SF250 Pit Reports

[Mag7racer]

Pit Report from Pit 1, Race Mile 55.5 

We picked up fuel on Friday morning where we met 601X at the fuel depot, and helped them put gas in the bike -- twice.   
Friday afternoon we left for the pit while Mag7’s ace in the hole, Luis Gutierez, chased down an adaptor cable for the welder.    Thanks again Luis!
We planned to set up much of the pit the day before the race, but the wind was howling out a RM55, so aside from unloading, most of the setup would have to wait for the morning. 
The crew at #1 was myself (John Sonnenberg), Chris Myers (off-roader and multiple mag7 pit hand), Mark Myers who flew out from PA to help, Steve Meyers and Cindy Meyers both long-time Mag7 pit captains, and Charles Chase another avid off-roader who joined me for the second time at a Mag7 pit.  This was a great crew and a pleasure to work with. 
After a very sleepless night due to the howling wind and a table falling over onto my tent, we got up a dawn and set-up the pit.  It was much too windy to put up a canopy. 
When bikes started coming by, we eagerly awaited our first bike, expected to be 307X.  After a half-dozen bikes went by, to our horror, we saw 307X fly by, looking right through us.  We were the 3rd of about 30 pits in that area, and he did not see us with the hundreds of people out there. 
The rest of the bikes pitted uneventfully.  Buggy 554 stopped in for some emergency service where we zip-ties a fuel line in place. 
The 16 year-old who rode quad 7A through some of the toughest Baja has to offer rolled in very exhausted after missing a rider-change 20 miles earlier.  Some fruit, water, encouragement, and he was back on the quad for 40 more miles to the next rider change.
1608 chase came to the pit and we confirmed the fule plan for them. We also modified the radio in the chase truck so it would transmit. 
258 was the last missing racer, so we called Weatherman and he verified that 258 never started, so we packed up and went back to Pete’s. 
We had good radio coverage, and could talk to #2 very easily who could talk to #3.  We used a sat phone once to test it, but never had to use it.  Had we had a pit zero with a sat phone, the gas situation for 1608 would not have been quite as confusing, but it all worked out. 
What could we do better:
307X missing the pit will always haunt me. Obviously the signage should have been done better.  And, with the cold wind, all our orange shirts we covered by jackets.  Maybe orange sweatshirts for some race? 
We had a lot of quick-fills to service multiple bikes, but we did not have a real dry-break.  In a sprint race like the 250, all pits should have some real dry-breaks. 
John S.

[jsonnenberg]

Mag7,
I just wanted to thank you again for the great pit service you guys provided to us!  Trevor and I had a fun race, finishing 7th in 5-1600.  Without your help, finishing the race would have been much more difficult.  Thanks again for zip tying up our fuel line, can't believe we didn't have a fire!
 
Mark Anderson
#554

[jsonnenberg]

Pit 2 "team margarita" departed San Diego Thurs AM and had a great trip down to San Felipe via the Compadre Trail. Our two vehicle, three man, one speckled dog group had a nice relaxing trip and arrived at Petes in plenty of time for cocktails on the beach.
 
Fri noon we headed out for our spot at Moaralia Junction. At the southern turn off of zoo road our baja trailer managed to snap the left side leaf spring. We were all set for some field welding when out of the dust comes our savior in the form of George from Baja Fools. He just happened to have a spare spring and loaned it to us. We were back on the road before you could say chupacabra!
 
Our pit was about 1/4 from the BFG and Honda pits. They had the rowdy's and the dust. We had a long-level-straight-shot into the pits, no one within a 1/4 mile and favorable winds all day until 3pm. Then, we got seriously powdered!
 
Fueling, swaps and other services went very smoothly except for 307X. He called us via radio and advised that he missed his gas stop at pit one and had run dry a couple miles up-course. I told him we would bring him some fuel but that it would take a little while since we would be required to travel backwards on the course and it was still very active. We loaded his fuel into the rescue Tacoma, removed the 30' antenna umbilical and as Grant was about to pull out, 307X comes screaming into the pit. Both literally and figuratively! We un-strapped his gas, filled him up and he hit the road again. I guess he was able to bum some fuel or perhaps found the reserve lever!
 
We had great comms all day, great weather and a lot of fun.
 
The trip back to Petes was painless and we really enjoyed the tri-tip, peppered steak and all the goodies.
 
Bill Thompson
YOUR Margarita Man

[HALF FAST]

Pit Report from Pit 4, Race Mile 214

Pit #4 was manned by Steve R. (Bubba), Brian M, his girlfriend Katie, and Bob F.  We departed San Diego on Thursday about noon, had a safe and uneventful transit down the east coast of Baja, and arrived in San Felipe with plenty of time left for an afternoon cocktail hour on Pete’s Camp Beach.  After tacos and a few beers at Plaza Maristaco, we decided to check out some San Felepe cantinas.  Activities on Friday morning began a bit later than normal since Brian and I were still feeling the hurt from our excessive beer intake the evening before.  After a stroll up and down the Malecon to check out tech, we loaded our gear, picked up racer fuel, and headed south to set up pit #4.  After several hours of following our GPS and following old race courses and donkey trails, we came to a dead end just one mile from our proposed pit location.  According to Steve R. we had “discovered places that neither Christopher Columbus nor Hernan Cortez ever found – perhaps we should have planted a flag and claimed the most barren damn rock garden I’ve ever seen”. After I read our pit book (for the first time) it became apparent that “we could not get there from here”.  Thank goodness (and Steve R.) for the excellent publication that finally got us back on track, enabling to arrive at the Pit #4 site with plenty of time to set up for the evening.

We were situated just a quarter mile past checkpoint #4.  At dawn, we were about the only pit in the area but by 10:00AM we were one of 30-40 pits.  Radio comms with all other MAG-7 pits and Weatherman were outstanding which would greatly increase our race SA.  By 8:00AM were open for business but some bad luck for the Hale’s and a string of unfortunate events for 307X meant we would not be seeing either bike.  We did fuel all the other bikes and quads with no delay.  All riders were in good spirits and their rides were in good condition.  The 7A chase crew was on station to cheer on their rider and perform a rider change.  One of our sportsman racers was racing solo (first baja race) and his father was nervously anticipating his arrival.  He showed up on schedule, fueled, and finished in good standings.  1608 chase crew finally located pit #4 just in time to see their car fly by on the way to the finish line.  We turned over their spare tire and they were off to the finish line to celebrate their accomplishment.  We still had 5 gallons of gas to pour for car #554.  It was getting late so we broke out the light and awaited their arrival.  About an hour after sunset #554 checked in on Mag-7 main to report he would not require service and was going for the checkers.  I’d like to thank the hard working crew that came out to make pit #4 a success and all the San Felepe 250 racers who choose to pit with Mag-7.  See you at the B500.

[Mag7racer]

Mag7:
My name is Victor Barreda with 1608 for the SF250,, I just want to let you guys know I was extreamly pleased with you services, the pits were super fast and very professional, I pitted with BFG for the 1000 and have to say I was in and out of your pits alot quiker.. special thanks to Kevin walsh for his help....
 
See you in the 500

[Mag7racer]

Hi John / Mag 7-
 
Wanted to thank you  for your pit help during the Baja 250 - worked out great for us. Also - I think we owe you some money for gas. We were the guys (Derek Miller - 256x) that only ordered 1 gallon for each pit and you recommended that we bump that up. We originally pre-paid for 5 gallons, not sure how much more we got. When we showed up down there it still had us getting the original amount Pit 1 - 1 gal, Pit 2 - 1 gal, Pit 3 - 2 gals and Pit 4 - 1 gal.
 
Let me know what we owe you - I'll send a check.
 
Once again - thank you.
 
Kent and Derek Miller

[Mag7racer]

Mag 7,
“I just wanted to say thanks for all the support your team gave us, it made the difference between finishing or not. This was my sons first Score race ( Taylor Stormberg, 16years old, # 7A, class 25 pro Atv ) in the Baja and having you guys out there helped my wife and I to deal with the stress a lot better. You made sure he was hydrated, fed and even performed a little much needed First Aid. Thank you to you, your family and your Team, We would never do the Baja again without YOU and MAG 7 as part of our Team.

              Thank you,  Matt Stormberg “