Race Report: 2015 SCORE San Felipe 250
January 24, 2015
SCORE San Felipe 250
Team riders: Ricky Brabec | Max Eddy | Justin Morgan
Presenting sponsors: THR Motorsports | Monster Energy | Hoosier Precision Machining
Finish: 4th Open Pro
After a stellar 2014, winning each of the Mexico-based SCORE races and earning the 1X championship plate, the whole team was looking to get their 2015 title defense off to the best start possible. Ricky would start and take the Monster Energy, THR Motorsports, Hoosier, Precision Concepts race bike the first 40 miles of the race. “My goal for my first section was honestly just to get the bike to my teammate Max Eddy [safe and sound] but once I was a few miles down the course I was feeling great on the bike and things were clicking.” Ricky quickly worked past five of the six riders who left the starting line before him and had just the 5X Honda of Colton Udall in his sights. “All of the sudden I saw him [Colton] just ahead of me and told myself to hold it together, ride smooth, and I’ll get around him.” Ricky was able to make the pass through a high speed sand wash and got to the first pit in the physical lead.
Ricky had a great ride at the 2015 San Felipe 250, showing impressive speed.
Max took over at the first pit and headed into the rocky Northern section of the course. “I felt I was setting a good pace, not riding over my head as [the] San Felipe [terrain] is known to bite anyone at anytime. Then [about 40 miles into my section] I was going wide around a silt bed and hit a tree stump in my line, going down pretty hard.” Max got back up quickly, but he had lost the physical lead to the 5X team. “I was now in the dust, not where you want to be in San Felipe, and six miles later I went down again. This time I didn’t get right back up and the bike was completely destroyed.” Max unfortunately hit something hidden in the San Felipe dirt, and in his crash he broke his right wrist pretty badly. He was able to remount the bike and soldier on the next 28 miles with the injury to a pit where Justin Morgan could chase and take over.
Unfortunately Max suffered a horrible crash at this year’s SF250. Showing his toughness, Max rode the bike nearly 30 miles with a broken wrist to keep the team in the race.
Justin was waiting about twelve miles further up the course from the pit where Max had made it to, at the scheduled rider change location, when he realized Max was having an issue. “We were watching his tracker and it showed him moving 5mph. I was hoping it was the tracker malfunctioning, but that wasn’t the case. We finally heard over the radio that 1X had an injured rider so we loaded up a back-up bike into a friend’s [Cameron Corfman’s] truck and headed that way [towards his location]. Once I got to the pit and saw Max I could tell he’d been in a high-speed crash, but he seemed to be ok for the most part so we started to work on the bike.” Justin used parts from the back-up bike to get the race bike back into shape and did well to complete the repairs and get going down the course, though by now the team were back in the middle of the ATV and sportsman entries. “There were a lot of slower bikes and quads [when I got going], which added another element of danger to the situation. I wanted badly to make up time, but [most importantly] I just had to be smooth and get the bike back to Ricky [for the final miles].” Justin was able to get the bike to Ricky without incident, putting in a great effort to overcome the elements of Baja and keep the bike moving forward down the course.
Justin had a solid ride after performing repairs to the race bike following
Max’s crash, helping to keep the team in the championship.
Ricky was waiting at race mile 175 when he first heard reports that Max had crashed. “My heart sank [when I heard] because anytime you hear of someone crashing in Baja it’s usually injury related with the high speeds we are going. Thankfully there’s someone up above watching over us and I’m glad he’s ok.” Ricky took the bike over from Justin in fourth place in the Open Pro division, with little hope of catching third. “We just needed to finish [at this point]. I told everyone I was just going to cruise to the finish to stay safe, but after a while of cruising I was realizing the whoops were more tiring at the slower pace. It was actually easier and better to go faster and stay on top so I ended up going nearly race speed to the checkered flag.” Ricky would cross the line in fourth place in the Open Pro class, getting decent points toward the championship. “Moving forward in Baja my goal [and the team’s goal] is going to be to sweep the remaining rounds. We have the riders, the bike and the effort to do it.”
Ricky: “I’d like to thank everyone that has helped us get here as a team and the support I’ve received to get me to where I am. Family always comes first, the friends that help me on and off the bike, O’neal, THR, Precision Concepts, FMF, SIDI, A’ME grips, X-brand goggles, Baja Bound Insurance, Monster Energy, Bonanza Plumbing, Arai, Beam designs, Dunlop, ARC, DA8, EVS and Leatt.”
Justin: “Big thanks to Scott from THR, Bod, Diane and Robby Bell from Precision Concepts, Phil for making the best bike in Baja, Seve for helping me get where I am today and chasing for me, KLIM gear, and MX Ranch for letting me take time off work to live the dream.”
2015 SCORE San Felipe 250 | on board w/ Ricky Brabec