Mexican government officials sign new three-year contract
Round 1 of the six-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series will be held in San Felipe Feb. 27-March 2 with the 28th Annual Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. In 2014, three SCORE races will be held in the United States and three in Mexico with competition offered in 35 Pro and 6 Sportsman classes for cars, trucks, motorcycles and ATVs.
“It’s wonderful for SCORE and our sport to continue having this type of pro-active support and sponsorship from the Mexican government which does so much to enhance the quality of our events in Baja California," commented Roger Norman, SCORE CEO and President. “With a new government in place this year we have been able to finalize an agreement which is very positive for both SCORE and our racers and we look forward to the next three years of this popular springtime event in San Felipe. SCORE is very grateful for the continuing support we receive from the Municipal, State and Federal Governments in Mexico to showcase the world’s foremost desert racing series in this magnificent country."
Following extensive negotiations, the new three-year agreement for the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 was fully executed recently by Oscar Escobedo, Secretary of Tourism of the State of Baja California; Jaime Diaz, Mayor of Mexicali; Ricardo Flores, General Manager of the Conventions and Tourism Committee of Mexicali (COTUCO) and SCORE International.
The SCORE World Desert Championship series will be visiting Mexico for the first of three annual SCORE Baja races in 2014.
The start draw for the season opener of the 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series will determine the starting order within each of the various classes in the elapsed-time race.
While SCORE Trophy Trucks, the featured SCORE racing division for high-tech, 800-horsepower, unlimited production trucks have had assigned numbers since SCORE founded the unique class in 1994, all SCORE classes now have pre-assigned vehicle numbers that are renewed annually. SCORE is accepting racer registration exclusively online through the SCORE website.
“On behalf of the people and Government officials of the State of Baja California, we are very happy to have executed this agreement with SCORE International to continue to have the Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 desert race in the city of San Felipe for the next three years," said Oscar Escobedo, Secretary of Tourism of the State of Baja California.
“The County of Mexicali will again benefit significantly from the strong economic impact of this event and the great exposure that the beauty of the area and the nice resorts will receive through the global media coverage SCORE races receive and from the memorable experiences the racers and their race crews have during their visit to the area. All of us will make a major effort to make everyone’s stay in Baja a pleasant one while enjoying the best terrain anywhere for running a desert race."
START DRAW, COURSE MAP, PRERUNNING
This year’s live drawing for starting positions in each class along with the unveiling of the official course map, GPS files and course notes will be broadcast live on the Dirt LiveHD internet show on Tuesday, Feb. 11 at 7 p.m. (PST) from the SCORE tech shop in El Cajon, Calif.
Pre-running will be allowed on the actual race course starting Friday, Feb. 14 through Friday, Feb. 28. The course for Pro classes will be one loop of approximately 272 miles and the Sportsman classes will race one loop of approximately 250 miles.
PRE-RACE SKED…
The pre-race Manufacturer’s Midway, contingency and tech inspection of the vehicles in the race will be held on Friday (February 28). Contingency will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and tech from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the picturesque Malecon, flanked by the Sea of Cortez on one side and the popular restaurants and night clubs of San Felipe on the other. Racer registration will be held from Noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday (Feb. 27) and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday (Feb. 28) at the San Felipe Marina Resort, a few miles south of downtown San Felipe.
HISTORYonics…
The season-opener of the 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series, the 28th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250 annually provides a greater economic impact to San Felipe than the popular six-week-long ‘Spring Break’.
The race began in 1982 and was not held between 1985 and 1989, the first five years of the seven-year combined High Desert Racing Association-HDRA/SCORE Desert Series of US and Baja races. It has been held consecutively each year since 1990.
In its first 27 years, the race has been held in San Felipe all but 2007 when political issues forced a last minute move by SCORE, starting it in Ensenada and finishing it in Santo Tomas. Ironically, 2007 saw a race-record 394 starters and a race-record 288 finishers even though the race was moved and the course changed just 10 days before the event. The records when the race actually started and finished in San Felipe are 341 for starters in 2006 and 220 for finishers, also in 2006.
ON THE SCOREscope
In its 41st year as the world's foremost desert racing organization in 2014, the six-race 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship series, with three special events held in Baja California, Mexico, and three in the United States, starts with the 28th Tecate SCORE San Felipe 250. Starting and finishing in Ensenada, the 46th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 will be held June 5-8 and the third SCORE Baja race, starting in Ensenada and finishing in La Paz, the 47th Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 will be held Nov. 12-16.
The three U.S. races on 2014 SCORE World Desert Championship calendar will be the 2nd SCORE Imperial Valley 250 in Plaster City, Calif. (April 25-27), the 3rd Eldorado SCORE Reno 50 at the Tahoe Reno Motorplex in Reno, Nev. (July 24-27) and the two-day, single-race Inaugural SCORE Desert Challenge, location TBA in SoCal (Sept. 25-28).