Paraplegic Ricky James would start the Baja 500 on the # 120x Honda CRF, with mirror teammate Danny Velasquez
starting right behind him on the # 121x Honda. Ricky blasted off the start and got up to speed only to get blinded
on a dusty up hill just miles from the start, after falling down teammate Danny Velasquez got him picked back up
strapped into place and Ricky was off again. The Temecula Motorsports teammates navigated the Fog between Ensenada and Ojo's Negro's, then picked up the pace thru El Alamo but around Mile 65 Ricky found himself back
on the ground again after being side swiped by another rider in a nasty sand-whoop section.
Unfortunately this get off was a little more serious than the earlier navigational error, Ricky had suffered a seperated
shoulder, so when teammate Danny arrived the process of re-mounting Ricky was a little more tricky than before, Sand + Whoops + Paraplegic + Seperated shoulder = A very tough time getting Ricky back on the bike.
After a solid 30 minute delay the teammates were off and running again, with a pit stop at race mile 79 to reposition Ricky and make minor repairs to the hand controls, Ricky was off again with Danny and seperated shoulder in tow.
Ricky arrived the rider change at mile 120 at appox 10:20AM, after an air cleaner change Bobby Russell took over rider responsibility and rode thru Mikes Sky Ranch, behind San Telmo road, back thru El Coyote, down Simpson hill and arriving into the pits just West of Valle De Trinidad (mile 252) at 2:20PM.
The Honda was serviced with a new rear wheel and a fresh air cleaner (Thanks Adrian) then Team manager Jason Lindstrom took over from there and rode the cross over to Hwy 1, then thru Erendira, past Punta Banda and over the hills into Santo Tomas.
In Santo Tomas Bryce Kiser took control and blasted up Hwy 1 turning off at Uruapan and over some of the newest section of the Baja 500 course, then back toward Ojos Negros and running parallel to Hwy 3 and eventually arring the finish line at 6:40PM.
The Temecula Motorsports Honda CRF450X was dusty & dirty but still running like a champ at the finish.
"A great big thank you goes out to the entire Temecula Motorsports team, the riders could not have done this without your help"