mexican 1000

[Baja Dad]

Originally Posted by Pantah

Given your constraints, I'd say the effort was a remarkable success. Maybe not for everybody, but it seemed the same group of front runners were pretty steady in their times for the entire 900 miles of racing sections. Maybe there were a few slow stages due to a fall or a wrong turn, but nothing that cost more than 15 or so minutes for anybody. That's pretty darn good. Not unlike the Dakar in that way. After a few stages, the only way to catch up more than a few minutes at a time was if the rider being chased made a big mistake.

I thought it was fascinating to watch unfold on my little screen.

Great Job Hoggy!

I for one thought the roadbook was 90% spot on!
I have raced in Mexico for many years and this was my first roadbook
Race and I only over shot two turns at that was on day3.
I would say( if mag 7 would know where to go and set upearly)
The gas stops need to be added to the roadbook.
Also a 2nd support book needs to be made and given to each team for
The support trucks.so they know where to go

[HogWild]

Originally Posted by Baja Dad

I for one thought the roadbook was 90% spot on!
I have raced in Mexico for many years and this was my first roadbook
Race and I only over shot two turns at that was on day3.
I would say( if mag 7 would know where to go and set upearly)
The gas stops need to be added to the roadbook.
Also a 2nd support book needs to be made and given to each team for
The support trucks.so they know where to go

This is all great feedback!

The past two years I did put the Mag7 pits into the roadbooks. This year it was clear to me early that they didn't know what was going on, and they ignored my comments, so I didn't put their pits in. I was afraid if I put them in, I'd have them in the wrong place.

All the Pemex stations I was aware of were put into the roadbooks. But even that's somewhat risky since some of them are unexpectedly closed.

[beechum1]

Originally Posted by HogWild

This year it was clear to me early that they didn't know what was going on, and they ignored my comments

or even show up

[Anders Green]

Originally Posted by Baja Dad

I would say( if mag 7 would know where to go and set upearly)
The gas stops need to be added to the roadbook.

In general, the road books, as printed, only contain the official info from the organizers. Once you start putting one third party in there, you've opened the doors to a million others. An since everyone's support plan is different, that just adds to the complication.

The racers should integrate their particular support plan to their own road books. That's part of prepping your chart, is to modify and mark it up to suit your race.

Well, I just woke up... first night with more than five hours sleep in eight days. Made it home from Baja late last night.

What an adventure!

Anders

[Baja Dad]

Originally Posted by Anders Green

In general, the road books, as printed, only contain the official info from the organizers. Once you start putting one third party in there, you've opened the doors to a million others. An since everyone's support plan is different, that just adds to the complication.

The racers should integrate their particular support plan to their own road books. That's part of prepping your chart, is to modify and mark it up to suit your race.

Well, I just woke up... first night with more than five hours sleep in eight days. Made it home from Baja late last night.

What an adventure!

Anders

The Roadbook should only contain the official info from the organizers and that was MAG 7,and Mag 7 droped the ball.

[HogWild]

Originally Posted by Anders Green

The racers should integrate their particular support plan to their own road books. That's part of prepping your chart, is to modify and mark it up to suit your race.

Originally Posted by Baja Dad

The Roadbook should only contain the official info from the organizers and that was MAG 7,and Mag 7 droped the ball.

I think it's sort of half way between what both of you say. If Mag7 pits are put into the roadbook (like Dakar puts their fuel stops in), then NORRA should dictate those locations so they don't move or set up someplace off the course. But as Anders points out, the roadbooks should be custom marked up based on each competitors plan. I doubt many brought along the colored highlighters, and marked them up the way it's supposed to be done. Each year I think bugs will get worked out, and competitors will learn more about how to do a rally.

Anders, can you explain a little about how the official timing is done, and how the timecards play into that. What happens if a timecard is lost or tampered with? What is the purpose of the timecard? Were there any problems with timing this year? Are you aware of anyone being caught shortcutting or otherwise cheating? I know much of it, but I think it might help others to understand how it's done, and how it all worked out.

[desert650]

Originally Posted by Baja Dad

The Roadbook should only contain the official info from the organizers and that was MAG 7,and Mag 7 droped the ball.

Well, since we're on the subject.
Mag 7 did me pretty dirty last year... Failed to deliver my fuel to pit 1 and pit 2 on day one (nothing there for me at all except some fuel out of their generator - i was one pissed off racer), and only had race gas for me on day 2. WTF?!

I was clear as can be... pump gas only! Needless to say, my co-rider let them dump their race gas at pit 1 / day 2 (I wouldnt have)... the motor ran super lean on that oxygenated fuel... eventually melted down.

Their response? "Sorry, I dropped the ball"

HAHAH! You got that right! For the money you think they'd get their head out of their a$$.

I know this isnt the place to air out your dirty laundry... but I will NEVER use them again!

[beechum1]

Home.

Sent from my MB855 using Tapatalk 2

[crankshaft]

Mike and I just crossed the border, heading east.....

Had a great time, already planning for next year. I'm the first official entry for 2013

[Anders Green]

Back in the land of drinkable water! I'll call you later on! :-)

[oregoncoast]

Back in the states! Sitting in the San Francisco airport waiting for another flight . Crazy week, great race!

[Kootenai Rider]

Guerro Negro to Grapevine California.... A great week of racing and good people.... looking forward to rolling into Portland late tomorrow night.

Thanks everyone!

[troy safari carpente]

Originally Posted by Baja Dad

I for one thought the roadbook was 90% spot on!
I have raced in Mexico for many years and this was my first roadbook
Race and I only over shot two turns at that was on day3.
I would say( if mag 7 would know where to go and set upearly)
The gas stops need to be added to the roadbook.
Also a 2nd support book needs to be made and given to each team for
The support trucks.so they know where to go

BajaDad wrote me:

"Troy,
Next year you need to come over and ride with Team Forest Plywood.
I think we are going to try to field three bikes..."


I replied;

Seem's like the NORRA Mex 1K was a fun event... always thought the "rally format" would work well down in Baja (with regards to the transit's on public roads etc.) in contrast to the wide open SCORE Baja 1000 style (ie: race course the entire distance... from start to finish) format. Both have their attractions... both have advantages and some disadvantages - from safety or organisational/logistic aspects, but both are great iconic events... one well established and the other with a promising future.

It would be great to get back to Baja again to experience either or both events... Baja is one of the greatest places I've had the privelige to ride and race over the years, and one I would gladly take the chance to get back to.

Well done NORRA and it's sponsors, supporters and volunteer officials as well as all the competitors and crews that made it all happen!

[Anders Green]

Originally Posted by HogWild

Are you aware of anyone being caught shortcutting or otherwise cheating?

Whether I knew anything or not, as an official it would be improper to discuss it here.

Originally Posted by HogWild

Anders, can you explain a little about how the official timing is done, and how the timecards play into that. What happens if a timecard is lost or tampered with? What is the purpose of the timecard?

Sure.

Your time at each control is recorded in four places:

1. On the paper timecard that you're carrying with you
2. On the vinyl sticker that's attached to your vehicle
3. On the log sheet for that control
4. In the digital camera at the end of the day that takes a picture of the sticker on your vehicle. (final control only)

The time cards are collected at the end of each day. That's when they get transferred to me. The distance between where they are collected and where I have computers set up to crunch scoring is about anywhere from 80 feet (Bay of LA) to two tenths of a mile (La Paz). I walk out and collect them in batches to start putting the numbers in to the database. Once they're in, crunch-crunch-crunch goes the computer, and out comes lots of numbers.

That's "round 1". So, no time card, no scores, in round 1.

The scores from the controls in the field get moved in in a variety of ways. Some get emailed in. Some get called in by sat phone. Sometimes this is prompt. Other times, the desert being what it is, this communication may take a long time. Think of it this way: the timing crew stays there till the checkpoint closes, and then sometimes has to drive an hour till they can get internet and email the log. So you could finish the day at 3pm. A crew that we need data about you from may not close up till 10pm, then drive till 11pm, email me, at which point I'm already working on the start order for the next day, then packing up the "office" to get up tomorrow at 5:30am to get on a little plane to fly ahead of the race. So your time from noon yesterday (as far as the logs go) could not get churned till 24 hours later. (Of course, if you had your time card, no problem.) And if there's a time from the time card that's different from the time on the logs, that gets flagged, and we go back and check all the sources by hand to wrestle out the correct time.

Round 2 starts later that night. We work on reconciling the log from the final control at the end of the day with the scores that have come in. That's when we discover "Oh, 155 is here, but we have no scores for him." Double check the time card stack, nothing there. Then we look at the pictures that were taken of the timecard stickers on the vehicles. We pull the info off there. (If, like Octavio, you have "151" on your sticker, and "155" on your bike and you're registered under "155", we punt and say "We'll just find him tomorrow morning.")

Round 3 is looking through the logs and pulling out more info on people who might never be seen again. If you complete only 1 of 2 stages in a day, then head north because you're broken, we'll never get your time card. Getting this data is extremely problematic.

Round 4 is a never ending analysis of who is DNF and who has missed stages. Take crankshaft for example. First, he was DNF'd. Then, he told me he was back in and would have a new bike for tomorrow. So, now he's un-DNF'd, and given the max stage times for the two stages on the day that he missed. Later, he didn't ride, and now he's DNF'd again, and those max stage times are removed. Round 4 starts on day one and doesn't let up til, oh, half an hour before results are posted on Day 4.

So, the guys that are winning... they're pretty easy. They have times for every control and they show up every day on time. It's the folks that are having, we'll say it like this: "an unconventional amount of adventure", that actually take up the largest amount of effort to score.

Bottom line, lose your time card... you might not see scores for yourself for 48 hours. Currently there's no penalty for losing your timecard, but wait a few weeks.

Originally Posted by HogWild

Were there any problems with timing this year?

There are always little things. For example, we had a clock out in the field that was not synced to GPS time. This resulted in a racer who checked in right at the edge of their 30 minute window getting a three minute late penalty. He filed an inquiry (and remember everyone, "inquiries" only mean "please inquire", they are not "protests") and said that the clock used to time him was off. We did a verbal sync over the sat phone and discovered that the clock was indeed off by one minute and 18 seconds. We removed two minutes of penalty out of the three minutes.

Summary: It's not just rally, and it's not just desert racing. The combination of the two makes for some of the most interesting rules and philosophy intersections that I've seen in ten years. (Like ask me some time about the chat I had with Robbie Gordon one night about "speedfactors", which is how we were determining start orders for Day 2, 3, and 4.) NORRA is super vintage-friendly and very newbie-friendly. Pretty amazing event. Let's do it again next month!

Anders

[beechum1]

Originally Posted by beechum1

This is how I envision friday night developing:

Download Video as MP4

I wasn't far off