Rosarito mud has its uses

On December 16, Felipe M. photographed a Jeep and VW Bug plowing through a mud track next to Rosarito Beach.

“I think the one that won was the black 4X4 Jeep,” said Felipe, “it was a best two-out-of-three race.”

The track was between 50-100 meters long and by the middle the vehicles appeared to be halfway submerged in mud.

Felipe was documenting the Expo Off Road Xtreme 2018 for his Baja Sports magazine. The event was held at the Plaza San Fernando which is in between the waterfront and Federal Highway 1 — across the street from the go-kart tracks.

“[Regarding the rock crawler competition] there were various categories and the ones with the best times won,” he said.

Rock crawling is a variation of off-road driving where modified four-wheel-drive vehicles are used to cross over extremely harsh terrains mostly in the countryside — ascending-and-descending mountain trails with piles of boulders and rocks. The crawling course here was different: it ran alongside walls with graffiti-art murals and the vehicles crawled over tractor tires, a crushed car, dirt mounds, cement road barriers and descended into mud-filled potholes. Some of the spectators were splashed with mud as the high-revving vehicles passed by.

“There were even pieces of mud up on the boulevard outside,” said one spectator.

On the other side of the venue by the entrance, burnt rubber exuded from Japanese cars that drifted atop the asphalt and through the orange looper cones laid out in a number eight-like formation.

“That white Nissan was driven by a good drifter,” Felipe said.

Drifting is a driving skill where when entering a curve, the driver oversteers on purpose and then the tires break loose; the driver still maintains control driving the vehicle through the entirety of a curve as it slides.

Throughout the event live music was performed and in between the races one could shop at the automobile-and-motorcycle parts swap meet and vendor booths.

The event started at 9 am, and in the afternoon an award ceremony was provided for the 2018 Kuervitoz Kids off-road champion junior racers -- later on the adults received their trophies. Entrance was free for kids 12 and under and 80 pesos (about $4 USD) for everybody else.