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Kane Fraser Pilots UTV 1802 into SCORE
Baja 1000 History
Ensenada-Baja California, Mexico
- November 17-20, 2011
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Kane
Fraser a paraplegic from Canada & his
co-pilot Heino Seibert head to the 2011
Baja 1000 starting line |
Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico (12/1/2011)
– Kane Fraser, a paraplegic, decided
to take on the 2011 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 in a
Polaris RZR XP 900 after watching Dust to Glory
multiple times and being inspired by the Man in
Motion, Rick Hansen. “This was our first Baja
1000, our first time racing, and for me my first
time racing in any sport ever,” said Kane
Fraser. The team would add over 100 miles to their
total mileage after a wrong turn, and in turn would
add hundreds of followers as they headed towards
their ceremonial finish at 2am Sunday morning, 36
hours after the start Friday afternoon.
“We wanted to finish, we didn’t
care, nothing would stop us. We kept going and
did finish! We were a little bug eyed, but we
finished,” said Heino Seibert from Spectra
Power Sports, Kane Frasers Co-Driver. Kane Fraser
went into this adventure with three goals, “In
terms of what I wanted to accomplish, for me number
one was to raise $25,000 for the Rick Hansen Foundation.
Second, is to create awareness of the abilities
of people with disabilities. And third, to inspire
one disabled person to really move ahead with
their goals and strive to achieve their goals,
because as long as you try and try you will succeed,
you just have to keep moving forward.”
Over the Holidays of 2010 Fraser was watching
Dust to Glory when he told his wife Cara that
this is what he wanted to do next. She was less
than enthused, but he was reminded what his friend
Dennis Beebe had often said, “It is not
about the disability, it is about the possibilities.”
He enlisted the help of his friends, and with
never even being in the desert, much less racing,
they set off on this awesome journey. “We
were super naive, but we learned a lot along the
way, and got laughed at a lot which was fun,”
Kane said with a smile. “In the eleven months
prior to the race, a lot of people helped 1802
work towards the goal, even up to the day before
in Ensenada when we were working on the RZR. Without
all the help from these people the team would
have been less prepared and may not have completed
the race. I would just like to thank everyone
on the team for the contributions, it took all
of us to make this happen!”
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When they originally started on this project
and had to decide on the vehicle, the group at
Spectra Power Sports said, “get the new
RZR 900 XP, its crazy.” He watched the video
and agreed it was perfect for the challenges they
had seen in Dust to Glory. “I never even
considered another machine, I like the Polaris
products, but really like the guys that sell it
locally. I asked Heino and Gilbert if the machine
could do it stock, they said ‘no problem’.
I want to use a machine as stock as possible,
with four modifications, a larger fuel cell, pre-air
filter, light bar, and foam filled radial tires,
but that didn’t happen as they rebuilt the
machine from the ground up, a story all to itself,”
remembers Fraser. “One thing I decided early
on, finishing the race means winning the race
to me. I do not need to beat anyone, I can cross
dead last as long as I at least cross in the allotted
time and in one piece, at least, with no broken
skin, bones are optional. You finish the race,
you win the race. We won!” said Fraser.
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