Part 2: SCORE stars prep for 2023 SCORE WDC

SCORE MEDIA CONTACT: Dominic Clark, Dominic@SCORE-International.com
 
January 18, 2023
 
Season Opener in San Felipe, Baja
‘Celebrating 50 years of Desert Racing Excellence’
PART  2: Salvatierra, Cafro, Ruvalcaba and Wright all
prepping for 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship
 
Season opener will be King Shocks 36th SCORE San Felipe 250
set for March 29-April 2 along azure waters of the Sea of Cortez
 
    ENSENADA, Baja California, Mexico—While there is an off-season for the fans, racers and teams are diligently preparing physically and mentally for the launch of the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship in Baja California, Mexico.
     ‘Celebrating 50 years of Desert Racing Excellence’ in 2023, the season-opener will be the King Shocks 36th SCORE San Felipe 250, March 29-April 2 in San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico.
The World’s Foremost Desert Racing Organization will be presenting its entire series for the eighth consecutive year on the Baja California peninsula.
Racers and teams have a variety of methods to get themselves and their amazing desert racing machines ready to attack the majestic, mysterious, foreboding Baja California peninsula. Here are the comments from several top SCORE racers regarding their varied approaches to the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season.
Ticket sales close this Friday for 2022 SCORE Awards Night Gala
Ticket sales for the upcoming colorful 2022 SCORE Awards Night Gala close on Friday. The popular event will be held Saturday, Jan. 28 starting at 5:30 p.m. in the San Diego Air & Space Museum at historic Balboa Park.
     Open to the public as well as racers, teams, sponsors, and media, the celebratory evening with nearly 600 participants, will honor the Overall and 29 SCORE Class point champions of the four-race 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship as well as 14 SCORE Off-Roadsman of the Year Awards along with the 54 racers who earned the 2022 SCORE Milestone Awards, presented by Toyota Escondido, given to racers who completed every required mile during the current season.
     Tickets are $89 each and can be purchased on line at https://score.configio.com/pd/2293/
Certainly, there are numerous developing stories regarding drivers with new teams or changes in classes, but here is PART 2 of a sampling of comments gathered from SCORE superstars Juan Carlos ‘Chavo’ Salvatierra (Pro Moto Unlimited), Mike Cafro (Pro UTV Open), J. David Ruvalcaba (Class 10) and Brandon Wright (Pro Moto Ironman)…
Juan Carlos ‘Chavo’ Salvatierra, La Paz, Bolivia—No. 10x KTM 450SX-F: Pro Moto Unlimited
What are you doing to get yourself physically and mentally ready for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
     “After a couple of weeks of not doing any training, I started my program again before Christmas. I am back to cycling and motocross training. Basically, I will up my intensity in the following months to get ready for the SCORE San Felipe 250.”
What is your team doing to prepare/upgrade/change your vehicle for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
     “For 2023 my team and I will be using the 2023 KTM 450XC-F which is a completely new motorcycle from KTM. It has a new chassis, suspension and engine, which we have already begun testing.”
What testing plans do you have planned heading into the 2023 SCORE San Felipe 250?
     “Arturo Salas and Shane Logan will be testing the new bike and suspension in Baja during the months of February and March. By the SCORE San Felipe 250 we will have a great setup for our race bike.”
Are you planning having any additional riders for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season and if so, who will they be?
     “We will remain as the same solid team we have: myself (Chavo Salvatierra), Arturo Salas, Shane Logan and Clayton Roberts.”
Knowing that 2023 is the 50th anniversary season of SCORE racing, what does SCORE mean to you as a racer in the SCORE World Desert Championship.
“SCORE is at the forefront and pioneer of desert racing, which gives the opportunity to both professional racers and amateurs to compete in Baja, one of the toughest terrains in the entire world.”
MIKE CAFRO, Temecula, Calif.—No. 1876 Polaris RZR Turbo S: Pro UTV Open
What are you doing to get yourself physically and mentally ready for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
     “Physically, I have a workout routine that I practice daily and I try to eat as healthy as possible. This past SCORE Baja 1000 I didn’t feel as physically prepared as normal so I want to avoid making that mistake this year. I feel that when I am physically prepared, my mental awareness is also sharper. I also try to make sure all our ducks are in a row going into each race which gives me the confidence needed to perform well.”
What is your team doing to prepare/upgrade/change your vehicle for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
“We debuted a new Polaris UTV at the SCORE Baja 1000 and are still working the bugs out so testing will be key to the beginning of the season. Also having a good game plan going into each event and executing it is going to be a lot of our focus this year. We will try to be as efficient as possible.”
Knowing that 2023 is the 50th anniversary season of SCORE racing, what does SCORE mean to you as a racer in the SCORE World Desert Championship.
“I have pretty much raced every SCORE event in the last 30 years so this being the 50th year anniversary for SCORE is just another feather in the cap! I am stoked to still be competing and winning at the level that we race! I love racing in SCORE Baja races and will do it for as long as I can!
DAVID RUVALCABA, Ensenada Mexico—No. 1009 Alumi Craft-Honda: Class 10
What are you doing to get yourself physically and mentally ready for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
“My secret over the years to keep myself fit and capable of winning against all the young guns in Class 10 has been to ride my bicycle almost every morning and keep pre-running on my motorcycle, this allows me to visualize the course better and get myself in shape for the races.”
What is your team doing to prepare/upgrade/change your vehicle for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
“In 2022, we ran the Major Performance Honda package for the Class 10, our race car had almost no issues across the season, we managed to finish all the races, but the team’s Achilles Heel has been the pits, and this year we are determined to upgrade our pit system.”
What testing plans do you have planned heading into the 2023 SCORE San Felipe 250?
“We have no exact dates yet, but we are planning on doing a good period of testing to get the car ready for the whole season, and fight for our fifth SCORE season Class point championship again.”
Are you planning having an additional driver(s) for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season and if so, who will they be?
“As for the 2023 season there will be no new drivers or navigators for the team. We have been running the same lineup with Esteban Cruz and Alberto Cruz as my additional drivers/riders since we raced on motorcycles back in the 1990’s.”
Knowing that 2023 is the 50th anniversary season of SCORE racing, what does SCORE mean to you as a racer in the SCORE World Desert Championship.
“As a racer from Ensenada, SCORE has always played a major role in my desert racing history, and it is an honor for me to be competing for the 50th edition of the SCORE World Desert Championship.”
BRANDON WRIGHT, Oak Hills, Calif.—No. 750x Husqvarna FE501: Pro Moto Ironman
What are you doing to get yourself physically and mentally ready for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
“For me, I am mountain biking nearly every day and trying not to eat too many tacos!”
What is your team doing to prepare/upgrade/change your vehicle for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season?
“We are still sorting out our bike plan for 2023, but we are really looking forward to another championship season. Last year I was able to win the SCORE Pro Moto Ironman class and be the SCORE Overall motorcycle point champion and in 2021 I was a co-rider for Ryan Liebelt on his Pro Moto 40 Class point championship team.”
What testing plans do you have planned heading into the 2023 SCORE San Felipe 250?
“Testing for the SCORE San Felipe 250 is always about suspension, suspension, suspension! The whoops and the washes are the toughest in the world.”
Are you planning having an additional driver(s) for the 2023 SCORE Baja racing season and if so, who will they be?
“Like I said earlier, we are still sorting things out for the 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship. I may run some in Pro Moto 40 with Ryan (Liebelt) and again some in Pro Moto Ironman.”
Knowing that 2023 is the 50th anniversary season of SCORE racing, what does SCORE mean to you as a racer in the SCORE World Desert Championship.
“It has always been challenging and a crazy adventure to compete SCORE Baja races. The best of the best bike racers have competed with SCORE and it is an honor for me to be putting my name in the SCORE record books as well.  It doesn’t get any better than SCORE!
SCOREscope
2023 GOLDEN ANNIVERSARY SCHEDULE
Here are the dates for the four-race 2023 SCORE World Desert Championship Golden Anniversary season, ‘Celebrating 50 Years of Desert Racing Excellence’, which will be held totally in Baja California, Mexico for the eighth consecutive year:
King Shocks 36th SCORE San Felipe 250—
March 29-April 2, San Felipe, Baja California, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 55th SCORE Baja 500, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
May 31-June 4, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
4th SCORE Baja 400, presented by VP Racing Fuels—
September 12-17, Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
BFGoodrich Tires 56th SCORE Baja 1000, presented by 4 Wheel Parts—
November 13-18, La Paz, Baja California Sur to Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico
ESPN TV NETWORKS AGAIN IN 2022
For the fourth straight year, the 2022 SCORE World Desert Championship races aired on the ESPN family of networks. The four-races aired as specials on ESPN2.
ABC first covered the 1967 and 1968 Baja 1000 races on the old ABC Wide World of Sports show with Jim McKay and again in the late 1980s with veteran motorsports journalists Sam Posey and Jack Arute.
All of the SCORE race coverage shows also continue to air internationally in nearly 25 countries in Europe, Asia, Latin America and South America via syndication and ESPN International. The shows are co-produced by SCORE International and SoCal’s award-winning BCII TV.
SCORE SPONSORS…
Official SCORE Sponsors: BFGoodrich Tires-Official Tire and Race Title Sponsor, 4 Wheel Parts-Official Off-Road Retailer and Race Presenting Partner, Ford-Official Truck and SUV, King Shocks-Official Shock Absorber and Race Title Sponsor, Polaris RZR-Official UTV, VP Racing Fuels-Official Fuel and race presenting sponsor, Optima Batteries-Official Batteries, Wide Open Excursions-Official Arrive and Drive Company, Crystal Bay Casino-Official Casino and PCI Race Radios.
SCORE Official Partners: The Satellite Phone Store, Instant Mexico Auto Insurance, Lucerna Hotel.
Additional SCORE Associate Partners: Baja California Secretary of Tourism, MEXICO Secretary of Tourism, San Felipe Foundational Municipal Council, Ensenada Municipal Government, San Felipe Marketing Tourism Committee, Ensenada Marketing Tourism Committee, Ensenada Hotel and Motel Association, Proturismo Ensenada and Cruz Roja Mexicana.
For more information regarding SCORE, visit the official website of the SCORE World Desert Championship at www.SCORE-International.com.