Shaffer Motorsports
Put To The Test During
SCORE San Felipe 250 Race
The Shaffer Motorsports team was eager to get back to Baja and to test themselves in the Mastercraft Safety
SCORE San Felipe 250. The San Felipe race is the shortest of the SCORE races in
Mexico but it packs just as much punishment as the Baja 500 or the legendary Baja 1000. A
new course layout this year included additional technical sections but there was no relief from the miles of whoops
that relentlessly pound competitors for most of the 250 plus miles.
The unpredictable terrain struck early when driver Daniel Aeberli, a very skilled driver, tagged a
rock at speed while prerunning the course. The team made necessary repairs to his damaged front suspension enabling
them to continue. The prerunning incident was a reminder how fast things can go wrong at race speeds on a technically
demanding course. They would start second off the line on raceday and with a class 10 championship as
their goal, it was decided to run a measured pace with an emphasis on finishing in the top five.
Race morning produced another picture-perfect
San Felipe day.
After taking the
green flag in the
Transfer Case Express Class 10, the team set out at a good pace. At mile 32, the power
steering started to act up. Mike pulled the car over but before John Bowers got out of the car, a mob
of locals had already surrounded the car, eager to lend any assistance needed. The power steering pump was gone but
only because the alternator, for some unexplained reason, exploded into pieces pelting the pump with shrapnel. The
chase crew was there in no time and dove into the car swapping out the damaged parts. They got it buttoned up and
headed back on course losing twenty minutes to the ordeal.
After getting back under way, they sought to make up some time. They were riding that fine line between pushing
hard and driving smart when they hit a rock in the dust flattening a tire. Not wanting to lose more time they tried
to make it to the next pit where they would refuel and make a driver change but they got stuck in some silt. John
quickly changed the tire giving them enough traction to get out of the silt. "We had some bad luck at the beginning
of the race," said Mike Shaffer, "The crew really came through for us. Except for some confusing GPS
directions in the dark, Daniel Aeberli and John Cantrell had a trouble free run to the
finish. We lost a position when the GPS led them to a closed gate but they found the course again and made it to the
finish." Results are still pending at the time of this writing but the whole team put in a solid effort overcoming
mechanical woes and maintaining a competitive pace on a tough and technical course. Shaffer Motorsports
will be taking those hard earned points to the HDRA 250 in
Ridgecrest, California April 5-7 the next World Championship of Desert Racing Series event in their
quest for the title.
Photography By Brian Binkert.
Last Photo By Jason Zindroski.
For the lastest information, photos and sponsorship opportunites:
See:
See:
Sponsors: Transfer Case Express, Boltec, PowerTank,
PSC (Performance Steering Components), RuffStuff
Date: 03.19.13
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