By Stephanie Bunker
Moapa Valley Progress
Moapa Valley can be proud to claim pro-ATV racer Josh Fredrick as one of its own. On November 15-16 Fredrick, sponsored by Can-Am/Motoworks, competed in the long grueling race known as the Baja 1000. Fredrick came in first place in the Pro ATV class. In addition he won the 2012 SCORE PRO ATV (Class 25) Championship Title.
The Baja 1000 makes its way down the entire length of Mexico’s Baja peninsula, through Ensenada to La Paz. It tracks through some of Mexico’s roughest terrain; 1,121 miles through barren desert, volcanic rock, sand and tropical terrain.
It took Fredrick 27 hours to complete the race, a whopping two hours ahead of the 2nd place team. Fredrick competed against 30 other ATV’s for the win, besides sharing the track with over 100 motorcycles, cars and trophy trucks.
Sponsor, Can-Am/Motocross had a good reason to be proud of Fredrick, this was the first time in 15 years that team Honda didn’t win the Pro ATV Baja 1000.
The Strategy Of Winning a 1000 Mile Off-Road Race
Fredrick has competed in the Baja 1000 four times before being able to pull off a win. The last time he ran the Baja 1000 was in 2006.
The team consisted of four other riders chosen by Fredrick. These included Jeremie Warnia from France, Collins Webster from Las Vegas, Jerrod McClure from Pennsylvania, and Caesar Lopez from Mexico.
“I am so proud of everyone who was part of this Baja team,” Fredrick said. “It was a ton of hard work, but everyone really stepped up and made it happen.”
Each rider took turns racing the same ATV throughout the long race. Fredrick’s strategy was to ride smart, and he said that he chose team members that could accomplish this.
The Can-Am/Motoworks team started out the race in the top three and quickly moved up to second place. At that point, they ran into a problem. They took a huge hit to a rock which broke the foot peg mount on the frame around mile 200. After replacing the hip section in the frame they were able to rejoin the race in 3rd place, about an hour behind the two leading Honda teams.
But Fredrick and his team were far from finished. They pressed on throughout the night making up a considerable amount of distance through the rough terrain. At each pit stop they performed preventative maintenance by changing the air filter and at mile 500 they changed the oil.
“It ended up that they (other top riders in the class) had some problems, too,” Fredrick said. “We capitalized on it and brought it home. But we stuck to the plan and just kept plugging away it paid off in the end.”
The team slowly gained on the 2nd place team until they finally passed them just after the half way mark of the race.
Then, sometime around day break, Fredrick’s team passed by the first place opponent giving them the lead in the race at around the 700 mile mark.
The team was unchallenged in the final hours of the race, where Fredrick got back on the bike to ride across the finish line.
“It was truly an amazing experience,” said Fredrick’s teammate Collins Webster. “Racing along the ocean with thousands of dedicated fans cheering all day and night. Seeing those people cheer and wave for us when we took it in for the last few legs in the lead is definitely something worth racing the Baja 1000 for.”
For Fredrick to win his Class Championship he had to win the 1000. Before the race took place he was just one point behind the leader in the Class.
“I had one goal and that was to win,” Fredrick said.
Winning the Baja 1000 advanced Fredrick to the 2012 SCORE PRO ATV (Class 25) Championship Title.
Fredrick’s team managers were unable to attend the race so he was in charge of the strategic planning.
“I felt all the weight on my shoulders,” Fredrick said. “It was really special to me to win, and it was a plus to win for Can-Am.”
