The 57th Baja 1000 will be run on a course that might seem familiar to those who raced it a decade ago. The layout was revealed by SCORE International on Tuesday, spanning 869.13 miles (1,359.39 kilometres) for the Pro categories and 736.61 mi (1,185.45 km) for Sportsman.
After doing a point-to-point format to commemorate SCORE’s golden anniversary in 2023, the race returns to a loop format for 2024. The race will start and end in Ensenada, where the sanctioning body’s main headquarters is located, with a loop that runs counter-clockwise. This also means the race stays exclusively in the state of Baja California, as opposed to when it ran through Baja California Sur further south. The 2015 edition utilised a similar route with the same starting and finishing locations as well as direction.
Upon departing Ensenada, competitors will head south along the Pacific coast past Uruapan, Erendira, Cololonet, and Vicente Guerrero. The first physical checkpoint lies just outside San Quintin at Race Mile 209.69.
At RM 220, racers turn inland through El Canuto. Checkpoint 2 is located at RM 378.5 at Rancho San Martin. Once they hit the 400-mile mark, they turn northwards and go along the Gulf of California. The next seventy miles are on public roads, meaning competitors must follow the speed limit and cannot race until they exit the speed zone.
Once that is out of the way, they head back inland past Laguna del Diablo. Sportsman classes will take a shortcut just past RM 580, leading them to the third and final checkpoint at San Matias on RM 731.85. Another speed zone is followed by a dash through Valle de la Trinidad and Mike’s Sky Rancho.
A final speed zone outside Ojos Negros awaits before everyone makes it back to Ensenada.
494 Virtual Checkpoints will be scattered along the course. Twenty speed zones totalling 125.42 miles are included with a max speed of either 37 miles per hour (59.54 km/h) or 60 mph (96.56 km/h).
The fourth and final round of the SCORE International World Desert Championship will begin on Friday, 15 November. Motorcycles and Quads head out first at 1 AM, followed by the Four-Wheelers at 10 AM. Everyone will have thirty-six hours to complete the race.
Bryce Menzies and Juan Carlos Salvatierra are the defending overall winners.
