Fallen Kurt Caselli crashes in Baja 1000

James

James

Staff member
timoyz:
1x was a few miles behind KC, it was still light outside when he would have passed the down KC, and he didn't stop. It was 2 hours before anybody was to KC, then 4 hours later before the helo got there. The whole thing sucks.:thumbsdown:
Click to expand...
What is this 1x 2x stuff?

So there was another racer right behind KC? How wide is this course, any chance that he could've just missed him?

PALMER84ONE:
X2 and Ditto, off road racing like this are a timed event also. If you stop to help a fellow rider for say 30 minutes and get passed by other riders you get that 30 minutes back at the end of the race. So, even if you physically come in second, but 40 minutes behind the 1st place (physical) you get the time back, and it still makes you first over all. Make sense?
Click to expand...

This is me right now vv

jeff-dunham-peanut-o.gif
 
PSJBrock

PSJBrock

I am coming out of the bushes for this one. I have been gone for a while (lots of personal issues.) This doesn't sit right with me.... Something is not right with what happened. There is a lot of unanswered questions and there is a lot of questions not being asked. I am a huge offroad fan which most of you know so this Baja I was very excited about. Score went to a new tracker. Spot Gen 3 to be exact. If you have tried to follow the race in the years past you would know that the race might as well have been on the moon with the updates you would get here state side. Well this year they changed that. With the spot trackers the riders location was updating about every three minutes. So I was glued to my computer screen.

I am not a huge fan of the JCR team(1x). I think it is a little suspect that you have won the baja 17 years in a row but that is another story. I was really rooting for the Kawi team (4x) and the KTM team (2x). I was like refreshing my computer all day and keeping close track on all the motorcycles. The 4x teams ran into some trouble early when they ran out of gas. Then Robby Bell took a digger and they had to land the Helo so the alternate ride could take over. 4x was maintaining about a 80 mile gap behind the leaders.

This is when it gets interesting. The 2x and the 1x where within 15-20 miles of each other all day. At some parts of the race the trackers where literally on top of each other. In order for the 1x to get the win they would have to beat the 2x by 2 minutes. (the difference in their starting times). When Caselli got on the bike for the last leg and to bring them into the finish they were about 2 minutes AHEAD of the 1x. I know this because Udall admitted in an interview that he was riding over his head just to keep up with Caselli and he was still pulling away. Caselli and Udall got on their respective bikes at the same pit, shortly after getting on the 1x Udall hit a cattle guard and it folded the front wheel. He then stated that he waited 20 minutes for his pit crew to arrive so he could swap the front wheel out. During this 20 minutes Caselli suffered the crash.

Udall had stated that he did not know about the 2x being out of the race until he reached the last honda pit. I am unsure of the race mile of this pit. This is what I have a problem with. I know the 2x team was following the tracker just like I was. I saw when Caselli crashed and knew right away something was wrong. You could see the tracker veered off course suddenly and then took a hard right where it stopped. What upsets me is if you replay the tracker you can see that the 1x tracker comes very close to the downed 2x tracker. With everybody saying it was a desolate part of the race course and the speed in which Kurt hit the animal I find it hard to believe the 1x bike didn't see something. On top of that they are riding with a helo so even if the rider didn't see anything the Helo should have seen something. Plus there are some reports that after the tracker made the hard right Ivan ramirez (Kurts teamate) went out looking for Kurt. I read somewhere that ramirez was there with kurt when the 1x passed. I do not know how true this is and I am not using this report to make my assumption.

So in comes the 4x bike. remember I said they where 80 miles behind. Well use the average speed of 50 miles an hour and you can put him at about an hour and a half behind the KTM. No granted by the time the 4x reaches his pit they already know 2x is down. So they probably tell him to look out for the bike. Which is common practice in desert racing. Once the 4x finds the bike he is to stay with the downed rider until another vehicle shows up and then the 4x would proceed to the next pit or check to get help. Anyways the 4x rider shows up on scene and he sees the 2x down. He waits there until Ivan Ramirez (Caselli's teamate) arrives. The 4x then goes to get help. We know this because multiple members of the 4x team stated this is what happened. Now after this I am not sure of the events that took place as there is no solid reports that I have found.

So here is my conclusion of what I think happened. I think Caselli got on the 2x at his designated pit with about a 2 minute lead. When the 1x came in they knew that they would have to PASS AND PUT 2 minutes on the 2x. With Caselli on board Udall knew this would be a challenge. Colton was riding way over his head to make up time and made a mistake he slipped a concrete corner of a cattle guard and destroyed the front wheel. While he was waiting for the wheel the KTM was putting time on them. Once he got rolling he knew exactly where he was on time. About 22 minutes down to the KTM team. He then put his head down and started to charge. About 12 miles into this section the 1x came up on the 2x and saw him down. Maybe he didn't see Caselli but I am sure he saw something. He knew that if he was going to get the win he would have to put time on the 2x. I do not think they did it out of Malice or anything I think it was just an unfortunate situation. They should have never passed a downed rider.

Here is why I came to this conclusion. The JCR team went completely silent after the race. They took 3 days to make any sort of comment about the accident. The two guys that where on the 1x bike at the end of the race did not stay for the ceremonies following the race and have not posted a single thing since the race ended. I certainly hope I am not right but I have a strange feeling something like this happened.

IF the 1x passed a downed rider than that is something they are going to have to face at a later date.

RIP Kurt.
 
CDA

CDA

PSJBrock:
I am coming out of the bushes for this one. I have been gone for a while (lots of personal issues.) This doesn't sit right with me.... Something is not right with what happened. There is a lot of unanswered questions and there is a lot of questions not being asked. I am a huge offroad fan which most of you know so this Baja I was very excited about. Score went to a new tracker. Spot Gen 3 to be exact. If you have tried to follow the race in the years past you would know that the race might as well have been on the moon with the updates you would get here state side. Well this year they changed that. With the spot trackers the riders location was updating about every three minutes. So I was glued to my computer screen.

I am not a huge fan of the JCR team(1x). I think it is a little suspect that you have won the baja 17 years in a row but that is another story. I was really rooting for the Kawi team (4x) and the KTM team (2x). I was like refreshing my computer all day and keeping close track on all the motorcycles. The 4x teams ran into some trouble early when they ran out of gas. Then Robby Bell took a digger and they had to land the Helo so the alternate ride could take over. 4x was maintaining about a 80 mile gap behind the leaders.

This is when it gets interesting. The 2x and the 1x where within 15-20 miles of each other all day. At some parts of the race the trackers where literally on top of each other. In order for the 1x to get the win they would have to beat the 2x by 2 minutes. (the difference in their starting times). When Caselli got on the bike for the last leg and to bring them into the finish they were about 2 minutes AHEAD of the 1x. I know this because Udall admitted in an interview that he was riding over his head just to keep up with Caselli and he was still pulling away. Caselli and Udall got on their respective bikes at the same pit, shortly after getting on the 1x Udall hit a cattle guard and it folded the front wheel. He then stated that he waited 20 minutes for his pit crew to arrive so he could swap the front wheel out. During this 20 minutes Caselli suffered the crash.

Udall had stated that he did not know about the 2x being out of the race until he reached the last honda pit. I am unsure of the race mile of this pit. This is what I have a problem with. I know the 2x team was following the tracker just like I was. I saw when Caselli crashed and knew right away something was wrong. You could see the tracker veered off course suddenly and then took a hard right where it stopped. What upsets me is if you replay the tracker you can see that the 1x tracker comes very close to the downed 2x tracker. With everybody saying it was a desolate part of the race course and the speed in which Kurt hit the animal I find it hard to believe the 1x bike didn't see something. On top of that they are riding with a helo so even if the rider didn't see anything the Helo should have seen something. Plus there are some reports that after the tracker made the hard right Ivan ramirez (Kurts teamate) went out looking for Kurt. I read somewhere that ramirez was there with kurt when the 1x passed. I do not know how true this is and I am not using this report to make my assumption.

So in comes the 4x bike. remember I said they where 80 miles behind. Well use the average speed of 50 miles an hour and you can put him at about an hour and a half behind the KTM. No granted by the time the 4x reaches his pit they already know 2x is down. So they probably tell him to look out for the bike. Which is common practice in desert racing. Once the 4x finds the bike he is to stay with the downed rider until another vehicle shows up and then the 4x would proceed to the next pit or check to get help. Anyways the 4x rider shows up on scene and he sees the 2x down. He waits there until Ivan Ramirez (Caselli's teamate) arrives. The 4x then goes to get help. We know this because multiple members of the 4x team stated this is what happened. Now after this I am not sure of the events that took place as there is no solid reports that I have found.

So here is my conclusion of what I think happened. I think Caselli got on the 2x at his designated pit with about a 2 minute lead. When the 1x came in they knew that they would have to PASS AND PUT 2 minutes on the 2x. With Caselli on board Udall knew this would be a challenge. Colton was riding way over his head to make up time and made a mistake he slipped a concrete corner of a cattle guard and destroyed the front wheel. While he was waiting for the wheel the KTM was putting time on them. Once he got rolling he knew exactly where he was on time. About 22 minutes down to the KTM team. He then put his head down and started to charge. About 12 miles into this section the 1x came up on the 2x and saw him down. Maybe he didn't see Caselli but I am sure he saw something. He knew that if he was going to get the win he would have to put time on the 2x. I do not think they did it out of Malice or anything I think it was just an unfortunate situation. They should have never passed a downed rider.

Here is why I came to this conclusion. The JCR team went completely silent after the race. They took 3 days to make any sort of comment about the accident. The two guys that where on the 1x bike at the end of the race did not stay for the ceremonies following the race and have not posted a single thing since the race ended. I certainly hope I am not right but I have a strange feeling something like this happened.

IF the 1x passed a downed rider than that is something they are going to have to face at a later date.

RIP Kurt.
Click to expand...

:thinking:
 
freds40

freds40

Saw this posted on another forum. Can't vouch for the validity though.:

"I was texting a friend of mine who was there (he was in 4th place) and he said,

"He hit the cow and crashed, then got back on the bike for a few yards and leaned his bike up against a tree. Then he stumbled across the course and took off his helmet and laid down, and that was it. There was tons of blood and head/face trauma."

ME: "I was hoping he went quick."

"Me too, but I think he laid there a while. It took 1 hour and 45 minutes until Brabec and Ivan found him, then I was 10 minutes after them.""
 
CDA

CDA

Mihylo33:
No doubt...
I don't follow desert but watch every one of Caselli's videos posted... Amazing rider and an amazing human being.... This unfortunate incident bothers me to no end....
Click to expand...

Hey Kurt was one of those guys the desert/off-road world fell in love with. He could not have been any nicer. This reminds me of when Danny Hamel died, though I was still racing against him then and it really hit home for my wife and I when that happened as well. My wife and I talked about this with my daughter and she remembers hanging out with Kurt when they were like 10 out in the dez.

This is an awesome video and well done.

 
Top