The Baja 4000 is a biennial off-road charity rally and road trip organized by the creators of the largest amateur rally in the world, the

Budapest-Bamako The Budapest-Bamako or Great African Run is a charity car race in Europe and Africa, and the largest amateur rally in the world. It is a low-budget version of the Dakar Rally, and goes from Budapest, Hungary to Bamako, Mali through the Sahara. I ...

. It's a low budget, amateur version of the famous

Baja 1000 The Baja 1000 is an annual Mexican off-road motorsport race held on the Baja California Peninsula, with a course of up to about 850 or more miles. It is one of the most prestigious off-road races in the world, having attracted competitors from ...

and

Dakar Rally The Dakar Rally () or simply "The Dakar" (), formerly known as the Paris–Dakar Rally (), is an annual rally raid organised by the Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO). It is an off-road endurance event traversing terrain much tougher than convent ...

. The first edition was held in January 2017. The rally started in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

and traveled 4000 kilometers on the Baja California peninsula in

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. In 2018 before the second edition of the event organizers changed the event's name to Baja XL.YouTube
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Philosophy and rules

The guiding principle of the Baja 4000 is the same as the

's, ''Anyone, By Anything, In Any Way''. There are no restrictions on the vehicles or individuals that can enter and no set routes. Participants have to complete daily stages between Los Angeles and

Cabo San Lucas Cabo San Lucas (, "Luke the Evangelist, Saint Luke Cape (geography), Cape"), also known simply as Cabo, is a Resort town, resort city at the southern tip of the Baja California peninsula, in the Mexican Political divisions of Mexico, state of Baja ...

and back. It is not a timed event. Points are awarded for completing daily stages in certain time periods. In addition, there are

geocaching Geocaching (, ) is an outdoor recreational activity, in which participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called ''geocaches'' or ''caches'', at sp ...

challenges along the way for additional points. If a team does not complete a stage, they are still in the race. Cars do not have to arrive at the finish line, only participants. Teams can participate in racing or touring categories.

Route

The rally will spend a long day in California before entering Mexico at

Mexicali Mexicali (; ) is the capital city of the States of Mexico, Mexican state of Baja California. The city, which is the seat of the Mexicali Municipality, has a population of 689,775, according to the 2010 census, while the Calexico–Mexicali, Cale ...

. Teams drove south on the

Gulf of California The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

side of the peninsula and north on the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

side. *

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

More than 4,000 kilometers were covered within 10 days.

Charity

The Baja 4000 is primarily a charity event, that raises donations for abandoned children and orphans in Mexico through Corazon de Vida.

Name Change

In the summer of 2018 the Baja 4000 changed its name to Baja XL to further differentiate itself from other rallies following the Baja + number format.

References

{{Reflist

External links