Kurt Caselli killed in Baja 1000 Crash

"Busslayer" (Busslayer)
11/16/2013 at 02:06 • Filed to: None

Kurt was the current two wheel king of desert racing in North America. He won a third straight Hare and Hounds Championship this year. He also raced in his first Dakar earlier this year and won two stages. KTM had him slotted into the factory Red Bull team at next year's Dakar as one of their lead riders. Kurt also just recently inked a contract with KTM to run the FIM Cross Country Rally Championship.

He was running in the first or second position since leaving the starting line last night. A few hours ago it was reported that he was down about 100 miles from the finish and was being transported to a hospital. It has now been confirmed that he died from injuries due to the crash.

He will be missed. Blessings to his family and friends.

DISCUSSION (12)

All Motor Is Best Motor > Busslayer
11/16/2013 at 02:32

R.I.P.

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Busslayer
11/16/2013 at 02:56

What a bad ass guy. RIP

Benjamin Gartin > Busslayer
11/16/2013 at 03:32

I have heard reports that he was killed by a booby trap set up by spectators. Makes me sick.

MtrRider Just Wants Doritos > Busslayer
11/16/2013 at 04:11

Fuuuck.... What happened?

Dusty Ventures > Busslayer
11/16/2013 at 05:17

Terrible news, he was a good guy and an incredible talent. Especially sucks this happened after being signed to THE dominant team in Dakar. He very well could have been America's first Dakar champion.

If the rumors about the cause of the crash are true…

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Dusty Ventures
11/16/2013 at 09:42

About the trap? I still can't wrap my head around the fact that someone in their right senses would do that.

Moose of Evil > BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion
11/16/2013 at 10:25

Dude, we're talkin' Mexico here. This happens every year at this race, the locals think it's hilarious to do this. Course markers will be shifted, holes dug, trenches placed, etc, etc.

Think of it as Group B rally of the 1980's, but the closely-packed fans want to see you die instead.

A decent glimpse into the madness of this race, provided you can ignore Ricky Johnson's perpetual talking....Dust to Glory.

BlazinAce - Doctor of Internal Combustion > Moose of Evil
11/16/2013 at 10:26

Tsc, and I though Brazil was messed up...

Patti Brown > Busslayer
11/16/2013 at 10:55

My heart goes out to your family! You are now with your Dad! RIP! Booby trap. Sounds like Baja 1000. Just like Danny Hammel who hit a police car in the way. Doesn't seem worth it!

Ken Yarnall > Busslayer
11/16/2013 at 11:20

My Son call called me at 10:00 last night to tell me the horrible and sickening news. Maybe now SCORE and Sal Fish will wake up police and communicate with the public better in Mexico the Bobby Traps have been going on for years and SCORE has really done nothing to stop this other than communicate the possibility of Booby Traps to the racers through racers meeting and publications making the Bobby Traps a racer problem not a local problem, communication to the locals is needed to communicate what they are doing is life threatening and un-moral SCORE will communicate that they do communicate with the local but they really do not because of costs. I raced my first Baja race in 1979 I was fortunate to have ten year Baja veteran on the Team and he warned me about the Bobby Traps and thought this a joke, he warned that during the race racing through any location where locals are when you observe a group of locals on each side course take action and slow down I had thought this was just crazy unfortunately at night as Kurt was you cannot see the locals gathered or the signs of the Bobby Trap at speed and the Locals know this. I had come out of a tight section near Ojos Negros on to a high speed section going through a small village La Hureta when I noticed a group of locals on each side of the road leaving the village a section that was fifth gear wide open I rolled out of the throttle getting to the section there was all the way across the road over a foot deep trench and over three feet across had through if this was at night I would have never been able to see it and hard to see the locals at night at that speed. Wake up SCORE and do something about this now, this has been going on way too long. God bless Kurt he will be missed, I hope the best for his family and close friends can cope with the unnecessary happing

Moose of Evil > Ken Yarnall
11/16/2013 at 11:46

Yeah, it's called 'move this freaking race to the states'.

Problem Solved.

DesertRelief > Ken Yarnall
11/16/2013 at 13:38

A very very sad thing, Kurt was great talent and my thoughts go out to his family. As I set here listing to the weatherman channel, as I have for the last 14 hrs, there was many call outs on bobby traps all night and SCORE Ops went to address each of them as they were found.

Nice rant, and I agree with some of it, just not all the SCORE bashing. I have had them take out our team a couple different years. But if your going to rant, get your facts straight. It not SCORE and Sal Fish anymore. You can stop beating that on dead horse, he did an amazing job of running the race for years. Perfect no, Sal sold SCORE to Roger Norman last December. You have to beat no the new guy now and there is no way to continuously police a 800+ mile race course. The local that do these things, have no thought or care of the destruction they cause. Just the excitement they get from watching the carnage. They know it's life threatening, I've spent many a night tearing them out and talking with locals and the police. Most of the Police could careless, the locals that do it could careless about the outcome.

Once again, my thoughts and prayers go out to his family.