Dragonfire Racing Kawasaki
Teryx™ Wins Big
at SCORE Baja 500
41st Annual SCORE Baja 500 UTV
Race
|
Dragonfire
Racing's Kawasaki Teryx
|
Irvine, CA (6/12/2009) - The Dragonfire
Racing Kawasaki Teryx won its first ever Baja 500
in the Sportman UTV class by an outstanding margin,
putting the Kawasaki Teryx in a league of its own.
The RUV (Recreational Utility Vehicle) was piloted
by Kawasaki’s own Team Green Manager Reid
Nordin and Hans Waage in great weather conditions
for the single day event. The two drivers took advantage
of the Teryx’s V-Twin engine to finish hours
ahead of the next finisher.
Late Start
|
The
team started late but it didn't take a lot
of time to catch back up |
At the start of the race, the Dragonfire Racing
Kawasaki Teryx was lined up third in the segmented
start. During the mandatory safety check, the team
was required to adjust the extra safety lights on
the Teryx and ended up starting 10 minutes behind
the next car while making the necessary adjustments.
The deficit didn’t last long as Nordin piloted
the RUV to the front of the class by race mile 78.
“It didn’t take long to catch up
to the other cars,” said Nordin. “We
were able to run a really fast pace thanks to
a great chassis and an awesome motor.”
Take What Baja Throws At You
|
"Baja
is one of those places that will throw anything
at you" |
Cruising with a two hour lead over the class competitors,
Nordin was just over 25 miles from the teams scheduled
pit stop location when he had to pull over with
for repairs. By the time the chase truck was flagged
down, parts fixed and back on track, the team lost
almost three hours. Only one competitor passed the
team in that time span. After switching drivers,
Waage piloted the Dragonfire Racing Kawasaki Teryx
to the lead at race mile 260 and never looked back.
“Baja is one of those places that will
throw anything at you,” said Nordin. “In
my many years of experience with this race, there
is always a chance to break and a chance to come
from behind. I think that the Baja race is the
most challenging event because of that factor.”
Winning Experience
|
Dragonfire
Racing & Kawasaki put their heads together
to help make the Baja 500
a success for the team |
Starting his visits to Baja during the 1970s, Nordin
brought decades of experience to the new team. After
all of those years, this was only his second time
actually racing the event with his previous experience
on a three-wheeler in the 1980s. Most of Nordin’s
Baja experiences have been helping lead the Kawasaki
off-road team to numerous victories in the late
80s and early 90s.
“I just love Baja and I do whatever I can
to get down for the 500 and 1000 races,”
said Nordin. “I’m glad I was able
to help the Dragonfire team to their first victory.”
Proven Winner
The Dragonfire Racing Kawasaki Teryx raced in
the 2008 Baja 1000 and the team used that time
as a learning experience for future races. The
two companies, Dragonfire and Kawasaki, put their
heads together so the next event, the Baja 500,
was a complete success.
“Dragonfire Racing has worked with others
before and the cooperation we’ve had with
Kawasaki has developed into a great partnership,”
said Todd Romano, Dragonfire Racing Owner. “We
pre-ran the course for over 1000 miles (with temperatures
in the low 100s) in a Teryx that was similar to
the race vehicle and we didn’t need to change
the oil or air filter.”
Baja
500 Kawasaki Wins
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| Dragonfire
Racing Kawasaki Teryx - Sportman UTV
Enrique Guerro (KX450F) - Sportsman 250cc
- Open
Shane Esposito (KX450F) - Class 21 |
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