To Celebrate 60 Years of Off-Road Racing in Baja, This Race Will Be 1,400 Miles Long

With NORRA’s 60th anniversary coming up, the race organization is putting on a ten-day rally to celebrate and it's a whopping 1,400 miles long.

Photo by: Justin W. Coffey, WESTx1000

By: Justin W Coffey

May 28, at 8:55am ET

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For the past 60 years, the National Off-Road Racing Association (NORRA) has been hosting off-road motorsport events in the Mexican state of Baja California—yes, it's also a state in Mexico. To celebrate this milestone, the organization is set to host the Baja 10 Day Rally, a 1,400-mile-long race that will take place from April 27 to May 8, 2027. And that, folks, is real long.

The rally is slated to start and finish in the city of Ensenada (a once quiet fishing village on the Pacific Coast turned cruise ship tourist town). However, racers will be required to travel all the way to San José del Cabo on the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula before doubling back toward Ensenada.

So, unlike a traditional loop race, this 1,400-mile adventure will see competitors traverse the entire peninsula, making a required stop in the state of Baja Sur, before racing their way back to the start/finish line.

The first six days of racing will be followed by two days of rest, then the final four-day sprint back up the peninsula. What’s interesting, though, is that NORRA is looking to racers for input regarding the route itself. NORRA is hoping to solicit feedback from participants who sign up for the 1,400 mile rally, allowing them to help the team design the actual racecourse, structure classes, and even offer input regarding the finish line festivities.

"The 2027 event will be shaped by competitor input on stage design, daily mileage, class structure, logistics, and celebration events," according to NORRA.

For those unfamiliar, NORRA hosts the annual Mexican 1000 (now referred to as NORRA’s Baja), an off-road event that follows - as closely as possible - the original Baja 1000 racecourse and takes place over the span of six days. The racing is augmented by overnight bivouacs (see: camps) and is a fully-supported on-road and off-road rally open to vintage and modern vehicles alike.

If you’ve never ridden or raced in Baja, the varied terrain, scenic landscapes, amazing food and incredible people make the difficult days in the desert a little easier to swallow. And if you’ve got the appetite for 1,400 miles of off-road racing, offset by overnight camps and camaraderie, the forthcoming NORRA’s Baja 10 Day Rally might be the right recipe.

What do you think?

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NORRA’s Baja sees competitors of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities - from off-road racing icons and current stars to adventure seeking amateurs. NORRA has classes for bikes, quads, UTVs, and 4-wheel classes for everything from vintage vehicles to state-of-the-art race cars.

So, if you’re interested and think you have what it takes to race for ten days and 1,400 miles across the Baja California peninsula, sign up and weigh in on how NORRA celebrates 60 years of racing.