Baja Rally

The Baja Rally is a Mexican off-road Motorsport race for motorcycles and UTV’s, held for six days during fall each year in the Baja California Peninsula. I is one of only 2 rally-raid competitions in North America and allows UTV’s and motorcyclesle classes to compete on the same course. It is one of the longest straight-running rallies in the Western Hemisphere. Baja Rally is a professional motorcycle & a UTV competition for professional and experienced roadbook navigation racers. With its headquarters in the San Nicolas Hotel, Zona Centro, Ensenada, which attracts racers from around the world. Baja Rally is the first ever motorcycle and Utility Terrain Vehicle road-book navigation rally raid, endorsed by Federal, State and Municipal governments in Mexico.
Every year, since 2013 the Northern port town of Ensenada, Baja CA has been the inaugural and conclusion point of the rally. It is a five-day event comprised of timed special stages, the routes of the same are disclosed only when each racer starts a new stage in the morning. The starting and the finishing stages is held in the municipalities of Ensenada and Mexicali. The length of the stages may vary from 50 miles to 250 miles. The changing weather conditions from dry hot desert to wet and foggy mediterranean type climate during the event across the Baja peninsula makes the race more challenging.
==History==
The first Baja rally-raid was announced in March 2013 and the rally took place in October of the same year. The first rally was for 3 consecutive days with 2 days of racing, although the duration of the rally was increased to 5 days in the later years. The inaugural Baja Rally was limited to 20 entrants with an additional 10 entries on a standby waiting list. There are always strict technical rules which are supposed to be complied by all the participants of the race. 
In 2018, the Baja Rally became the first motorsport event in Mexico to complete and file an authorised “manifestation impacto ambiental” (MIA) with SEMARNAT. SEMARNAT is equivalent to the US Environmental Protection Agency and the MIA is a recognized environmental impact study. It took more than 2 years to complete this regulation and with this investment of time and resources Baja Rally navigation race will continue to grow in Mexico and North America for decades to come.
==Environmental Impact Study==
In 2018, Baja Rally commissioned an independent, 3rd party environmental consultancy to publish an environmental impact study (manifestacion impacto ambiental) to measure the impact for an off road competition that was duly registered with Secretaría del Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), the federal environmental regulatory ministry of Mexico. This was the first scientifically administered study to measure the impacts of off road activity in the nationally protected region known as the Valle de Los Cirios that comprises the lower half of the state of Baja California and part of the northern region of Baja California Sur.
==Participants==
In order to participate in any class all riders must be legally allowed to participate in the race and can present the document in case of minors. Riders are also required to register them prior to the event with the dates given on the website (www.bajarallymoto.com). They are required to use specific motorcycle and UTVs.
==Baja Rally School==
In January 2013, Baja Rally announced opening a training academy named Baja Rally School with a full curriculum to teach motorcycle and UTV racers to better prepare for off road rally races around the globe. The 3-day course "Introduction to Rally Raid" includes practice courses and classroom training.
==Sponsors==
The rally is sponsored primarily by Rally Comp, Satellite Phone Store, Multitool-USA.com, Lost In Baja, and Scampa Never Stop Riding. Baja Rally allows sponsors to choose from Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 sponsorship levels.
Year	Category 	Winner 	Notes
2019	OA Champion ​RALLY PRO 	Trent Burgiss 	Pro Winner
2019	R1 Champion ​RALLY 1 	Matt Southerland 	Amateur Winner
2019	Rookie Champion 	Jubal Brown 	Rookie of the Year
2019	Senior Champion 	John Deykes 	Senior Winner
2019	UTV Champion UTV PRO CLASS	Lee Banning 	UTV PRO Winner
2018	OA Champion ​RALLY PRO 	Skyler Howes 	Pro Winner
2018	Rookie Champion 	Alan Brand 	Rookie of the Year
2018	Champion ​ADV EXPERT 	Todd Zacker 	ADV PRO Winner
2018	UTV Champion UTV PRO CLASS	L. Javier Pelayo Poncho Alonso	UTV PRO Winner
2017	OA Champion ​UTV PRO 	Steve Hengeveld 	UTV PRO Winner
2017	Champion ​RALLY PRO, 2nd OA	Garret Poucher 	Pro Winner
2017	Rally 1 Champion 	Devon Mahon 	Amateur Winner
2017	Rally 1-Rookie Champion 	Poncho Alonso 	Rookie of the Year
2017	ADV Expert Champion 	Wes Vanieuwenhuise 	ADV PRO Winner
2016	Rally Pro Champion 	Steve Hengeveld 	Pro Winner
2016	Rally 1 Champion 	Tony Gurule 	Amatuer Winner
2016	ADV Expert Champion 	Lawrence Hacking 	ADV PRO Winner
2016	UTV Champion 	Bob Jones 	UTV PRO Winner
2015	Rally Pro Champion 	Steve Hengeveld 	Pro Winner
2015	Rally 1 Champion 	Trent Burgis 	Amatuer Winner
2015	UTV Champion 	Bob Jones 	UTV PRO Winner
2014	Rally Pro Champion 	Scott Bright 	Pro Winner
2014	Rally1 Champion 	Charles Jirsa 	Amatuer Winner
2013	Rally Champion 	Andy Grider 	Overall Winner
==In popular culture==
Baja Rally has been widely covered in mainstream media, television and social media. It has been regularly published and has occasional appearances in media houses such as Dirt Bike, The Weather Channel, Televisa Deportes, and Motorcycle.com.
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==References==
==External links==
*Official website
*Baja Rally on Facebook
*Baja Rally on Twitter
*Baja Rally on Instagram
*Baja Rally on Youtube
Category:September events
Category:October events
Category:Auto races in Mexico
Category:Sport in Baja California
Category:Rally raid races