
Baja 1000 Results 2015: Race Winners, Video Highlights and More
Rob MacCachren and Andy McMillin successfully defended their Baja 1000 title during the 2015 edition of the iconic race, crossing the finish line in second place but taking the win thanks to two time penalties for Mexico's Carlos "Apdaly" Lopez.
Results for the Baja 1000 were finally made official on Sunday, as SCORE International, organisers of the event, had some sorting out to do because a multitude of drivers committed course violations. Here are the results for the Trophy Truck race:
| 1 | Rob MacCachren | 15:58:32.484 |
| 2 | Carlos Apdaly Lopez | 16:14:54.678 |
| 3 | Eduardo Laguna | 16:17:02.825 |
| 4 | Troy Herbst | 16:46:57.912 |
| 5 | Tim Herbst | 17:01:12.256 |
| 6 | Tavo Vildosola Jr. | 17:07:45.206 |
| 7 | Steven Eugenio | 17:50:10.483 |
| 8 | Dan McMillin | 18:05:15.932 |
| 9 | Mark Weyhrich | 18:14:22.496 |
| 10 | Cameron Steele | 18:22:59.807 |
Note: Final times may still change as the organisation sorts out the remaining time penalties. For full results of every class, visit the official website.
Here are the M-A Pro Moto Unlimited Results:
| 1 | Colton Udall | 16:29:08.210 |
| 2 | Ricky Brabec | 16:54:27.999 |
| 3 | Francisco Arredondo | 17:08:17.724 |
| 4 | Mark Samuels | 18:34:49.448 |
| 5 | Dustin Mccarthy | 19:53:46.759 |
| 6 | Raul Hernandez | 20:49:15.488 |
| 7 | Joseph Jepsen | 20:59:06.587 |
| 8 | Ricky De La Pena | 21:14:32.643 |
| 9 | Nick Gust | 22:32:17.243 |
| 10 | Joseph Wingfield | 24:45:41.455 |
Lopez, who already won the Baja 500 earlier this year, was the first driver across the finish line, but his celebrations were cut short when SCORE announced he would receive two time penalties for missing virtual checkpoints. The announcement was made while the race was still in progress.
Per SCORE's official website, race director Abelardo Grijalva said:
"Because Apdaly is so popular as a prominent home-country racer we wanted to avoid any confusion among the racers, fans and over 300 news media personnel from around the world covering this race that his penalty will move him unofficially to second place overall and in SCORE Trophy Truck.
When all the data loggers are reviewed, as is typical in our unique motorsport, numerous time penalties will be assessed for racers missing one or more of the 95 virtual checkpoints around the course as well as time penalties for speeding on several pavement sections that were part of the official race course. We put multiple virtual checkpoints on our race courses for a variety of reasons, especially respecting the wishes of the land owners who allow us to race on their property.
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Per Rockstar Energy Drink's official Twitter account, the news led to wild celebrations from defending champion MacCachren:
The news was a big blow for Lopez, who drove a fantastic race and handled the loose soil of the Mexican desert remarkably well. Conditions for this year's Baja 1000 were tough, and Lopez's aggression was evident in how he tackled the course:
MacCachren and McMillin have combined for eight overall wins in the Baja 1000, but this year's victory was one of the toughest yet. Last year, they used three drivers to grab an altogether easy win, but Jason Voss wasn't a part of the team this year, and it showed in a more conservative approach on the course.
Per Score International's official website, MacCachren said:
"We started off running a good conservative pace. This morning was really slow and Ricky Johnson (second driver for Justin Matney) started first but he knew he had control of the race and he was going pretty slow. It was pre-run speed but it helped us with gas mileage so we were going to stretch our first pit to 200 miles.
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Driving on the desert roads of Mexico is never easy, but the surface for this year's trek was particularly loose, and in some corners, it hardly mattered whether the drivers went wide. Bryce Menzies shared this video of team-mate Jesse Jones picking an odd line through one of the corners:
Colton Udall, Mark Samuels and Justin Jones took their third win of this year's World Championship Desert Races in the MX category, distancing themselves from the rest of the pack in the second part of the race.
Here's the moment the team knew they had―unofficially―won the Baja 1000:
The win marked Honda's 25th in Baja 1000 history and Udall's third in the last four years. Udall started as the ninth rider and immediately shot to the front, passing everyone but Shane Esposito. The latter was eventually overtaken by Jones after a crash, allowing the winning team to build a huge lead.
Larry Connor and Chad Broughton both finished perfect seasons in the Trophy Truck Spec class and Class 3000 divisions, respectively, while Javier Robles Jr., Josh Row, Felipe Velez and Jorie Williams were victorious in the ATV class. For Robles Jr., it was his second straight Baja 1000 ATV title.

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