Sean Finley | November 25, 2019
The Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda team of Justin Morgan, Max Eddy Jr., David Kamo and Shane Esposito came out on top of the 2019 Baja 1000 Motorcycle Results with the Pro Moto Unlimited class and overall win. The bad news was that the start of the BFGoodrich Tires 52nd SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts was postponed by 24 hours, the good news was that it was on account of heavy rains in the northern Baja peninsula, meaning the 800-mile race, starting and finishing in Ensenada, saw some prime conditions and a lot less dust. The win for the SLR team marked the team’s eighth consecutive SCORE Pro Moto Unlimited win.
The Slam Life Racing (SLR) Honda team of Justin Morgan, Max Eddy Jr., David Kamo and Shane Esposito came out on top of the 2019 Baja 1000 Motorcycle Results with the Pro Moto Unlimited class and overall win.
“It was really good conditions,” said Morgan. “I was expecting more mud but it was really good in the desert. I would never have thought I would have eight wins. We lost a lot of races to learn how to win them, so it is finally paying off!”
The 2019 Baja 1000 win for the SLR team market the teams eighth consecutive SCORE win.
Morgan shared the duties of placing the 1x Honda CRF450X on top of the podium with Shane Esposito, Max Eddy Jr and David Kamo. The team started first and remained in the physical lead throughout the 800-mile race, fending off the advances of Mexico’s KTM-mounted 66x team, headed by Santiago Creel. The 1x team finished in 17 hours, 34 minutes, 28 seconds.
The team was originally slated to include SLR team owner Mark Samuels, but their plans were thwarted seven weeks prior to the race when Samuels had a serious crash at Glen Helen that resulted in two broken femurs. “After I got hurt, I had to go back to the drawing board and figure out what to do,” said Samuels. “I was pretty stressed, but I was fortunate to line up some riders with a ton of experience in Baja and they all rode flawlessly. It was kind of different being on the sidelines for this one, but it was also pretty special to sit back and be the manager and watch our guys perform.”
The Creel team ended second in Pro Moto Unlimited, topping the Pro Moto Limited class and finishing second in Pro Moto 30. The Pro Moto 30 crown went to the Honda CRF450X-mounted team of Francisco Septien from Ensenada, Mexico. In the Pro Moto 40 division Jason Trubey of Henderson, Nevada led his team to victory aboard the 444x Husqvarna FE 501 while Jeff Kaplan of Thousand Oaks, California headed the Pro Moto 50 class victory. The Pro Moto Ironman win went to Arthur Babcock of Las Vegas, Nevada, the Honda rider besting the field of 15 solo riders to finish in 23:14:13.
Toby Price was among the notable motorcycle racers to contest the SCORE Baja 1000, though it wasn’t on a motorcycle. Price teamed up with Nasser Al-Attiya of Qatar in a Ford F-250 Trophy Truck. The “Dakar Duo” drove a blistering average of 48.96 mph to finish second overall in the race, finishing only behind the Ampudia brothers, Alan and Aaron, who overalled the race in 16:10:36 driving the Monster Energy Papas & Beer Ford Raptor.
Ten-time Baja 1000 Motorcycle Champion Larry Roeseler, teamed up with Luke McMillin, also ended up on the overall podium in third. CN
Get the full 2019 Baja 1000 Results here.
https://score-international.com/category/latest-news/
Get all the latest off-road motorcycle racing news and results here.
