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Raptor Expeditions is pleased to announce the “El Bandito 500”, our greatest adventure to date, taking a limited group of owners to the birthplace of the Ford Raptor. Baja is known for the most legendary off-road races in the world.
Covering 500 miles of the Baja desert, our group will experience trails driven by off-road legends such as Ivan Stewart, Malcolm Smith, Robby Gordon, BJ Baldwin, and many other racing champions. While our priority is ensuring a safe, relaxing, and fun run for all participants, both you and your Ford Raptor will be challenged on some of the toughest off-road terrain in the world.
The “El Bandito 500” run will begin Thursday afternoon, October 23rd, as we meet north of the Mexico border in Southern California. Our crew and participants will cross into Mexico as a group, and make our way to the starting point of the run in Ensenada Thursday evening. A driver’s meeting will be held Thursday night, ensuring all participants are aware of the run details, rules on the trail, safety concerns, and road conditions.
Friday morning our route takes the group south, along the coast of the Pacific Ocean, as we make our way towards our destination of San Quintin. We will depart San Quintin on Saturday morning, en route to the legendary “Mike’s Sky Ranch”, a destination for many off-road enthusiasts while in Mexico. Sunday will be our last and longest day on the trail, as we leave Mike’s Sky Ranch for San Felipe, using the same sections of trail used by the SCORE and NORRA series. After a long day on the trail, we will arrive at our hotel in San Felipe, overlooking the Sea of Cortez.
Monday morning, we will depart as a group for the paved drive back to the USA, crossing in Calexico where our adventure concludes.
What’s INCLUDED:
- Professionally designed course, including marked cautions, turn instructions, pre-run in advance shortly before the group run.
- Full trail support including: Full-time mechanics, commonly damaged stock spare parts, welding equipment, medical support, support truck and trailer, technical/GPS support, and fully equipped chase trucks.
- Hotel Rooms for each destination
- Dinner included at all 4 destinations
- Professional Blu Ray or DVD (your choice) of our Baja Adventure
- El Bandito 500 event specialized clothing for driver and passenger
- Raffle Prizes from top vendors and sponsors
- Free membership to Raptor Expeditions Club (Club details to be announced soon)
What’s REQUIRED (checklist will be performed stateside, trucks will be turned away if all items are not met):
- Passport for all participants (Driver, Passengers)
- Current registration and license plates
- Mexico full-coverage insurance for your Raptor (Instant Mexico Auto Insurance - Mexican Mainland and Baja Insurance is recommended, used by SCORE)
- Off-Road-Ready truck, all services, proper prep, all in working order
- 2 full-size spare tires
- Race Radio 50-Watt or greater (details regarding frequencies to TBD)
- Off-Road lights to supplement stock headlights
- GPS chart plotter, Lowrance recommended (No iPad or Android tablets allowed)
- 5 gallons extra fuel
- Case of bottled water
- Basic tools and recovery gear (Strap, shackles, jack, etc)
- Fire Extinguisher
- Helmets encouraged, but not required
- Layered clothing, for possibly variety of weather conditions
- Cooler recommended
- Breakfast and Lunch will not be provided, plan accordingly
- $20 in small US bills (singles) for Toll Roads
- Most locations accept USD, pesos can be used if preferred
- (Detailed item recommendation list to be provided to participants)
- MOST IMPORTANTLY: Level-headed driving, within your capabilities
Mexico has many rules and regulations which participants may not be familiar with. The list below is VERY important that we follow, any restricted items brought into Mexico could mean imprisonment, and large fines.
What’s RESTRICTED:
- All weapons or ammunition of ANY type (even a single bullet)
- Large knives (small pocketknife OK, placed in tool bag, not cab)
- Any and all non-prescribed narcotics (Pills, drugs, etc)
- Marijuana (including prescribed, they won’t accept your medical marijuana card, haha)
- Drug paraphernalia or residue of ANY kind
- Alcohol on the roads/trails (There will be time to drink each evening)
- Use of US credit/debit cards not recommended, cash preferred for your own credit protection. (Speak with our event staff for details)
- Reckless driving or speeding on public roads is ABSOLUTELY prohibited at all times.
What is the cost?
The final event cost has not been accurately established at this time, due to the unforeseen costs of hotels, dinners, and pre-running. This price will be firmly set not later than June 9th, 2014. There will be a limited number of open spaces for this run, due to the nature of the location and support that needs to be provided. To provide the absolute best experience possible for each and every participant, the group size will be no larger than 20 trucks including our support vehicles. Spaces will be reserved on a first-come basis, upon receipt of refundable deposit or full payment.
To hold a space for this event, and guarantee first purchase option when full pricing is announced, a refundable deposit of $500 will be collected. When final pricing is announced on June 9th, those with a deposit will be contacted directly to pay remaining balance by June 16th, or opt out of the run and your space be open to others. We are estimating the price for this run to be between $1500-$2000 per vehicle, which will include all of the items listed above for driver and one passenger. Additional passengers can be added for a cost of $200 to cover food and clothing (assuming room shared with driver). A portion of the proceeds from the run will be donated to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, in addition to supplies and items needed by local charities and hospitals in Mexico. Participants will be encouraged to bring items to donate while on the run in Mexico (details to be provided to participants).
All entrance fees will be refundable up to September 1st (minus PayPal fees if Credit Card used for payment), at which point all payments are non-refundable. Event participation is transferrable in the event you are unable to attend, and need to cancel past the cut-off date of Sept. 1st. Transfer of participation will be the responsibility of the owner.
We are excited to bring the Raptor Expedition runs and it’s participants to new locations, and guarantee this will be the run of a lifetime for many participants. Our goal is to provide a safe and fun experience for all, helping each participant successfully complete the adventure, building new experience and creating new friendships. This is NOT a race, but an adrenaline-filled experience that will give each driver a taste of the Baja peninsula in the safest way possible.
As mentioned before, this run will be booked on a FIRST COME-FIRST SERVE basis. We will be fair and accept the most timely entries first.
To register please follow the link: Register
For any questions feel free to shoot us a pm or an email at [email protected]
Thank you, we look forward to seeing you all on the trail.
Raptor Expeditions
