By RaceScene Publisher on Sunday, 07 May 2023
Category: The Checkered Flag

Glade, Johnson, Price, Sutherland complete Sonora Rally/Mexican 1000 double

Western Mexico was bustling with desert racing in the past fortnight as the state of Sonora hosted the World Rally-Raid Championship’s inaugural trip to the Americas with the Sonora Rally, immediately followed by the NORRA Mexican 1000 in neighbouring Baja California. Sonora alone was already a difficult race to complete, much less doing so followed by the Mexican 1000 the following week, but a quartet of racers were more than up for the task.

Matt Sutherland and Matthew Glade had a particularly busy two weeks as they ran both races as part of the Ultimate Ironman Challenge, organised by NORRA and Sonora Rally for those attempting double duty on their own. Sutherland won the Sonora Rally’s Malle Moto class (finishing second in the Road to Dakar) before backing it up with his second consecutive Mexican 1000 bike overall victory. Racing in Pro Rally, he set a total time of 21:54:05 (21:53:20 excluding penalties) to hold off Modern Open rider Cade Smith by thirty-five minutes while also beating his 2022 time by fifteen minutes. Glade finished fourth in Pro Rally and fourteenth overall, seven hours back of Sutherland.

With the Sonora Rally ending on 28 April while the Mexican 1000’s first day of racing was on the 30th, Ultimate Ironman Challenge participants took a shuttle van from the Sonora finish in San Luis Río Colorado to the 1000’s start in Ensenada on the 29th. Sutherland and Glade’s bikes reached their destination and received an expedited pre-race inspection process before heading out the next day.

Mike Johnson placed an impressive third overall and second in Pro Rally. While Johnson is no stranger to the Mexican 1000 and his Rally Comp company provides roadbook devices for riders there and at Sonora, the 1000 was just his second race with Chinese manufacturer Kove Moto after finishing third in Sonora’s National Enduro.

In the four-wheel realm, Sara Price‘s fourteenth overall secured the Evolution Stock Turbo UTV victory. A twenty-minute penalty narrowed the gap to second-placed Benjamin Crawford to twenty-one minutes, though that was still more than enough of a cushion for the victory. While Sutherland came one spot short of securing free admission to the 2024 Dakar Rally, Price claimed the Road to Dakar at Sonora for four-wheel vehicles after winning the National Car/UTV division. Price’s Sonora co-driver Jeremy Gray split time in the navigator’s seat at the 1000 with his daughter Saydiie Gray.

Price’s busy stretch continued when she followed up the 1000 by racing the Dos Mares 500 from La Paz to Cabo.

Like in bikes, the 2023 Mexican 1000’s overall victor in cars was a repeat as 2022 champion Steve Menzies, father of Baja star Bryce Menzies, went back to back.

Class winners

Cars

ClassOverall FinishNumberDriverVehicleTotal Time
Challenger 4×4113807Mark Van Leeuwarden1983 Ford Bronco37:26:36
Challenger Buggy992222Frank Kelson1969 Volkswagen Beetle29:35:52
Challenger Car57500Tom Bird1974 Porsche Challenger 91423:28:20
Challenger Truck1001940Colin McLemore1975 Ford Pickup29:45:34
Evolution 610056139Terry Householder2018 Herbst-Smith Ford18:30:20
Evolution Class 10151011Eli Yee2011 Alumi-Craft Class 10 Buggy19:58:55
Evolution Class 7100DNF7127Scott Phipps1996 Ford RangerN/A
Evolution Heavy Metal137806Perry McNeil2018 Ford Raptor60:29:52
Evolution Meyers ManxDNF1356Joe Wheeler1973 Meyers ManxN/A
Evolution Modified UTV33444Seth Egge2017 Yamaha YXZ1000R SS21:29:03
Evolution Modified Turbo UTV212979Cameron Ornelas2021 Can-Am Maverick X320:17:26
Evolution Open UTV31854Kristen Matlock2022 Polaris RZR Pro R18:05:00
Evolution Prerun Buggy55995Randy Minnier2022 Alumi Craft Grande23:21:35
Evolution Prerun Truck3139Pat SIms1989 Ford F-25021:26:57
Evolution Rally CarDNF602Jeff Gamroth2006 Porsche CayenneN/A
Evolution Stock UTV986456Hans Buckwalter2017 Polaris RZR XP 4 100028:34:08
Evolution Stock Turbo UTV142024Sara Price2022 Can-Am Maverick X319:51:46
Evolution Trophy Lite766036Bruce Anderson2022 Trophy Lite25:37:18
Evolution Ultra 4×441833Rod Kaven2019 Trent Fab Ultra422:17:06
Evolution Unlimited Buggy2153Matt Campbell2013 JIMCO Rally Car17:36:16
Evolution Unlimited Truck11Steve Menzies2021 Mason Ford17:01:34
Historic Buggy58156Darren Mahoney2000 Jimco Class 123:44:30
Historic Truck and Truggy4616Pedro Perezpliego1991 Ford F-15022:31:32
Legend 4×46435Chris Greenwood1972 Ford Bronco24:38:48
Legend Buggy86304Rich Minga1971 Sandwinder Buggy26:45:40
Legend Car12834John Lannom1967 Volkswagen Beetle46:21:32
Pioneer 4×48026Boyd Jaynes1968 Ford Bronco26:07:28
Pioneer Buggy939Jon Steinhilber1965 Meyers Manx27:23:20
Pioneer Truck92866Chris Sullivan1966 Ford F-10027:22:43
Vintage 4-Cylinder Buggy27138Randy Wilson1988 Raceco Buggy21:01:31
Vintage 6-Cylinder Truck126218Jose Luis Salizzoni2002 Ford Explorer44:55:20
Vintage Class 1/2-1600491613Ruben Rodriguez2000 Bunderson 2/160022:56:22
Vintage Class 11881124Aida Leon1970 Volkswagen Beetle27:01:35
Vintage Class 59512Mike Belk2007 Volkswagen Class 519:07:39
Vintage Military Vehicle13422Robert Blanton1984 Chevrolet Blazer54:06:08
Vintage Open Buggy2386Jay Culbertson1990 Raceco Class 120:33:45
Vintage Open Production CarDNF600Allen Repashy1965 Ford RancheroN/A
Vintage Open Truck12236Dane Cardone1995 Ford F-15019:33:43
Vintage Open Truck 4×46873Craig Christy1971 Chevrolet Suburban24:54:46
Vintage Open Truck Rear Leafs135826John Bonanni1978 Ford Pickup55:54:53
Vintage Short Wheelbase 4×496301Larry Trim1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee28:18:15
VIntage Stock Production Car123969Serifcan Ozcan1989 Porsche 91142:12:18
Total time includes penalties

Bikes

ClassOverall FinishNumberRiderVehicleTotal Time
50+ Vintage Dudes6822Scott Purcell2019 KTM 50024:16:58
60+ Vintage DudesDNF17Steve Fugate2022 Beta 430 RR-SN/A
ATC 3-Wheelers23278Lyle Tonelli1986 Honda ATC250R51:01:20
Modern Lites13233Sydney Keeney2022 KTM 350 EXC-F28:22:21
Modern Open237Cade Smith2022 KTM 50022:19:50
Multi-Cylinder7890Radek Burkat2021 KTM 890 Adventure R24:54:46
Pro Rally1423Matt Sutherland2021 KTM 450 Rally21:54:05
Rally Amateur9997Clint Skullerud2017 KTM XC-F:27:02:27
Vintage Open5101Ben Schuckburgh2000 Honda XR650R23:47:17

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