Cycle News Staff | September 17, 2024
Justin Morgan and Tyler Lynn of the Slam Life Racing team were the overall Motorcycle winners at the SCORE Baja 400, September 13-14, ending Arturo Salas Junior’s two-race winning streak. Salas finished second after a very intense battle along the 434.52-mile racecourse.
Morgan and Lynn shared time on the number 7x Honda CRF450X, taking the checkered flag with a completion time of 8:46:56. Salas crossed the finish line in 9:01:24.
“We kept it smooth all day,” Morgan said. “We had no issues, and that’s how we got to the finish line first. I handed the bike to Tyler in second place physically and a couple of minutes down on time and he did such a good job. He passed them for the lead and checked in here at the finish line in first place.”
“I got on the bike a few minutes behind, so I just put my head down, went there and had fun,” said Lynn. “We had an awesome team and a great strategy, and everything went down perfectly. The course changed a lot since we started pre-running. It got rougher each day, but it was still a lot of fun. Pretty brutal, but fun.”
Despite seeing his two-race win streak come to an end, Salas was pleased with how the race turned out. “I feel good about our race,” he said. “We’re very happy and proud that we made it to the finish line.”
Third overall was the Juan Carlos Salvatierra, Shane Logan, Corbin McPhearson and Callum Norton KTM team that finished the race in nine hours and five minutes.
Brian Roberts topped the Pro Moto Ironman class. He soloed the 434.52-mile race on a Honda CRF450X in 10:48:29. “The course held up and I held up physically and mentally,” he said. “I just wanted to make it back here, have a beer and celebrate it.”
In Pro Moto Limited (less than 450cc) the Armando Ortiz Honda took the win after a great race with the Ely Ramirez, Neithan Davis and Don Grigg teams.
Ortiz said, “It was a tough battle with 114x [Ely Ramirez] and 117x [Don Grigg] the entire race. 117x was leading the pack in the first half of the race. Ricardo [Velez] made the final pass for us 50 miles before the finish line.”
The Juan Esteban Miranda Team topped Pro Moto 30 with room to spare, while the Mike Prunty team topped Pro Moto 50 and the Harold Harris team Pro Moto 60. There were no Pro Moto 40 finishers.
The Andy Valencia team topped the Sportsman Moto division. The winning Dustin Davis team was the only finisher in the Pro Moto Adventure class. CN
Overall Motorcycle (Top 5)
- Justin Morgan/Tyler Lynn (Hon) 8:46:57
- Arturo Salas Jr./Carter Klein/Ciaran Naran (Hon) 9:01:25
- Juan Carlos Salvatierra/Shane Logan/Corbin McPhearson/Callum Norton (KTM) 9:05:34
- Adrian Ortiz/Albaro Ortiz/Sergio Garza (Hon) 9:21:60
- Austin Eddy/Matthew Combs/Clay Hengeveld (Hon) 9:22:00