![]() These 2,800-pound custom chromoly caged desert racers can handle most obstacles with their extremely wide wheel base and 18 inches of travel provided by their dual Fox shocks. Specially designed Desert Challenge cars, powered by 2.4-liter, 190hp Subaru Boxer motors, are provided to the guests. Much more than a standard racing school, the Wide Open Baja experience pushes the envelope of an adventure-based vacation. Their vision: To share the joy of high-performance off-road driving and the unspoiled beauty of the Baja peninsula, both of which were previously accessible by only an adventurous lucky few. ![]() Wide Open Baja provides guests with the world’s most unique and adrenaline-filled opportunity. Enter Kirk Dodge, Off-road Race Consultant at Wide Open Baja, a driving experience located in Ensenada. Most of that was true, minus the border crossing (don’t let the media scare you), until now. It’s almost an underground sport hard to televise let alone watch in person, veiled by a perception about driving across the southern border, and with financial barriers to enter that can range from tens of thousands to millions of dollars in equipment and manpower. Try to recall the most exhilarating roller coaster you have ever ridden, multiply that by 10, and then imagine that the ride does not last a few minutes but rather lasts hours, if not days. The action of the sport is hard to describe to those who have not experienced it. These conditions challenge every mechanical aspect of the racecar as well as the mental and physical stamina of the driver. Its weather features extreme desert temperature swings, and the dry nature of the peninsula makes for silt pits, vast stretches of sand, and trails hardened by razor sharp rocks. It is full of steep mountains, deep valleys, and jagged rock formations, peppered with cactus, yuccas, and brush all littered with spines that can pierce the thickest materials. Reid Donaldson and crew fix a tire.īaja California is home to some of roughest, most desolate, and most unforgiving terrain on earth making the course very difficult to complete. These racers put it all on the line for the ultimate glory-the chance to be part of less than 50 percent of drivers who actually finish the race. For the last 51 years, men and women have put their skills to the ultimate test, racing in a variety of vehicles from dirt bikes to Volkswagen Beetles to trophy trucks (for those who are not familiar, these trucks can be loosely compared to Formula 1 racecars in the form of off-road vehicles). Each year, SCORE International, the governing body of off-road racing, hosts one of the world’s most prestigious off-road races here–the Baja 1000. ![]() ![]() Located about 90 miles south of San Diego, California, lies the epicenter of off-road desert racing-Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. It is a moment of anxious urge only satisfied by the release of the clutch and a very generous application of throttle. “Ok guys, give us about a 30-second head start, please.” “Copy that, lead car.” Few can fully understand this exchange, but for those who have tried Wide Open Baja, it spurs a flood of adrenaline, a narrowing of focus, and a sensation of acute awareness. ![]()
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