Ensenada today, Dakar mañana.

FOR DESERT RACERS, the Baja 1000 represents the ultimate test of man and machine. Last November, for the riders on the Red Bull/KTM U.S. endurance team, it served as a shakedown test for them and the KTM 950 prior to the big one: the Paris to Dakar Rally. Team members Larry Roeseler, Paul Krause, Casey McCoy, and Scot Harden (who also serves as the team’s manager) traveled south of the California border to Baja, Mexico, to learn if their many months of training had prepared them and their bike for the rigors they would encounter two months later on the 8,000-mile journey across northern Africa.

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At 6:30 am on race day, Roeseler, a 10-time Baja champ, coaxed the behemoth Red Bull/KTM 950 to life. At 530 pounds, the towering machine was half again as large as its single-cylinder rivals. He rolled to the starting line, waited for the signal, and rocketed away on the grueling, first 150-mile leg of the race. Four hours later, he handed off the riding duties to Harden, who gave way to McCoy, who relinquished the bike to Krause for the final leg of what proved to be a long, difficult day of riding through rocky trails, dramatic elevation changes, and the infamous—and all-but-impassable—talcum powderlike Baja silt.

More than 19 hours later, at the finish line in Ensenada’s baseball stadium, the air was pungent with exhaust fumes, beer, and churros. The world’s loudest PA system alerted all within earshot (the entire city of Ensenada) of the approaching riders. Fans and teams alike waited anxiously for their arrival, but so far only a handful had finished.

Finally, a radio crackled, ". . . Red Bull . . . number 301 . . . Ensenada." Desperate to hear, Harden held up a hand, motioning for silence. As he and his teammates cupped their ears, the distant bark of a V-twin was heard. "That’s our bike!" Harden shouted. "That’s Paul!" With that, Krause rolled into the glow of the stadium. The Red Bull/KTM team had placed 31st overall, but more importantly, it had passed its preliminary Dakar test by finishing what most competitors felt was the most difficult Baja 1000 in the last two decades.

The weary teammates grinned at each other: They had made it. "Keep in mind," Harden said later with a chuckle, "we were actually the fastest 500-pound bike out there."

KTM
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