J2 Racing run in Baja 1000 ends prematurely with crash and broken bones

RM 50 was where the J2 Racing effort in the Baja 1000 ended (Map: SCORE International)

I had been anxiously awaiting updates from the J2 Racing team whose run in the 2009 Baja 1000 I have been chronicling, Jason Hill and John Lowe. Time passed with no word and I had to wonder if they didn't have the internet access they had expected, or worse. Come race day I checked the Spot Adventures site where you were to be able to follow the team's progress in 10-minute updates, but the marker on the site never left downtown Ensenada. What was happening down there?

Finally this morning there was a message from Jason:

Ken, it's going on 2 a.m. here. There's plenty more to tell, but it'll have to wait. Some quick facts, however, just to let you know how things went with the race. We got off to a crazy start, bike overheated in the staging queue as I walked it to the starting line. I thought it had an actual leak in the coolant system somewhere, but turns out it was just too hot. The 650s are notorious for that, but they're tough as nails and eventually cooled off as I sped away from the starting line.

The race ended early unfortunately after John and I swapped. The trophy trucks were starting to catch up after I made a few unplanned stops (dumping the bike a couple times, and the hot dog incident at Baja Pits #1 which I'll never live down :-} ) along the way in the deep silty sand that gives a heavy 650 fits when trying to plow through it. By the time I got to John he was eager to get away from the trucks so he sped off on his first section of the course from RM40 to RM80 where we planned to swap again. The chase truck was on its way back to the main road when we got the call only a few minutes into John's ride that he'd gone over a cliff and had probably broken his wrist. Long, really good story short (which I'll detail for you later), the race ended for us at RM50. But we weren't entirely disappointed. We did what we said we were gonna do, which was to live out our childhood dream of competing in the Baja 1000, for better or for worse, and we did it, and we have t-shirts, battle scars, and plenty of Mexican dirt to prove it.

I also picked up this report from John off the Adventure Riders forum:

Pre ran all week, no issues, come race day, we were prepared. Our race ended about 11 a.m. yesterday, when I launched the bike over about a 10-foot rocky drop, obviously the wrong way. Two broken bones in my right arm, and I broke my patella in my left knee. The staff at Velmar is great, and took care of me. God bless you all who do this, it's been a riot. Oh, the Honda, despite going off a cliff and going end over end a few times, cranked right up when they came to get it.

Locals dragged me off the track, put me under their tent, and gave me all the help I could have asked for. I sat there with them for a few hours and watched the trucks come through, drank a Tecate. Viva La Mexico.

Then a little later he added this:

Hey, I'm cool with what we did. We got to ride some of the most awesome terrain in the world, and we were actually racing in Baja for a morning anyway. We did not quit, we went for it with no sponsors and our race ended in crash fit for a movie or something. It is kind of hard to type, however...

If the numbers are any indication, there are a lot of teams with stories of this sort. SCORE International, the promoter of the race reports that of 328 starters there were 185 finishers.

I'll follow up with more information and some photos once John and Jason get back in the U.S. and can get them to me. Sending the photos from Mexico, Jason tells me, "costs a bloody fortune to do so across international lines."

Related articles
Baja 1000 getting ready to roar
Reunited riding buddies will fufill Baja racing dream
J2 Racing on the road to Ensenada
J2 Racing run in Baja 1000 ends prematurely with crash and broken bones
Teaser for upcoming J2 Racing Baja 1000 story
J2 races Baja: Getting to Ensenada and settling in
J2 races Baja: Preparation and pre-running
J2 races Baja: Tech inspection, registration, and encountering a legend
J2 races Baja: Final pre-running, damage, and a fix
J2 races Baja: Trouble at the starting line
J2 races Baja: First leg of the race and a premature ending
J2 races Baja: The rescue
J2 races Baja: The long way home, an adventure in itself

Check out the latest articles from other Motorcycle Examiners:

• Jefferson, Texas; a step back in time, or a ride back in time - Shreveport Motorcycle Travel Examiner - Mary Baker
• The vintage project part 5 - the teardown - National Motorcycle Travel Examiner 
• Cuchara River Valley Colorado - a great place to spoon - Colorado Springs Motorcycle Travel Examiner - AJ Butler
• Drag Day - Pueblo Motorsports Park - Colorado Springs Motorcycle Examiner - Brian Butler
• International Motorcycle Shows discount tickets on sale now - DC Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Life with a Ural Sidecar...three months in....- Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Motorcycle Safety Foundation open to reconsidering safety study funding - National Motorcycle Examiner
• Oh deer! Every rider's fear. Do deer whistles work? - Seattle Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Looking for riding buddies? Try Meetup.com - Fort Collins Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Motorcycles and red light sensors; which ones don't work? - Baltimore Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Cycle World international motorcycle show - Dallas Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Drinking and riding - Newark Motorcycle Examiner
• Learning to ride a Sidecar Rig - Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
• Mental and physical discipline in motorcycle riding - target fixation and gravel - Spokane Motorcycle Travel Examiner