Baja Spain is a world cup event and is part of the European Baja series with participation from many of the worlds top teams and drivers as well as bike riders such as 2004 dakar winner Nanny Roma.

This race consisted of day one Prologue and day two and three consisted of 350 km and 500 km respectively.

Brandon Harcus participated in this years' event and had the following to say:

I tested the car at Gregoire De Mevius's house on the Monday before the team left on Tuesday for Spain. The test was short and very dangerous as it was through a forest section full of mud and slippery grass. With the car being left hand drive and with a navigator that I had never met before made it difficult to concerntrate on all these things happening at once and the test only lasted about 6km before we decided to stop. I felt the car was not very well set up at the rear with the springs being too soft but with no stronger springs to put on the car we just had to go with the flow and drive it as it was. The main reason for me doing the Spanish baja was an opportunity to experience European conditions and take what I have learned to make adjustments to current cars as well as any new projects to follow.

I was really excited to participate in Europe against some of the top teams and drivers. I arrived in Zarragosa on Wednesday afternoon and went straight to scrutineering which took place in a huge hall with hundreds of spectators viewing from the stands. It was really nerve racking as you dont understand a word anyone says to you or what they are talking about on the car.

The car made it through scrutineering relatively easily, so it was official we would be starting the race. We proceeded to park the car in parc ferme which was in the middle of the main street in Zarragosa city with thousands of people lining the streets.

Prologue
I am a really nervous hyper tense person one hour before qualifying and thousands of things were running through my head as I realise the importance of making a good impression for Bat Racing, but most importantly to win any race you have to be in the front after the prologue. Never having driven a race car on the left hand side and with a new navigator Manu Eggermont who will be navigating for Stephan Henruad this week in Turkey made me even more anxious for the prologue. The limited testing time in the car also never gave me a chance to feel what the brakes or suspension would feel like. The start of the prologue took place in a small town called Huesca 80km from Zarragosa, the race headquaters. Manu and I arrived in time for the start after having gone through three check points, assistance, parc ferme and finally refueling areas to arrive at the start of the prologue. All the check points and various zones require precision timing otherwise you recieve time penalties.

I started the prologue in 56th place and this worried me as the the car in front was only one minute ahead and i knew that i would be in his dust and this would be a disaster for my qualifying hopes. The starter counted us down and off we went. Arriving at the first corner I realised that there was not enough front brakes and the car felt really bad under braking which was not good ,but rather not enough front brakes than too much, as buggies dont perform well if there is too much front brake. After a few corners I settled into the prologue which was fast and not very tight allowing me to straight line a lot of corners which is a
technique that my good friend Bevan Bertholdt taught me as he is the straightline king. I made one small mistake by missing a gear in a hairpin as I thought I was in first but I was actually in neutral which was not the end of the world as I probably only lost a second.

Then what I feared would happened, happened. We caught up to the car infront's dust and it was really a bad type of dust with no wind to assist it clearing and we still had three kilometres to go which cost us dearly. I was really frustrated sitting behind in the dust but I did not want to take any risks this early in the race. I knew that we had lost a lot of time. The car was perfect with no work to be done and this was a good start for race.

I later found out that we had qualified 7th out of 120 cars which was a great position considering the amount of time we lost in the dust. I was really happy with this position as we would start right behind the bmw x-raid factory bmw. This excitement did not last too long... when we looked at the starting order we found out that we would only start 13th with 6 seeded FIA drivers put infront of us due to a pathetic FIA rule that states that seeded drivers will start where they decide and not by the prologue times... well then why even have a prologue? This really annoyed me to the point that I wanted to call the fia and ask them if this was a race or a gathering of a pathetic bunch of girl guides? I have never been so disappointed! I was told that the race is on corrected time and it should not make any difference to me, but I knew that having to pass people in these conditions would be nearly impossible and I was right.

Day Two
I arrived at the Parc Ferme to find that some kids had thrown eggs all over the cars which did not smell to good in the increadible heat of Spanish summer 42 degrees and in the car must be at least 50 degrees plus. The start of the special stage was at 12h30 in the midday heat with no wind and incredibly dry and dusty conditions. I started behind the Russian buggy team and it was soon clear that I was stuck in my position as everytime I tried to attack and pass I was blinded by the dust and I wasn't even close to his bumper.

Somehow i managed to get a puncture which was a bit of a mystery as the tyre was not damaged at all and the worst part was that we could not get the rim of the hub and we lost a lot of time trying to get it off but eventually it came off. After fixing the puncture we continued with relative ease to the end of lap one 157km, although Manu, my navigator was suffering from motion sickness and vomiting all the time which worried me as I drank 4 litres of water in one lap and he had not had a drink at all. I have never been so hot in a car in my life as the engine heat was coming into the cockpit through a hole through the petrol tank where the shifter runs. The temperature must have been almost 60 degrees at some times and the smell of hot venting fuel did not make matters easy. On top of this the fesh fesh (dust like baby powder) was getting in and this was really hard on your eyes. Old friends Tony and Scott from the BMW X Raid team helped us at the service stop and we set off for lap two.

Lap two we went off the road into some fields with lots of grass and seeds which unbeknown to us blocked the air intake to the radiator and only after stopping to let the engine cool down a few times did I discover this and once it was clear we were able to go at race speeds again. End of day one and into the service park where we tried to fix a clutch problem that was developing. We had to leave for Parc Ferme in the city centre some 10km away in a rush in order not to get time penalties for arriving late. Half way there the highway was blocked due to accident so we had to make other plans in rush hour traffic not knowing where to go with a clutch that was now slipping, was a disaster. Eventually we arrived at Parc Ferme 8 minutes late receiving a further 8 minute penalty the for being
late. The day was over and we all were exhausted.

Day Three
Leaving the hotel in the morning I was depressed due to our clutch problems knowing that our race was more than likely over, due to a slipping clutch. When I started the car and tried to leave Parc Ferme the clutch was slipping so badly that the car could hardly move forward. This was a disaster and the team decided to make one last effort to fix the clutch at the service park before the start. We poured 3 cans of coke into the bellhousing and you wont believe me... the clutch was perfect after that. I was completely amazed at this. The reason for the clutch failing was the fine fesh fesh dust had gotten into the bell housing and covered the clutch in dust.

Day three was faster terrain and more interesting. We managed to pass two cars in 126km (miracle) before the left trailing arm broke which ended the race for Bat. Although we did not finish the race I gained a huge amount of information about the car as well as race experience so all was not lost and looking back this experience will really help Bat Racing in the future.

I want to end off by thanking my dedicated team for all their effort. To all involved with Bat Racing thank you for making this race possible for me. I also would like to say a special thanks to my brother Justin for making this possible by sponsoring Bat Racing for the Spanish Baja.

Claudia Bevilacqua : Logistics
Don White : Preparation
Gregoire DeMevius : Supply Bat Race Car
Jean David : European Logistics
Manu Eggermont : Navigator
Jc Erasmus : Goodyear Tyres
Anne Rose : Support
Justin Rose : Sponsor

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