Yamaha riders looking for blue on Baja 1000 podium

Chuck Shortt racing at CORE (Photo: JS Performance Photo)

The last time a motorcycle other than a Honda won the Baja 1000 was in 1996.

"I would like to see a blue bike come in rather than it always being red," says Chuck Shortt, who will be racing in the event come Nov. 19. Chuck and his partner riders, Dale Branson and Jim Kuykendall, make up the Rsenal Racing team, which will be making its first Baja 1000 run. This year's Baja 1000 departs from Ensenada, Mexico, and makes a loop across the Baja peninsula and back, ending back in Ensenada.

Ending the race on the podium is never easy, but especially in a race where simply finishing is an accomplishment. Realistically, the Rsenal Racing team is shooting to finish in the top 10 percent in its class.

So how does an untried team prepare for a grueling, 1,000-mile race over bad roads at speeds over 100 miles per hour? What does it take to compete?

A bike

Once Chuck decided to enter the race he went out and bought a bike, a 2008 Yamaha YZ450WR.

"We looked at KTM, Honda, and Suzuki but we liked what the WR had to offer," Chuck explains. The "WR" in the name stands for "wide ratio transmission" which means you don't need to do a lot of shifting. Whereas most bikes in the competition are motocross bikes, the WR is built as a desert bike and is set up for high speeds and distance and comes with good suspension.

It also didn't hurt that Grand Prix Motorsports and Yamaha were interested in sponsoring the team.

  Dale Branson (Photo: JS Performance Photo)

Riders

Chuck, Dale, and Jim will trade off riding. All have extensive dirt-biking and racing experience.

Time

Chuck is a self-employed custom motorcycle builder, so taking the time is not an issue for him. Dale and Jim both hold regular jobs to they are taking vacation time. All nine members of the support team are also taking vacation time.

Money

A variety of sponsors are providing everything from money to service, parts, labor, transportation, and a condo near Ensenada.

Organization

The team holds monthly meetings, and when possible, Dale and Jim fly out to Denver to race at Colorado Off Road Extreme, "the closest thing we have to available to the Baja 1000." This track, 50 miles east of Denver, is an 800-acre site used for off-road racing of all sorts.

Each race at CORE is used to test equipment and refine the set-up for the bike. Sensors on the bike download information into the computer, giving feedback on how the whole system is operating and what needs adjustment.

"You don't go there (Baja) to test and tune, you want to get that all done ahead of time," says Chuck.

The team will go to Ensenada a week before the race to pre-run the course and adjust carburetor jetting and other items that will be affected by the change from 5,000 feet to sea level. Once the race bike is set up it will sit untouched and the riders will use other bikes to check out the course.

Dedication

"You need each person dedicated to the team and doing their job," says Chuck. "Other teams take 2-3 years to get organized, but we did it in 8 months. We've put an exceptional team together."

In addition to the riders, the team includes:

• Dave Mikelson, Logistics Manager
• Liz Shortt, Communication Manager
• Matt Kuykendall, Crew Chief
• Ryan Kwak, back-up crew member, secondary crew chief
• JS Performance Photo (Sydney and Jeff Mikelson), Photography crew
• Ray Wheeler, Advertising and Promotions Manager
• Jack Nichols, Computer and software/GPS Tech
• Dana Kuykendall, Accounting Manager

Rsenal Racing will work out the kinks one more time at CORE on Sept. 19 and 20 and then all focus will turn to Baja. And the countdown continues.