The art of the Baja 1000 co-driver: holding it all together

In desert off-road racing, the relationship between driver and co-driver is critical. That’s especially true in the grueling Baja 1000, and perhaps more so this year with the entire course set in Baja Sur, much of it on relatively unfamiliar terrain. In those circumstances, doing well in the race comes down to preparation and trust.

Bryce Menzies and Oren Anderson have been driving together since 2018. Last year, they took the win in the 1000, with Christopher Polvoorde and Mike Kim handling the other legs in the Mason Motorsports Trophy Truck. They return this year with Mason Motorsports, this time partnering with Andy McMillin and Brady Thompson.

“The chemistry between Bryce and I is important because, I guess in the the dramatic way of saying it, our lives are in each other’s hands,” explains Anderson. “We’re going 130-plus miles an hour through 3D terrain and around corners. Sure, we have a really good idea what’s around the next corner, but it’s not like we can see around every hill or bush. So there’s a trust dynamic where he knows that he can trust what I’m saying to be the truth and accurate, and I know that he’s driving incredibly fast, but in-his-ability fast. He’s not hanging it out. He’s got something to accomplish down here, not something to prove.

“We go as fast as humanly possible without mistakes, and that’s where I can tell by his, say, body language … the way he’s driving, even mentally. We know how each other person is reacting mentally after 10 hours of racing, and know what to say to kind of rein us both back in, or to stay positive and have a good time. It’s nice having somebody that knows you personally enough that you can feel that energy and help keep it to where you’re both being the best you can be in the vehicle.”

Pre-running is a must...but there’s no guarantee the conditions will be the same on race day. Art Eugenio/Red Bull Content Pool

The trust grows out of not only knowing each other well, but in the preparation. Pre-running is critical to desert racing, much like practice for any other race. But on a typical circuit you’ll see the same 10-20 corners many times in testing and practice. With only a single lap of this year’s 965-mile course, Menzies and Anderson will only see their sections a couple of times prior to the race. Pre-running, and taking good notes while doing so, is what’s going to lead to success on race day.

“We pre-run every single day from sunrise to sunset for a week and a half before the race,” Anderson says. “If it’s a race like the 1000 that goes into the night, we’ll run eight hours a day, take a four-hour break, and run seven, eight hours at night. It’s just a lot of repetition and just getting as much as you can memorized, but also take notes to remind you of what’s coming up or where you’re at. So, when we go down there and we’re marking notes, my goal is just to help an already incredibly fast driver keep his pace up and know what’s coming, so he’s not mentally fatiguing himself, worrying about what’s around the next corner.”

The team has excellent tools at its disposal, including Mason Motorsports’ four-wheel drive Trophy Trucks to use as pre-runners. There’s no guessing at how fast they’ll be able to tackle a section when it comes to race day – they already know because they’re pre-running in race equipment. The team also has a helicopter overhead during pre-running, to watch out for animals or other vehicles on the course, but also to note that other people are trying different lines that might seem useful. Menzies will learn a lot during pre-running, but it’s the information gathered that Anderson retains in his notes that could make or break the race.

There’s also logistics. There’s not one pit lane that drivers will pass by every couple of minutes. The team has to set up its own pits, and they have to move. The plan is for the No. 7 Trophy Truck to have someone within 30 miles for the entire race. Thats a lot of trucks and manpower to plan around.

Blasting along through the Baja course requires the wheelman to have confidence his co-driver will have him ready for what’s over the next rise. Art Eugenio/Red Bull Content Pool

“We’re covering 24 hours of racing, and not in the same place,” Anderson notes. “So now we’ve got to spread out guys. I’ve I’ve done this in Trophy Truck for 23 years; the logistics side blows my mind. We have a minimum 75 guys and 15 to 20 trucks down there on support, and for these longer-run 1000s, the point-to-points, we have well over 100 guys down there for that. We usually see somebody every 30 miles, but the coordination and the communication, it’s mind-blowing how much it takes to get these orchestrated to go off properly.”

But no matter how much preparation there is, Baja is always going to throw you an unexpected pitch. A flat tire can wreck the whole plan. Weather can change the course so that what the team pre-ran looks completely different come race day. But again, that’s where preparation pays off. And Menzies is looking forward to fighting for another win.

“Having this all come together is extremely hard to do,” Menzies says. “There are so many different pieces. Whether you’re planning it from a chase truck side, what pits, people going down, and then also Oren and I in the truck, just communicating, working together. I have to believe in him when we’re doing 130, and he’s saying, ’hard left!’ make sure it’s a hard left.

“So you kind of have to have all the pieces come together, and then the last piece is Baja. You never know what’s it going to throw at you. There’s always something it’s going to try to do. So the Baja 1000, it’s special. Cabo to Cabo for first time ever this year, so whoever wins this one is is going to be in the record book for sure.”

• Watch the Baja 1000 live on RACER Network and the RACER+ app, starting Friday at 10:00am ET with an expected finish time of 5:00am on Saturday. RACER Network will telecast the race from Friday’s start at 10:00am through Friday at 7:00pm ET, and picks up again from midnight ET through to the finish at 5:00am. The race will stream in its entirety on RACER+.