Video of the Month – Power Days 300 Germany

The August edition of our Video of the Month series features the Power Days 300 held in Germany earlier this year. Be part of Off-Road history when Trophy Trucks for the first time set ground in Europe. BJ Baldwin, Jesse James, Gus Vildosola, Armin Schwarz, Marten Christensen, Danny Sulivan, Ken Block, Petter Solberg, Mathias Kahle, Cyril Despres and Hermann Gassner are just some of the drivers that participated at the Power Days 300.

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Power Days 300 – Battle in Germany

So what exactly was the Baja Power Days 300 event you ask?  Well, to honestly answer that question, it literally was a three ring circus.  A narrow and technical rally course paralleled the Laughlin-style track of the desert race vehicles while the motorcycles intersected both four-wheeled circuits with a series of high-flying jumps.  When the green flag dropped, there were four various styles of exhibition (two different classes of bikes) that would run on three different tracks.  The vehicle classes were staged in groups of two and each participant ran their respective courses simultaneous of the other classes, providing the spectators with an X Games type of atmosphere.

A single WRC car, desert race vehicle, and bike would launch down their own ramp and onto each specifically designed course.  As soon as the dust settled, another round of participants in from every class would follow closely behind.  With two of each of the four-wheeled classes out on the course and four motorcycles jumping over the WRC and SCORE racecars, the fans were treated to non-stop action compliments of the distinctively structured mayhem playing out before their eyes.

The unique design and layout of the track was the brainchild of Armin Schwarz – the driving force behind the entire weekend’s activities.  The course concept and the organization of the event began to take shape sometime in mid-January after Armin did an aerial survey of the site to determine the possibilities.  With a relatively short timeline, Schwarz realized it would be nearly impossible to coordinate a race both logistically and financially.  Most teams had obviously not budgeted for a mid-year competition half-way across the world and the promotion of the event would be a massive undertaking.  The lack of media and hype surrounding this affair would more than likely result in low entries and disappointed fans therefore Armin chose to approach the inaugural event as more of an exhibition than an actual race.  The issue of what safety and sanctioning rules applied to the very diverse vehicles was something that would also have to be addressed before a race or a competitive series could be created.  All these factors are not impossible to overcome but working through the logistics definitely takes an immeasurable amount of time to hammer out.

While promoters often tout over-inflated numbers when quoting expected ticket sales, I would almost bet the initial estimates of 15,000 spectators was right on the money.  The viewing areas were packed and in many places the fans were standing shoulder to shoulder.  My only regret in regards to the audience is the fact that I am at a distinct disadvantage with the language barrier.  I would have liked the opportunity to interview the spectators as they left the event to get their opinion of the SCORE class race vehicles.  From what I could decipher from the crowds surrounding the desert racecars, the European motorsports enthusiasts were definitely impressed with the vehicles.

Keeping in line with their recent forward-thinking marketing efforts, General Tire stepped up to the plate by committing to a large display booth in the paddock area and sending quite a few representatives to attend and support the event.  Although General’s parent company (Continental Tire) is a German-based operation, it was a company first to have the General Tire brand displayed on German soil.  Catching up with GT representative, Tony Talbert, I asked him what his overall thoughts of the exhibition were – to which he remarked, “It was a very good first effort and I am impressed with everything that Armin and his colleagues are doing to make this happen.  It is an interesting venue and the German people are obviously motorsports fans.  This is something that is new and different and we can see the enthusiasm in the desert race vehicles grow.  Interest in this type of event and the future potential will be greatly impacted by the turnout of the spectators and the reaction of the fans.”

While one of the initial concepts of the event was to raise interest in other forms of racing that the European market has not been exposed to – leave it to the bad boys of desert racing to get a little competitive.  I am not sure who really started it, but BJ Baldwin and Jesse James decided to go bumper to bumper around the track.  The circus performance we were previously witnessing suddenly broke out into a desert race!  As the crowd cheered the two Trophy Trucks on with excitement, it was BJ who was in the lead with JJ in hot pursuit.  Coming into the back straight, Baldwin got out of shape and went high on the berm which allowed Jesse the opportunity to take over the lead.  Apparently BJ still has not learned his lesson from the Baja 500 as he decided to cut through the course taking out several trees in the process.  As he hauled ass through the infield and hopped back onto the course, BJ once again restored the lead position through his creative course selection.  Unfortunately the impromptu competition could not be completed as Jesse broke a transmission and was forced to pull of the track.

Standing in the team and official spectator area, it was comical to hear the remarks being yelled at Sal Fish as BJ Baldwin was clearly deviating from the marked course.  Even Sal’s right hand man, Oscar Ramos, joined in on the fun by approaching him and asking “So, Jesse James is asking when is the Competition Review Board?” Sal, being quick on his feet, didn’t even hesitate when he jokingly responded with “Well, I don’t know!  It’s going to take three weeks to gather all the data.” After listening to another round of Baja 500 comments, Sal just looked at the crowd and said in jest,  “And to think, I could have been a doctor.”

Once again, I am sitting in the media room of the hotel and it is 4:45am.  I have quite a few more stories to add to the reports – including quite a few quotes and thoughts on the event from the WRC guys and my experience riding in my first rally car with Gigi Galli.  I would like to do these stories justice though so for tonight I am going to turn in and return to this later…..yes, there is more to come so stay tuned!

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Power Days 300 – Germany, The Never Ending Day

Germany Day 1 – The Never Ending Day…..

As with any great adventure, there are usually several behind-the-scenes stories that are rarely told.  The RDC media staff (which also includes BJ Baldwin and his crew) had already endured a full day and evening of travel when our German escapades began to take shape.  After missing our connecting flight from London to Berlin we arrived in Germany a few hours behind schedule and nearly 16 hours after boarding our plane at LAX.

Surprisingly we cleared customs at lightning speed and were able to get our rental car just as fast.  Unfortunately, this would turn out to be the easiest and simpliest part of our day.  We loaded our gear and luggage into Mercedes’ answer to the minivan and headed out on another three hour trek to our hotel in the town of Bautzen.  True to form, BJ Baldwin insisted on driving.

Arriving at the hotel tired and hungry it was obvious that a shower, sleep and food were not in our immediate future.  We quickly unloaded the contents of the van into our respective rooms and decided to scout out the location of the Baja Power Days 300 event.  Normally, this would seem like a fairly simple task given our savvy at finding random Baja pit locations…but tonight it was a different story.

Awake for well over 24 hours and nearing a delirious exhaustion we set out on our mission to locate the track.  The enterprising office “ninjas” programmed the GPS units with the hotel and event addresses prior to our European departure but we quickly discovered the alleged track location was in fact a quaint little cottage on a cobblestone residential road.  What started out as quick trip to get the “lay of the land” (and to ensure the cargo container with BJ’s Trophy Truck arrived safely) actually turned into a misguided four hour adventure leading us through the eerie backwoods of the Northern German countryside and providing us a unique tour of an obscure power plant in the middle of nowhere.

Driving around in circles for several hours the boys finally (gasp!) asked for directions from any local who had the unfortunate experience of crossing our path.  “Do you speak English?” BJ would ask.  The answers varied anywhere from complete ignorance of our existence to “Sort of” followed by directions that included details such as “follow the tall trees and turn right onto the dirt road…”  By the way, there are a lot of trees and dirt roads here.  At one point we handed a crude map to one of the locals and tried to use internationally recognized hand gestures to convey our message – but our efforts reaped little success.  After three hours we had made absolutely no progress in locating the track.

In one final attempt, we decided to backtrack to the quaint little cottage and retrace our steps looking for any possible mistake in our path.  As luck would have it, there was a very helpful young man sitting outside on his porch who just happened to answer “Yes” when BJ asked for the umpteenth time “Do you speak English?”  Even more surprising, the kid knew exactly what we were looking for and had a friend “just down the way” who knew exactly how to locate the event.

In a welcoming and hospitable manner reminiscent of our amigos in Baja, this quiet young man jumped in his car and led us over to the house where his friend in-the-know resided.  After exchanging awkward greetings our newfound duo of friends hopped back in their car and led us through another series of creepy tree-lined roads in search for our hopeful promise land.  Finally, four hours after we departed our hotel on this journey (and nearly 30 hours after waking up), our new compadres were able to successfully lead us to the track.

Driving into the facility under a midnight veil of stars we could see the enormity of this project come into focus.  As the headlights lit up the massive expanse in front of our stylish van we were surprised by the complexity and the uniqueness of the track design.  Needless to say, we were duly impressed by the scope and the logistical undertaking Armin Schwartz and his staff had embraced in hopes of bringing American off-road racing to the German market.

BJ – with his ever present boyish-curiosity – was anxious to scope out the track and locate his Cracker Jack box shipping container with the Trophy Truck prize inside.  As we approached the dirt ramps leading down into the arena the temptation to take the van on a joyride around the rally-style track was impossible to resist.  Buckling up and bracing for the steep incline, we all egged on BJ as he proved to us once again why no one should ever purchase a rental vehicle as a daily driver.

After pre-running accessible portions of the course our fun came to an abrupt halt when we were chased down by six angry security guards yelling at us in German.  Exiting the track, we politely apologized for our shenanigans and of course, inquired whether or not BJ’s truck had arrived.  Accepting our humble regrets, the security staff led us over to the same maroon colored shipping container that had left the Baldwin race shop less than a week after the controversial Baja 500.

Satisfied with the accomplishments of our day(s) the group consensus was that we were all in a desperate need of food and even more noticeably – showers!  We loaded up in the van and headed back towards our hotel.  At this late hour it was obvious our search for food would probably be as futile as us trying to locate the event without the help of a local.

Just when we had resigned ourselves to dining on minibar snacks we spotted a brightly lit oasis in the middle of a quiet little town.  Entering the establishment haggard and looking like hell, we begged the barmaid to re-open the kitchen.  Once again we experienced the same hospitality and generosity Baja has become known for amongst the off-road racing community.  Within minutes of our arrival we had a round of frothy adult beverages sitting on the table and food was on its way.  However frustrating and long our first day in Germany may have been, the experience and the adventures of the day made the exhaustion completely worthwhile and we all look forward to reporting back on our continuing adventures…..stay tuned!

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