Prior to winning the Finke Desert Race held in Alice Springs last weekend, Honda riders took the new CRF450X to another victory in the world famous Baja 500 conducted in early June.

Honda's latest enduro weapon is proving to be a force to be reckoned with, having now won premier desert races in both America as well as Australia.

Blinding dust, a tight technical course and extremely hot desert temps might have taken their toll on a number of racers in Mexico, but not the Honda riders, who captured the top two overall motorcycle positions (and Class 22 win) at the 38th running of the Tecate SCORE Baja 500.

Riding the factory Honda CRF450X, Robby Bell and Kendall Norman finished the course in 8:59:04, averaging 47.22 mph (75 kph) to capture their class and overall wins in the toughest and most gruelling Baja 500 in nearly 30 years. Record entries in all classes also resulted in the largest field ever at the 424 mile (682 km) event.

Second overall (and in Class 22) were Team Honda's Mike Childress and Steve Hengeveld who was recently in Australia for the Finke where he won the 451cc and above 4-stroke class. The team brought their Honda XR650R across the Mexican finish line in 9:09:20, adding another podium to Hengeveld's multiple Baja wins including his most recent first place finish in 2004.

Bell and Norman took the physical lead at the 12-mile point and convincingly stretched out the gap over their "rival" Honda squad-mates Hengeveld and Childress at the rate of one minute per hour.

At the finish of the nine-hour event, their time gap was 10:16, though the official time for the #1x runner-up team reflects a greater margin due to Childress' penalty of 10 minutes for highway speed infractions.

Nonetheless, the two Red Rider motorcycle teams beat all other vehicles in the race by over 30 minutes-including the trophy trucks.

At final tally, the top five-finishing motorcycles were Hondas (two CRF450Xs and three XR650Rs). More impressive still, Honda took victories in five other classes as well as Sportsman M/C and Sportsman ATV.

"It was a lot of fun out there and the start especially was really cool," said Robby Bell after winning the Baja 500 with teammate Kendall Norman, and on their second straight SCORE Desert Series victory. "There were people everywhere, it was incredible."

In the Pro ATV division, Honda's indomitable TRX450R took the top four positions, with Mike Caffro and Danny Prather besting Wayne Matlock and Chad Prull by 1:50 minutes in 10:23:45.

Honda supported riders Matlock and Prull actually held an 11-minute lead at the 300-mile point, but lost their fifth gear and later crashed hard at mile 360, allowing the

Caffro/Prather duo to gain valuable time, and ultimately enough of a gap, for the win.

Like its two-wheeled cousin, the TRX450 also took class honours in the Finke last week with rider Rodney Scale at the helm.

For more information on Baja results, please visit: www.score-international.com.For information on the CRF450X and the TRX450, go to www.hondamotorcycles.com.au

For final results of the Fink Desert Race 2006, go to: www.finkedesertrace.com.au

Contact: Lisa Evans, Public Relations Coordinator, Mb: 0413 542 004; email: levans@hondampe.com.au