, anyone can ride a motorcycle fast. It's all the pieces coming together that make a successful team.
[Loreto // Race Mile 300 // 08:02am]
You know what, that's hard because some kids have been brought up
racing in Baja and
like Preston Campbell, Johnny Campbell's son
I guarantee you he's got the right mindset
for an endurance type race. I just find
that younger racers, you know, maybe they
want to go a little too hard. I'm going to be the fastest in this section. And that's the wrong mentality. I think the mentality is 'I'm going to get my teammate a solid bike, that's whole'
No bent bars, no levers missing. And that's what our guys do. There plan is to get the bike to the next rider and keep moving forward. At the 250, the 500 and the 400, we had one tip over crash. With three riders in three races, they fell one time. And I think that they won all three races in their class because they stayed upright and made good decisions. They're not young, they don't have to win it all. So I think they have a really good shot of
a top ten finish overall
If they hold it together and we have fast pits and everyone stays upright. I see them as a top five team.
The Australian guy. The guy that came with nothing is smoking everybody
What you think of the Kiwis?
[Jeff Kaplan: Baja Legend Racer - Pro Moto 60]
I like those guys, actually. They're cool. But the Aussies, I don't know
[Kevin's arrival for bike service. First in class: Pro Moto 50 // Team APS 501x lead by 1hr 07 minutes // Race Mile 300 // 08:52am]
Awesome
You good?
Good. Awesome. How you going?
We are ok. No problems
Let me do your goggles real quick Kev
Just try and clean the inside too please
Ok, you got it
Jen, get me that plastic bag with the filter in it?
Unbag
The wheel looks great. They're going to leave the wheel. It looks good.
oh yeah? So what else do they have to do? The air cleaner?
They are doing the filter right now
Ok, thank you. Awesome
Have you got an electrolyte? Please?
Do you hop on here Jeff?
That was quite technical that bit through there
I think that 500x bike is about 12 miles behind you
Oh, awesome
Good job, keep it up
Did it catch up to Rob much?
It's hard to tell. The tracking is off by a minute, two minutes here and there
They were real close together and you switched, and you left them
Righto cool!
Alright, get ready
Ok
Are we ready to go?
You're in
Shit I'm glad I wore goggles, and like, roll offs
With the rain?
Yeah a bit of rain here and there
I'll lift
Ready to go?
I have the stand
[San Ignacio // Race Mile 526 // 12:09pm]
My job here
is to get the bike to Elliot at mile 747
[Rider No.3: Mark Pollard]
and do it at a good speed. Have a good ride and get off it safe. Kevin's a machine. Rob's going to get here shortly. So, it will be good to get into it
How did you meet Kevin?
Oh, I've known him since I was a young kid. Well, not a young kid, like a teenager I suppose. I started racing with him. Me and him started
travelling around and racing and then
But later Elliot and myself all started travelling around and Sean as well. So, yeah, I've known him for years, you know. There like my best mates. I'd do anything for them, hey
Hey, Rob. Nice ride. You're about 45 minutes out. I think you're doing great. You're holding your position well. See you in a little bit
[Ron Wilson: Former Multi Baja Champion]
We will put on the big light. When you come up to the highway crossing up there at the gas station, the big gas station, the pit up there, you're going to pull up and we're going to throw it on the stand
We'll do both wheels. Maybe an air filter. But I don't know, we will see
In 45 minutes, he's here. Right on 01.00pm
That long. Then we are cutting it kind of close on our 03:00pm
No, because it's going to be 03.00pm when he gets there
And I'm not saying you are going to be doing 100 miles an hour
It's pretty unreal.
It's totally different to anything I've done, but
pretty big experience, a big learning curve. But
just the sheer
speed and
it's pretty new to me. And like, we don't even have straight roads that far in New Zealand and here we are riding straight for as far as you can see
You are over a brow, and as straight again for as far as you can see. And sand, and rocks. It's pretty cool.
Math is hard
15th here
[Tim calculating approximate race placing and estimated time of arrival]
Hurry up and wait
Oh hopefully we all just get there all safe and sound. We all have a good ride. There is still a long way to go and anything can happen
But hopefully we get there and win the 50s class and all have a good ride, walk on the plane all safe and do a good job for Rob
Tell me about Rob?
I haven't actually met him. I only found out I was coming to do this - another guy pulled out. So I only found out…
We were not long back, we did a motorcycle tour in India, in the Himalayas, and we got back from that and I knew Elliot and Kevin were going
and the guy pulled out, so they asked me. And I was like 'just an unreal opportunity hey' so, I was like, yeah, sweet, into it
So were into it, training hard, and here we are now, I'm not far off getting on the thing to do it. So fuck, yeah, pretty exciting
Well, here goes
I'm going to put it in there
Where do you want me?
Where do we want you?
[Restricted speed zone // 37mph]
[Rob's arrival for handover to Mark. First in class: Pro Moto 50 // Team APS 501x lead by 1hr 46 minutes // Race Mile 526 // 12:57pm]
Someone hold the bike
Hey Rob!
Mark, Mark, hold the bike
Okay
Number 1. Get the bike to Elliot
Yeah, for sure
Number 2. Don't miss any VCPs
Yep
And number 3. Go as fast as you can and don't fuck up number 1 and 2
What's up mate!? Good ride. Good ride
Doing a little preventative oil
All good. Excellent
One of the Baja Pit guys at the beginning…
Sorry, sorry
Okay
Well did it feel ok?
Yeah
It's fine
Alright, good work
Good work mate. You did good!
Nice ride
Tell the camera
Nate, listen to this
He says he frightened himself a few times
That's good
Watch out. You dropped something right there bud
Alright
Fuck I almost got taken out by two trucks in the square
Prick wouldn't stop
Today was the first time I met him.
[Voice of: Jennifer Morton on Mark]
So my impression is that he's a humble,
mellow, happy, go lucky guy. And I think in Baja, when you have calm thinking, calm movements, calm mind, and you can focus on what your goal is, you're not distracted by everything going on around you.
[Pit check // Mark Pollard // 45 minutes into his first race section]
When I met him and he had a calm demeanour, I knew right away he's going to do a great job. Yeah, for sure.
How did he go in that section?
He did great, my God. He railed it. I mean, he's new to desert. My brother was pre running with him and in the sand, my brother said there was one ranch house that was watering the dirt in front of their property and it was a sandy road, and they watered it
and then it was sandy after their driveway and Mark locked up the brakes and slowed down because he's like, it's wet. In New Zealand that would be slimy, you know. It's so green and lush there. And my brother told him, not it's just wet sand, you can just plow through that. So for him to learn the dirt that we have, you know, it's kind of like skiing.
You get a lot of reflection off the sand that the glare and a lot of people take time to get to know that dirt and read the bumps and the shadows. And he obviously learned that in the last few days. And then he killed it. We had one bike at the last pit was 14 minutes ahead of him.
When he came in here, they were only 5 minutes ahead of him. So he made up 9 minutes on the guy, you know, in a 45 minute section, super impressive ride by him. And just meeting him. It was pretty clear he was a calm guy and it was going to work out
Well, I just asked how
he was going. How do you find it? And he instantly was just, this is f'ing amazing
and the bike is just fantastic. And it's so good to be able to now ride at race pace on a race bike. You know, having only done track. And he was just fizzing, you know, I said; 'that's really cool'. And I just basically agreed with him and grinned with him. We didn't really need to say much. He said it all really
And then the focus was on what they were doing on the motor bike at that point. But I'd more to say to him when I first meet him
because he was in the mid point, he had to fly to San Diego
where as our flight flew down to Cabo, to start in La Paz. So I actually on different flights, so actually I had never met him. So the first time I met him was when I handed him the motorbike in the race. And, I said; 'G'day Mark, it's nice to meet you' and, he's said
[First in class: Pro Moto 50 // Team APS 501x lead by 1hr 45 minutes // Race Mile 597 // 02:36pm]
Yeah. Good to meet you, too, Rob'. And,
I just said that there's only three things that you need to do here. Number one, that bike; you've got to get that bike to Elliot. Number two, don't miss any VCPs, VCPs are a ten minute penalty each
And number three, go as fast as you can that doesn't jeopardize one and two. And he jumped on the bike and took off
[16 hours into the race at Race Mile 710, Rob, Kevin and Mark have Team APS 501x currently 8th overall closing in on 7th position and now with a huge lead over 2nd in Pro Moto 50 Class team 500x of 2hrs 15 minutes]
I had
heard he wasn't really coming to grips with pre running. And pre running is not pre racing. So they're just cruising and Ron was trying to show him how to just cruise and look for lines and how to avoid bad things in the desert
[Voice of: Tim Morton on Mark]
And so I kind of already had a thought in my head like; 'I wonder how this guy is going to do?'. And I met him and he was still in his street clothes and I'm thinking; 'I wonder if this guy knows he's going to go race a dirt bike here in about 30 minutes?' And I really was not very confident, only because we weren't sure he was taking to it
And, you know, so like I said, it's not pre racing. He went out there. He did a stellar job. He came in and he was excited. So he left San Ignacio calmly and quiet, came in there excited. He was pumped. So he jumped off the bike while we did the maintenance and he said, that was so much better going fast, you know, it was better, going faster. It was easier, going faster.
And you know, that is true in some cases. But you know, you can't do that pre running. That's why there's like six guys who aren't racing, because they got hurt pre running going too fast. So, I think that probably taught him a lot. That he needs to learn at a controlled speed and let's
turn it up a bit for the race and it'll be, you know, more exciting. A little more adrenaline made it more fun
And so, you know, maybe that more fun made it click for him and came all together and he really did well. Let's hope he's still doing well on this next section
It's aluminium Jen
I know. I'm just going to stick it there for a minute. I'm going to try and call him
mechanical is better than physical problem
[Race tracker has stopped // Notifications are coming through // 04:42pm]
Okay, so we don't know if it's mechanical or if he's injured. Okay. Can they send him one of those Yes/No signals that says, are you injured? Okay. He does have a sat phone and mine's on in case he calls me
[Jennifer talking to SCORE Race Control]
Got it. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Bye. He says that SCORE is trying to stop the rider that has passed him by
They're trying to message him on the Stella to find out if it's an injury or if it's just a mechanical. And they can send those little messages that say, are you injured? Yes or no? They said that they've sent him one, and he's not responding. But he could be working on the bike. Or...
He could and just not have any idea what that little box is doing
Or the Stella could just be unplugged, like it's come unplugged three times, right? So he says that somebody from SCORE is somewhere at a highway or a road crossing or something and they're trying to stop the next rider that passed him by to find out what's going on. So he told me, call him back in 5 minutes
It's ringing at least
[Race Tracer still stopped // 05:16pm]
Okay Ron, currently what I am thinking might have to happen is you might have to go to Bay of LA to hop on a bike and ride back to see what's going on there
Err, ok
Yeah, I know. We're still working on things and many riders have passed him, and got to Bay of LA and have said, Hey, that guy needs their chase truck, but we don't know what it's about. So I'm imagining…
I'm going to text him
I'm imagining that that probably means it's just a mechanical, because otherwise, if they said anything, if it was bad, they would be saying it. I don't know. We don't know. Jeff is trying to stop riders coming into Bay of LA to find out what's up too
[Confirmation // 05:42pm]
He's crashed and he's pretty beat up, but it doesn't sound critical. So we're not sure if the bike is fucked or he just can't get back on. So we're telling Elliot by message to get on his pre runner and ride backwards looking for him. That's all we know right now.
Ok. 10-4
And I know that is risky sending him as he doesn't have a fucking clue where he is going
He may not even be able to get through town
Yup, it's almost better if there's, like, two guys rode in double and got to him and then were able to cart him out riding double and the other guy ride the race bike if it runs
Yes, it sounds like, yeah
Maybe me and Elliot jump on the 650s..? Ehh
Yeah
Sean...tell Sean we're not... No way are we putting Jeff on a bike
But Ron is already on the Bay of LA road going in and Ron has his gear. Jeff doesn't have any gear either
Hey Mark? Are you hurt? You're not hurt. Okay. We know where you are
Stop the truck. Stop the truck. I can't hear. Okay. Okay. Let me ask you a few questions, okay? Okay. Let me ask you a few questions. Can you ride?
Is the bike rideable?
Okay, so we have two guys that are coming in there to you right now with the truck. The truck is coming in. The truck is coming in to you
If Elliot comes in, can he ride the bike out?
It won't start, but the bike is fine. Okay. Are you injured? The battery's flat from the light being on. Okay, so the chase truck is coming out with the battery charger, and they're going to pick you up
Can he ride?
No. The bike is flat. And he hit his head, he woke up under the bike. Okay, stay there. The chase truck is coming in to get you
Are you near the road where they can see you?
They're about an hour away. So stay visible
Leave your sat phone on. Okay. Okay, Good. Okay. Bye. He says the bike's rideable, and he, but he can't start it
Ron, copy Tim
Alright I'm with Tim
Ron, copy Tim
Yeah, go for Ron
Okay. He called us from the sat phone. He's. He can't. He cannot ride, but he's, it doesn't sound like he's very injured. The bike, he says, is rideable, but it won't start because we don't have a fucking kickstarter
So we need that jumper box and at least a ten millimetre tee handle to get the seat off
Ok, so should I jump on the bike and haul ass? And leave him there?
or let him start it and let him ride it?
No, but he can't ride. Correct Jen?
He cannot ride. He cannot physically ride. He has to go in a truck
Okay 10-4
Yes, so now that we know Mark's not hurt, badly hurt, and he's going to be okay. If Elliot can get the bike back here as fast as he can, we have to drop another battery in it and give a check over. He'll probably put the lights on properly now. We were planning to do that later check, and get him on his way
and we'll see how much time we get behind 500x. And if it's going to be one and a half, maybe up to 2 hours, there's still a chance, with what we have left of the race with Elliott and Sean to be able to pull that back and see what happens
[Restricted speed zone // 60mph]
[Lead Trophy Truck: Bryce Menzies // Red Bull]
[Approximately 4hrs since Mark's crash // Race Mile 747 // 08:42pm]
[Rider No.4: Elliot Kent]
That's good, just hop off. Hop off
I've lost the Stella, so I don't know how fast I'm going
Here, can you slide the box under?
The Stella came off
Yeah, gone
He's pretty fucked up, old Mark
Do you have the speaker?
Okay. So they don't have the speaker
No
I'm going to give you this sat phone since the other one is in the truck
No, you can leave it on, we need it. This is how you turn it on, right here
Hey, the spot tracker is gone
[Time to make some repairs and get back in the race]
The light is pointing to the right and up. So if we can get it lower and to the left
Can you see the pipe is bent?
Oh, it's fucked
We have Elliot's spot as a proof and that as proof
Yeah. I didn't think about that part of it
We need to chop that. If this is power, we might use shorting shit out
Okay
[The original race plan would have Team APS finishing without the trucks catching]
[Elliot will now need to race through the night with the lead Trophy Trucks, A1 Buggies and UTV's coming through]
Ok, so go and have a little bit of fun and don't worry if that muffler falls completely off
[Race Mile 747 // 09:52pm // Team APS 501x have lost over 5 hours since the crash and are now approximately 3 hours behind team 500x who are in 1st place]
[500x hold a big advantage as they race through the night in front of the Trophy Trucks]
[Team APS are now 3rd in Pro Moto 50 Class]
His fucking nose is definitely broken. Oh yeah. And it has a big gash. So we need some stitches in his nose. One of his hands is definitely broken. Like his fingers. I mean, it's…
So the motorcycle ripped his pants off. He was in the middle of a straightaway, right? He said he was probably doing 80mp/h. He wasn't pinned, but he was doing about 80mp/h. He hit a rock that he didn't see. And it just tossed him. So massive concussion. He may, this leg is pretty swollen right here.
Yeah so he maybe broke maybe the tibia, the small one, because he kind of could put some weight on it, but not really. We had to carry him. But I mean, he hit his face. I mean, he hit his face hard
[Jen joins Mark in ambulance enroute to hospital in San Diego, USA]
Did you talk to him?
Does he know who you are?
[Rider No.5: Sean Clarke]
I won the Australian Championship in 1988 for my class at the four day enduro
The Tarawera 100, the Romaniacs, and probably the Baja there. The six times we've done the Baja, it's always been a special type of race
I did this race, called the Vegas to Reno, 500 miles. But Tim signed up as a competitor, and right at the 300 mile mark, he did 50 miles so I could have a rest
and then I hopped back on and did the rest of the race. I got third in the Pro moto 40 and about 20th overall, so yeah I was pretty happy
but it was fast. My God, it was fast
The other teams all had other riders and I rode on my own
Basically Tim did 50 miles, and the funny thing was, when I gave Tim the bike at the 300 mile mark, I was coming second in the class [Second in class: Pro Moto 50 // Team APS 501x are 3 hours behind team 501x // Race Mile 1014 // 06:20am]
He went for 50 miles, we were winning it then, when he gave it back to me
So I went from first to third in the last 200 miles, but I was getting a bit tired by then
On dirt bikes, every now and then, I feel like I want to go out and do that again
but then, I spend a few miles going race pace, or what I think might be race pace, and I quickly get over it
I say, yep, I don't want to have anything to do with that anymore
I mean, shoot, I'm a year or two younger than all the guys on our team, but I'm just not as confident
and my wrists don't work as well, my eyes don’t work as well, so I've kind of moved on from two wheels racing to four wheels racing in a buggy
I'm 55 I think years old, and I've finally figured out what I want to do for a living, is I want to get paid to race off-road cars
but there's no future in that
[Trophy Trucks, A1 Buggies and lead UTVs are now all on course with Sean]
[The Trophy Trucks and buggies start 6 hours behind the last motorbike team]
[The vehicles are considerably faster than the motorcycles and quad bikes]
I never really thought about it till afterwards, and I was just waiting, waiting. You know? He's coming. He's coming
because of the section of track he had too was real narrow and rocky and slow and the trophy trucks
[Voice of: Sean Clarke on Elliot]
don't go slow
in the rocks
Yeah
It was pretty amazing that he got through. He had an off. But yeah, I don't even know what would have been going on in his mind
He now gets handed; 1. A bent bike. The bike's bent and the exhaust pipe was crushed
It was underpowered
2. The trophy trucks
started to come through. So he had
it must have been easily 40 odd
[Voice of: Robert Creemers on Elliot]
trophy trucks, A-1 buggies and some of the lead off roaders coming through in his whole section. So he had the toughest section, in terms of technical rocky, horrible parts, a bent bike, first time he'd ever raced and ridden at night
[San Felipe // Race Mile 1100 // 07:48am]
trophy trucks coming through every five to ten minutes
and
he still passed ten bikes
and kept us on track. I think it was impressive
You couldn't
ask someone to do something as hard,
as a
first
effort in a Baja race
That was so fucked
That freaked me out hey. That freaked me the fuck out
I never want to be that close again
On the course, when we were tending to the bike and Mark, and those trucks went by at about 220km/h.
Sounded like a missile
Luckily they were spread out. I only had to pull over for, I think, four. I'd see them coming, I'd just..
I pulled over for a few more. About ten
About 10?
Yeah, that’s why. That's how you lost time
You had to pull over and stop
3 minutes each time
That may have been an hour
It was, 50 minutes
Yeah, that's it. It makes sense
Yeah, it was. It was hard. Yeah, a bit hard picking it up from Mark. It took me a while to forget about that. Trying to forget about it and get into the groove
[Rider No.4: Elliot Kent]
Once you've been on it for half an hour you are sort of used to it
How was your first experience with the old trophy trucks mate?
Yeah mate, that was insane. Like, unbelievable
I was glad I was on the side of the road because it is incredible
Like hairs on the back of your neck stand up sort of shit, hey. Yeah. So fast
[Voice of: Elliot Kent on Mark]
It's a bloody horrible, it's a terrible feeling. Yeah. Knowing that he's out there. Well hoping that it's not him and he's out there. Yeah. No it's not nice. But we sort of had a bit of an inkling when there was a bike came past the next bike that came past and stopped in there for a few minutes
And when he sort of thought, we need to deal with this. Yeah.
absolutely
You know, the dangers. It's motor racing. There's an element of risk there for sure. And it's yeah, this is probably one of the riskier ones, the speed and the unknown. But we do know it, we've pre ridden it, so you do know it, but anything can catch you
Yeah, anything can catch you here
Where he was, luckily we could get to him and we drove 40 miles backwards on the track against the oncoming traffic to get to him
which was a thing in itself, you know, old Ron did bloody well driving that truck against the traffic. Yeah, amazing, amazing to get to him. But we knew we sought of had to get there. Somebody had to get out there to get him
We just heard he's in surgery now, so hopefully he'll be out of it or something by the time we get up there. Hopefully we'll be able to get him on a plane and bring him home with us, be bloody terrible to go home and have to leave him here
So Mark and I took
four different ambulances
[Voice of: Jennifer Morton]
We started out at the Bay of L.A. road
and luckily there was an ambulance provided by scored pretty close by. So we rode two hours in that ambulance
We got in a second ambulance where they met each other on the highway. Because one ambulance can't leave their post
[Waiting on Sean // Race Mile 1165 // 09:45am]
you know, for very long. So they have to go back to where they were
Two hours later we were in San Felipe
where they actually took him into a clinic
and
it was a dirt floor, there was an X-ray shed in the back. And, they wanted to keep him and do some X-rays. And, Mark and I conferred and decided that no, we're only two hours from the US border. And so we took a third ambulance,
to Mexicali to the US border
My role in this race is to take the bike from 1015 miles through to the end
[Rider No.5: Sean Clarke]
I'm getting my hip replaced in June, ahh December, sorry. It's wearing out and better to get it done before it's completely knackered
Once it gets bone on bone, you're pretty close to walking stick
so, it's a maintenance thing really. And you get it done before you need to
But the race itself, yeah, it gets a bit sore but nothing too bad. But I've been racing bikes
for 40 odd years, a long time.
[Second in class // Pro Moto 50 Team 500x // 1st place team 500x is now close to finish]
[Restricted speed zone // 60mph]
[Race Mile 1200 // 110 Miles to Finish]
[Heading to the finish to meet Sean]
I thought; that looks so much like Cate!
[Cate Creemers: Robert's Wife]
I was wondering if you would notice me
[Cate surprises Rob by meeting him at the finish line]
Did you have any idea?
No!
When I sent you the photo of the hotel last night, I was sending it to Kim, showing her the way I had to plug my charger in
Can you take photos from up there? Because Jen can't make it
[Awaiting Sean's imminent arrival]
It was heartbreaking to me because I was with them all year, all four races, and you become family with these people you're in the desert with all day, you know, for a week at a time. And I wanted to share that excitement with them
[Voice of: Jennifer Morton]
and two of the wives came to the finish line. I wanted to meet the wives that had been supporting them all year, and I definitely feel like I missed out on that, the final climax, you know
[Sean arrives at the finish to complete the Baja 1000 for 2023]
But making sure that Mark was safe was a huge priority over that
In my opinion, they recovered phenomenal. I mean,
once we got the headlights straightened out and I think the bar's a little straightened out
Elliot got on that motorcycle and he was so hyper focused that, you know, he took off into the night like
nothing happened. And you can tell that he is a seasoned, seasoned racer
He was not rattled, and I know it was his good friend and they ride together at home a lot but
the way he was focused on everything was so impressive
And then after him, Sean Clark rode and the exact same thing happened
At that point, the goal was to get to the finish line. But they
wanted to win. They really, really wanted to win and they were reeling in that next bike
A little less downtime and I know that they would have had it
Yes, I know we could have won this race and
this was important to me, very important winning this race.
And we had an awesome team. Like Mark and Elliot just fitted in that dynamic really well and Mark was going extremely well, just awesome and we had a good lead. Everything was going well. You know, you can think now perhaps we could have eased it off a bit. But you know, you can say that all you want
[2023 Baja 1000 // 2nd place // Pro Moto 50 // 37 hours 33 minutes 10 seconds]
[With approximately 6 hours lost time for the accident, Team APS recover to finish 2nd in Pro Moto 50 Class and 14th overall]
But what happens is what happens. And yet, mechanically the bike held together. So
it was a little bit disappointing we didn't get first, but at least Mark's still with us, so. And we did get second. But
personally, I was hoping to get
in the top ten and I felt that we were probably heading for
quite a bit better than that, 5 to 6 to 7
in there somewhere, looking at the calibre of the other riders and where we were sitting.
[Team APS become the first team outside of the Americas to win The Championship]
But, that's the way it's unfolded. We got second, so we won the championship, which nobody outside Mexico or the States has ever won a championship, in 56 years
So it's something to be quite proud of
And I'm sort of honoured to be riding on this team,
too
Like, Rob's been awesome and, it's yeah, it's quite an honour to be riding with these fellows
not many people get the opportunity to ride an event like this
it's huge on the world
motorcycle stage
Yeah, he's
in San Diego Hospital, so we're going to get up there and see how he is and just, organize a few things. He won't be going home in a real hurry, so he's got a couple of broken bones, so we'll just go
sort them out
I first heard about it at about
4:00pm maybe on the first day, and my wife text me from New Zealand and 'why is the bike not moving?' So we started to look into it and, I was hoping to be honest, that the bike had blown up because it's the last thing you want is for someone to get hurt
But that wasn't the case. He must have hit a rock, probably at a real high speed, and you got to realize there's thousands of rocks here hey. And we've been pretty lucky, to be honest.
Yeah, he's had a big crash. Hurt himself pretty badly. But that's what goes with racing motorbikes or anything you do in life
You can't dwell on it too much. So I just carried on. We did our part, you know.
I would have been way happier if the bike had blown up for him to get hurt like that. But it was the other way around. So yeah
What were your first thoughts when you saw him lying there?
Oh poor bugger. But at least he's alive. And then we got a meal in to him and he just, he just perked up more and more as we went on
during that time
But yeah. Not very nice when you first saw him there
What do you think he so when he first saw you?
Oh relieved. Just to see some mates and he was happy as….Yeah, really happy
No, we are all pretty close with each other, so
you just feel real bad for your mate. And it could have happened to any one of us. It happened to Rob
He got knocked out
He'll be in a bit of pain. He won't say that but he might get a bit uncomfortable at times today, I'd say. He won't complain though, as you know
Fill him up with some painkillers and some anti-inflammatories and he'll be good. He'll be relieved. Get out of there and start getting home
Oh I've
I've got to get up and I've got to get to Elliot
I was dreaming,
And then I thought, I've got to get hold of someone
I'd never even used the sat phone before
And I was trying to figure out how to…
So I got hold of someone
I didn't have a clue. I didn't even know I had a sore leg at that stage
I thanked Robert personally for putting everything together. I mean, Tim did the logistics and everything, but Rob is the heart and soul of the team
Rob is the one that had the idea and put it all together from New Zealand to do it and had the wherewithal to contact him. And I thanked him personally for that because I got to meet some great people. Met Kevin, Pete and Rob a few years ago. And we've raced since then and I just met Elliot and Mark this time
Sean is an animal and I love, I love every one of you guys and every one of the riders were doing fantastic
Going into it,
[Voice of: Tim Morton]
in my opinion, I thought we were going to have a good battle with the team that eventually won.
I was confident that we could beat them in the riding department. I wasn't 100% sure we would beat them in penalties, which we ended up getting virtually none.
I was pretty confident we could do it. I knew it would be a battle
and then the rain started coming and I said, this is going more in our favour
Conditions that those other guys aren't used to, but our guys are. And
we never were losing time to them. We were always gaining
I hate to say it, but it was
much easier
than I thought it was going to be
Mark got off
and he was super stoked and he was loving it
I was pumped. I was like, Yes,
he's now focused and enjoying this kind of
racing
And
he's going to be
great the rest of his loop
Obviously that turned out bad
All the other riders you talk to say, man, it was like a minefield where he crashed, and fast and a minefield of boulders and, you know, all it takes is one. And that's what got us.
And,
it could have ended up much worse.
glad he's
going to come through this.
you know, then, of course, our whole
plan gets
thrown out the window.
This year was a disappointment, really. Because of the way the race unfolded and how well we were doing. And then to have Mark's little accident, and, well not little one... And then, you know, but to finish it after that, I think is a major accomplishment
I've sort of said a couple of times
I probably won't go back. But then you think after time you forget, you know? But, I've always, I've not so much enjoyed the actual conditions of the tracks. The whoops, the rocks, the whoops and the rocks, you know. But I've enjoyed the racing. That's what I like
[Sean Clarke // Helmet cam]
But yeah, whether or not, I don't know. I'm undecided. Yeah. It's a hard one really
I'd love to do it again. Honestly, Yeah, I'd love it
Or even jump on someone else's team
Yeah, I enjoy it
I love racing. I still love racing at my age, so I'll keep doing it
I knew that they'd be gutted because they did get second in that last race. But we sort of knew they only had to line up to win the series. So that was a plus. But
[Voice of: Lynn Archer]
that was, yeah, a bit gutting that they didn't win the last one
But they were already talking now. Did you hear that? I've got to go back and win that one. I've got to go back and win that one…And they will
They'll go back and they'll win, or they'll go back?
No, they'll go back and they'll win it. That's the plan
because they're all tough guys like
these are Kiwis
yeah
I've got a bit going on because I've got the bone down here's broken and they've put a couple of little screws through there and then they put a couple of screws through the ankle to put the ligament back on and then they just went in from behind and did the PCL
So did you have a knee guard on?
Yeah, knee braces, yeah. When I woke up, it had bloody pulled my pants off
[Mark's Pollard's motorcycle pants from the crash]
the knee brace was all smashed and my boot was all pulled apart too
when I come off it was still daylight
but when I come to it was almost dark. I must have been out for a little bit.
You were out for a little while
Yeah. And then that guy helped me and
I reckon it would have been probably 5 minutes, 10 minutes maybe, I was lying there trying to get myself out from under the bike
You must have been a bit of pain?
No, no.
Were you sore in the ambulance?
I was a bit for an ambulance when they were pushing on my side and stuff a little. So
because I didn't think I was to bad, you know? I knew I had a bit of a sore hand and I thought; this one's alright, I could still move it
They put me in the emergency room and there is about ten people all hovering over me, working on me and stuff and I thinking 'shit'
'well, maybe I am a bit broken'. But I wasn't sore or anything hey
I can see why you keep going back. You know, like you get the bug for it pretty easy, wouldn't you?
I've got probably way more interest in it now than what I ever had
Like
now that you know a bit about it and how gnarly and everything it is. I've got a whole different level of respect for the dudes doing it. Yeah, it's a pretty mean race. There's nothing really around like it is there
[Paraplegic rider soloing the Baja 1000 2023]
And you know, a lot of people you talk to have heard of it, but probably don't really grasp what it actually is
I had a real good run up until then I had no,
problems, I hadn't hit anything. I hit a couple of rocks in the silt and stuff and I thought shit, that's hit hard. And I can still picture all the little, you know, little shortcuts and all the dangerous little bits like cattle stops and…
Do you reckon that one day you will be back over there?
oh, I'd love to hey. So I've got to get myself right first. So one thing at a time
Do you reckon it is haunting you a little bit?
Yep, yep. Without a doubt. It's like, you know
They're my best mates; Kevin and Junior and Elliot. They've been my best mates, you know, ever since I started racing, you know, the last thing I want to do is let them down and let the team down
it's, you know, it's happened. I can't do anything about it now
So given that you didn't win, fell so short of the Baja 1000
are you going back?
It's first thing my wife asked me. And my answer was, 'I feel like it's unfinished business'. And her immediate response was; 'oh you're going back'. I said to her, look, I need a couple of months just to mull over it and maybe let the whole thing sink in a little bit about what we actually did achieve, rather than focus on what we didn't
and maybe you could look at it and say, well, probably it was, you know, you can say, well, the Baja will bite you sometimes. And it did. And we still managed to finish and we still managed to get our objective, achieve the objective. We didn't achieve, the one thing was to finish 1000 as a first in our class and a top ten finish
We entered that race with that objective in mind, but can't take away the true objective was to win the championship. And we did that. And so, you could say we still did well in the 1000, so. It gets in your blood. I mean, I've done six races there now, you know, and we are getting good at it
We're getting better. And so, you know, even talking to Mark last night, you could see the enthusiasm in him. And he's sitting at the table wrapped up in bandages and half crippled. He wants to go back - you can see that. Kevin definitely does. So, Sean, maybe, he'll probably change his mind. Especially if Kevin gets into his ear
Yeah
I'd say it's 50/50, but there's one 50 that's bigger than the other
That's a long way to go around just saying 'yes'!
So we will see you next year then!
[Team APS become the first full foreign team in the history of the Baja to win The Championship]
[Team APS: A Decade of Racing]
God dammit! This is not a trash can!
Oh shit. Don't put that in the film
Oh you're busted! You're busted!
I was just kidding Tim. Don't yell at me
Tim, Tim, Tim
[To the kids in need that Team APS will continue to support]
[To whom makes racing enjoyable and possible]
I was the one that helped him get his leg out of his tyre. And I cut his suit and everything. I called it in, and,
I got the bike up and put it next to a bush and stuff, so I made sure to get him out of the race course, make sure he was good. I kept on thinking about him; wondering how he was doing and stuff
[Mark is looking great!]
[Mark is still not feeling any pain and recovering well]
[Dedicated to Kris Morris-Vette: Gone too soon]
[1st Place Pro Moto 50 Class // Congratulations Giovanni Spinali]
Well done mate
Good to meet you. Good job
[Media Conference // Pre race // La Paz]
Representing New Zealand one more time at the SCORE race in the Baja 1000. There they are. Alright, Richard
It's Robert
Oh, I know. Thank you. Thank you for coming back.
It's Robert
Ok, Robert. Thank you
Thank you. Robert.
Richard
Just call me Dick
[When the racers provide the filmmaker with footage…]
A piece of wood, four Mexicans, and we'll be out in no time
You've got 30 minutes of dancing to do mate
[Pete educating Rob on catching an Uber…]
Oh, so he drives all the way up to you?
Yeah
Oh that's pretty cool
Uber!
Uber
[Team APS: A Decade of Racing]