The 2015 Baja 1000 ran from Ensenada to about halfway down the Mexican peninsula and back again. The first real turn of the race was this drop into the wash in the middle of town, where this poor guy couldn’t quite make it off-road before crashing.
I can’t tell who that is exactly. But motorcyclists would have started in the dark at around 6:00AM, so he might be toward the back of the pack which would suggest he’s not one of the pros.
Still, looks like he just ran a little wide and got caught on a curb. Could happen to just about anyone so let that be a lesson; never expect there to be plenty of runoff on the outside of a turn!
Too bad it had to happen in the first few hundred feet of a day-long endurance race. Thankfully the rider gets up immediately after going down, but I can only imagine how disheartening (and painful) it’d be to start this event with those bruises.
Anybody recognize this rider and know whether or not they finished? Hope they’re feeling better!
Contact the author at andrew@jalopnik.com.