Baja 2000

              Photo by Cindy Monroe near Ibarra

1726 miles of Heaven and Hell-GPS goes along for the ride

SCORE International goes for history with the longest race ever. After 32 years of racing down the Baja peninsula, El Presidente Sal Fish creates the mother of all off road races for 2000.  Most of the 261 teams that entered used GPS to help navigate the grueling and exotic 1726 miles of the peninsula.  “GPS gives you confidence and helps you drive faster by knowing where the hazards are,” stated Jay Vreeland, co-driver of Vildosola Racing.

By Jack W. Peters

Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur November 2000.  The finish line and party central after a little breakfast and sleep for those fortunate enough to complete the 1726 mile race.  Starting in Ensenada, zig-zaging down the peninsula through such towns as Santo Tomas, San Quintin, Santa Rosalilita, Bahia de LA, San Ignacio, La Paz, Totos Santos, then finishing in Cabo. The 261 entries include 181 trucks and buggies and 80 motorcycles and quads in one of 24 pro classes and 6 sportsman classes.  Race teams entered from 30 U.S. states and various countries including Australia, Canada, England, Japan, New Zealand, and Switzerland. This is off- road’s richest race totaling over $500,000 in cash and contingency prizes.

MacPherson Chevrolet’s Class 7 S-10 blasting to the finish

Benefits of GPS

So you may be wondering how these racers successfully navigate over hundreds of miles of desert where one dirt road that looks just like another without getting lost?  Most of the teams obviously use GPS, but he question is how?  In addition to GPS, racers also use 50 watt VHF FM radios and satellite phones to keep in contact with their crews.

Receivers could be spotted of all brands, shapes and sizes, but the most common seen was the larger screen styles such as the Lowrance GlobalMap 1600.  Small screens are difficult enough to read in a bouncing car, so the larger four inch screen models are the best choice for good visibility without taking up too much dash space. 

This first step is to get the race course and its checkpoints programmed as waypoints (WP) into the receiver’s memory.  There is a basically three ways of doing so.  The first way is to pre-run the course and manually save every point of interest (POI) as a waypoint into the receiver.  This would be a fun and actuate way to do if you have a week or two to kill.  Another option is to take the coordinates off a map by making longitude and latitude or UTM measurements and convert them to waypoints.  Points of interest maybe marked already, or a map ruler is used to determine the coordinates.  This is not the most accurate way, but it covers the basics without much cost or time. 

The third and slickest way is to down load a map already prepared by BF Goodrich.  These folks were nice enough to already map out the course down the 1/10^th mile, and mark the start, finish, and the 24 checkpoints in between.  These electronic maps also include hazard areas and pit locations.  Using a PC cable, the map can be downloaded right into the GPS unit.  Sounds too good to be true?  Well it is.  With a race of this distance, GPS receivers do not have enough memory to store all of the detail needed.  Their original bread-crumb trial included 17,000 points.  In the interest of memory, these points were reduced to 3,000 and the course split into two sections.

Plot trial one is the start to San Ignacio, Plot trial two is San Ignacio to finish.  The problem is both sections use too much memory to be downloaded together.  A possible solution is load them into different units that could be traded out at the half way driver’s change.  Luckily off-road races are not usually this long so receiver memory is not as crucial of a problem.

BF Goodrich will email the mapping information to you if you race with their tires and agree to their copyright agreement.  They do provide excellent pit support anyway, and this GPS mapping support service is an added bonus.  For more information check out their web site at: www.rlhcom.com.

The entered waypoints provide an outline of the course for critical distance information.  This includes exactly how far traveled, how far to go, and the distance between each checkpoint and other points of interest.  Other desert race car luxuries provided through GPS include a speedometer and altimeter.  Receivers can also be programmed to provide units of fuel consumption per hour.  Before GPS, obtaining this information in any degree of accuracy was a brain numbing exercise in fuzzy math.  Waypoints are made easier to read by customizing them with icons.  Pit stops can get the fuel pump symbol, and danger areas can get the skull and cross bones.

Click for larger image

Baja 2000 by the numbers ·         1726 miles thought eight cities & towns ·         Longest race in Baja’s 23 year race history ·         261 entries in 30 race classes that include trucks, buggies, motorcycles & quads ·         181 trucks & buggies, 80 bike & ATV ·         179 finishers within an 80 hour time limit ·         First place over all is Johnny Campbell - Tim Staab on a Honda motorcycle.  Finished in 30:54 hours at an average speed of 54.3 MPH. ·         First place for four wheeled vehicles was Dan Smith - David Ashley in the Duralast Ford Trophy truck.  Finished in 32:15 hours,   at an average speed of 52 MPH.

Equipment used and setup

The most widely used receiver of the race was the Lowrance GlobalMap 1600.  Its four inch screen and 2 megabytes of memory made it an ideal choice.  The unit’s base map of Mexico is better than expected and it is tough enough to withstand the brain-jarring vibration of off-road racing.  But who wants to use stuff right out of the box without tweaking it first?  Some common modifications include rock shields, button covers, and external speakers.

The guys at Vildosola Racing take the challenge seriously.  They spend eleven days pre-running the course, many areas twice.  They entered their pit locations and 300 hazard waypoints.  Co-driver Jay Vreeland of San Diego explains that he wanted to keep the screen simple.  He was not so concerned about the coarse map as he was the hazards.  As one of the main responsibilities of a co-driver, his job is to warn the driver of upcoming problem areas.  300 hazard locations were programmed that set off the receivers audible alarm.

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Vreeland said that you just can’t remember where all of the hazards and big ditches are.  The equipment increases confidence by notifying you of these problem areas allowing you to drive much faster.  “I’ve raced many years with and without GPS,  there is no way I would be without it.”  Team Vildosola finished 5^th in Class 1 unlimited buggy, and 8^th overall.

A techies dream come true This cockpit is a good example of off-road racing’s growing high tech trend.  Large screen GPS like this Garmin Map 162.   A 50 watt VHF FM radio system where helmets are wired for communication with the radio as well as an intercom system between the driver and co-driver. A TerraTrip rally computer provides additional timing information.

MacPherson’s Class 7 also contained some interesting electronics.  Besides using GPS, they also incorporate a new satellite email communication system allowing text messages to be sent and received worldwide.  Two vehicle-tracking systems including ORBCOMM were installed added dependability.  GM Engineers from the Desert Proving Ground in Phoenix, AZ set up the systems to maintain contact with the race truck and chase rigs. 

With an onboard computer, email is sent and received through a base relay system utilizing satellite communication.  Vehicles are also tracked on a computer screen with five-minute updates.  Another advantage to the system is the ability to monitor onboard electronic systems.  For example, six imputes in the ORBCOMM system provide the opportunity for a tracking station to see if the engine is running or if the lights are on.  Like most new technology, it works but no without some bugs.  Messages were not always received immediately, sometimes taking hours due to possible interference with satellite signals. 

The winning Duralast Ford Trophy truck team of Dave Ashley also used satellite communication to their advantage.  Data-ports from the back of their Lowrance GPS receivers fed their whereabouts through satellite communication gear courtesy of TMI Communication of Canada.  This allowed the truck’s location to be tracked in real time on a lap top computer.  Satellite communication and tracking is still very new technology with mucho room for improvement.  Fortunately even in its infancy, this technology is still useful.  With equipment constantly being tested and upgraded we should see continual tangible improvements in the technology and its application.  We will be watching closely.  Look for upcoming articles on satellite communication and tracking soon.

Ashes to Ashes – Dust to Dust

SCORE officials kneel over the ashes of the late John Kealey. Best friend Jim Brannon of Douglasville, Georgia approached the finish line with a zip lock back of gray powder marked “John.”  In an emotional tribute to his friend, he scattered ashes on the finish line.  John Kealey was a fellow racer who recently died of cancer.  In a choked up voice Brannon stated, “He would have wanted it that way.”

Be sure to check out our article Real Mexico Travel Tips.

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