‘Excessive Speed’ Blamed in Crash
Speed wins races, but Mexican authorities said Monday that “excessive speed” was the reason one spectator was killed and six others were injured in a crash by Jason Baldwin during the 30th Tecate SCORE Baja 500 off-road race.
It’s the second time in two years that Baldwin, of Laguna Beach, has been involved in a fatality on race weekend. A local motorcyclist was killed in a head-on collision with Baldwin last year while Baldwin was pre-running the course.
The Baja California highway patrol ruled “excessive speed” as the cause of the accident that occurred shortly after the off-road race started Saturday morning. Baldwin was traveling about 100 mph when he lost control in northern Ensenada. “If he had slowed down, he wouldn’t have lost control of the vehicle,” said Oscar Ramos, an attorney for the race’s sponsors, Los Angeles-based SCORE International.
Baldwin, 29, who has been racing for about 10 years, was recovering Monday after experiencing neck and back pain, bumps and bruises, according to Baldwin Racing team manager Justin Benham.
Baldwin issued a statement by fax to The Times, saying:
“As you can imagine I am deeply upset about the accident . . . My heart goes out to [the family of deceased Luis Alberto Valdez] and I will continue to have them and all that were injured in my prayers.
“At this year’s Baja 500 there were many different factors that contributed to this weekend’s accident including heavy dust making it difficult to judge distances and a very large number of spectators on the course. . . .
“After this weekend’s accident there is no doubt in my mind that something needs to be done to increase the safety of this sport. Due to technological development over the past few years, the vehicles are going much faster than most people realize. This has created a much higher degree of risk for accident and injury to both drivers and spectators.”
Baldwin’s co-driver, Mike Laughlin, was in fair condition at Mercy Hospital in San Diego after breaking a bone in his lower back.
Baldwin was competing in the the Trophy Truck class, the fastest class of the desert racing series.
Instead of negotiating a quick left-right turn that was preceded by a short jump, Baldwin’s out-of-control truck went into a crowd of onlookers and flipped. It struck and killed Valdez, 33. The most serious of the six injured, Craig Stewart, 30, of Santee, underwent brain surgery for a blood clot at UC San Diego Medical Center. He was listed in good condition Monday.
All six injured were expected to recover, authorities said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.