Round 1<br /> Xtreme International's<br /> 2001 Estero Beach<br /> Short Course
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"This is the most enjoyable weekend I've had in a long time" ….said by Pete Saldana of This End Up Motorsports. Pete was talking about his two days at the short course off-road racing event in Estero Beach, Baja California. New promoter Extreme International sponsored an event that featured trucks, buggies, rally cars, ATV's and motorcycles. Competitors from all over the USA and Mexico, and included one motorcycle rider who came all the way from Peru. In fact, competitors from different racing backgrounds, ranging from the desert to short course to the first time behind the wheel of a race vehicle made the trek to Estero . I expected the unexpected and wasn't disappointed.
Let me tell you a little about the Estero Beach Resort, which is owned by the Novelo family and located in Ensenada Baja, Mexico. A beach side gated community, Estero includes a first class hotel, restaurant, pool, complete with swim up bar and best of all, 1.4 mile dirt track. If you are worried about security, don't be. There is a large security staff walking and patrol on bicycles 24 hours a day. I found the staff very friendly and helpful. Side note: As usual I was trying to carry all kinds of junk to the truck, and I dumped the ice chest, spilling all the ice and drinks. A security guard immediately picked up the ice chest and carried it to the truck for me. Thanks a bunch! I arrived Friday morning the day before racing was to start. Driving though the main entrance, I was greeted with the colors of spring and the cool ocean air. As you enter Estero Beach, you pass the race course on your left on the way to the hotel. How many places have you been to that have an off-road race course on the same grounds as a hotel with the ocean as background? This was bliss! After registering in the hotel, a quick look at the race course was in order. The course was to be run the opposite direction compared to year's past- clockwise, complete with a large jump in front of the grandstands. Some racers had already arrived and were setting up in the pit area, although many racers including Curt Le Duc and Bob Beyer showed up late Friday evening.
Technical inspection was being conducted by Art Savada and practice laps were run all day until 8pm when tech closed for the evening. After talking to racers and watching a few practice laps, unpacking was next on the list of tasks to perform. The room was large with a private patio. There was a television, but no phone. If you wanted to make a call, you would have to use the payphone in the parking lot. (Warning, if you have to make a phone call this will remind you of the outside world and I don't recommend it while you are here in this beautiful place.) Also you will receive a bottle of purified water in your room. Unless you are brave, don't drink the water even for brushing your teeth. I'm not that brave. Maybe you are… The rest of the day was spent familiarizing myself with the course and like we all do at the races, shooting the breeze with a host of familiar faces. Dinner was in the Estero Beach restaurant, complete with margaritas to keep the Mexico experience authentic. Yummy! Along with the good food and drink, entertainment was provided by a live band that played all types of music, from The Doors to James Brown to Marchrie music. Racing was supposed to start Saturday morning at 11am, but remember this is Mexico, Look at it like a rock concert, which we all know never start on time, but worth the wait. The grandstands were packed and the spectators along with the race teams were looking forward to a weekend filled with racing.
An interesting mix of vehicles showed up to race. Trucks and buggies designed for desert racing and others designed for short course competition went head to head in a battle for dirt supremacy. Surprisingly, racing at Estero even included a rally class for street legal cars. I knew that this would result in an interesting class make-up. On one hand, there was a red Toyota pre-runner that ran against buggies. Also, a Ford Ranger ran against full size trucks. Class distinction lines were blurred but the attitude was that racing is racing and let's get it on! Competition in Estero started with a good ol fashion "run what you brung" class. Entries ran the spectrum from Class 12 buggies through street driven pre-runners. Skip Edwards from Lakeside, California brought out his street legal Toyota to see what it would do on the Estero Beach course. He was the only one that could drive home if he wanted to and he finished Saturday and Sunday with a 4th and a 6th respectively. Both days this class was won by Guillermo Soltero from Tijuana, Mexico. Buggies and Baja Bugs ran together in the same heat. Formula 2 (Class 10) had two starters, Steve Errea placed first with Pete Saldana finishing second. Formula 3 ( Class 1-2 1600 ) also had two starters. Spencer Low made the trek from Parker Arizona and won both days of racing with Carlos Zuniga taking second place. John Kelly was the only desert 9 class buggy to make the field and he finished both days of racing at the head of his class. Baja 1 (unlimited baja bugs) had two entries.
Each day of racing had the same finish order, Gary Williams won with Richard Bornworth in second. Mario Busramente from La Puente, California took both days of competition in the Baja 2 (5-1600) class. Guy Savada, sporting a very nice pearl paint job on his Bug took second both days with Sergio Silva taking third. Rally cars were one of the more fun classes to watch, as the laps progressed, most cars would come around with body damage and parts missing - scattered around the course. A destruction derby on a short course! This was great fun to watch. These cars weren't the usual SCCA rally cars. All were late models and all pretty hammered. Filling out the field were a Mazda RX7, Datsun/Nissan 280Z, and one Nissan Sentra. Motorcycles and Quad riders raced together with the two son's of Curt Le Duc, Kyle and Todd, racing against each other in a field of 8 bikes. They finished the weekend up with a tie for 7th place. The class was won by Angelo Ingrande of Spring Valley, California who won all three heat races over the weekend. Matt Tedder took second with Salvador Hernandez in third. Three quads showed up to race and finished in the same positions. First being Tito Alvarez, second Gerardo Sepdveda and third Salvador Hernandez. Unlimited mini trucks had both trucks built for desert and short course. Rick Hussman, Riverside California, took a large lead early in his Fabtech Ford Ranger. Early into the 10-minuet heat, Hussman spun out in the backstretch which out helped the rest of the field catch up to him. Geraldo Novelo, had two front flats, pulled into the hot pit and pulled back out without changing them. He finished last. On Sunday, Geraldo rolled his truck, crushing the interior roll cage. Course workers flipped it back onto its wheels and Geraldo finished in second place. Bob Beyer made the trip down from Norco California to race his Toyota truck, finishing with a 2nd.and 3rd.
Matt Carver, San Diego California, driving a "built for the desert" Ford Ranger, which sat much higher than it's short course counterparts. Matt did an excellent job handling this course placing second on Saturday and winning on Sunday. Javier Sacio won on Saturday and had some troubles on Sunday. After his rolling truck caught on fire, it was put out but he was unable to continue, ultimately settling for a 3rd place finish. John Beyer had little luck on Saturday with a DNF, but salvaged the weekend somewhat with a 2nd on Sunday. The roar of the full size trucks brought the crowd to their feet when Curt Le Duc out of Cherry Valley California, and Tommy Bradley from Las Vegas Nevada, hit the track running - hard. LeDuc in his 4 wheel drive F-150 Ford was the only one in his class, but Bradley brought his 2 wheel drive Chevrolet out just to keep him honest. Racing was exciting watching the two drivers pass the lead back and forth, but it was Bradley who eventually crossed the finish line first after LeDuc had a front flat and finished a few seconds behind. Jimmy O'Neal competing in a Ford Ranger. Jimmy did a fine job of driving against full size trucks with a 3rd and 2nd finish for the weekend. Jim Mckenzie brought his Trophy Truck out to play….literally. Jim, showing what a TT is able to do on a short course, told us that he had fun and would bring it out again. Dan Cannon in a Ford F-150 had a bad weekend. He spun the rod bearings on Friday in practice. His crew worked hard to make the repair in order for Dan to make the starting line on Saturday. After a couple of laps, Dan broke the crankshaft ending his racing for the weekend.
While Estero Beach has earned somewhat of a reputation in the racing community as a "weekend fling", Extreme International plans to build on the growing popularity of Estero by hosting three additional events for this year. October 13-14 again in Estero Beach, November 17-18 in Lake Havasu, Arizona and December 8-9 om Laughlin, Nevada.  Extreme International 520-855-RACE |
