Well, 2016 was a bittersweet season for TANOM Racing. It was great to see the potential of the two TANOM Racing vehicles participating in the season in the two top classes, Trophy Truck and Class 1, with some great results, and seeing that both cars are incredible and very competitive performers, both being on the heavy side for each class, yet being super stable and fast through the rougher areas. And both being so comfortable and fun to drive. However, Murphy ’s Law kept creeping in this season desperate for a Mexican appearance, in both cars! The Trophy Truck had the expected teething problem being the first season in the No Limits Baja stable, as is customary for a “new” truck to a team, which seemed to put a dead stop to some of the great performances for Sandy Hall in the Trophy Truck #90. Similarly, Andrea Tomba struggle with intermittent electrical problems, which as any race engineer will know, NEVEDR shows up in testing, and ONLY turns its ugly head in the heat of the moment. After 8 races, Andrea was leading Class 1 in the Championship, but only a few points separated the first 4 places. The last race of the season in San Jose was key to win the Class 1 Championship and to get second place in Trophy Truck.
Once again, testing in San Jose, the day before the race, both vehicles performed flawlessly, and both drivers spent a lot of time pre-running the course to be able to give 110% in order to get the checkered flag for their team, their sponsors, their families and to everyone who put in such hard work the whole season’s 9 races, and give them their place on the podium that they so very much deserve. Now, WHY Mr. Murphy couldn’t have popped off to Hawaii, or the Seychelles beats me… but he had to come to San Jose!
As the Trophy Truck roared off the start into the first line of big woops, it was immediately apparent that the suspension and power worked better than any car out there, as it floated smoothly over the woops. Then, Mr. Murphy got a little too excited, and stuck his hand out in the first lap, and the under drive blew a gear, which in turn snapped the driveshaft in half and grinded that transmission into pieces. Unfortunately, that was the end of the race for the Trophy Truck, and TT #90 finished in 4th place in the Championship.
The newly painted RED TANOM Dominator came off the start in second place, and Andrea had decided to press on in the first section to try to gain on competitor Jampy driving for Team Balmaceda in the ex- JIMCO Bad Apple car, and starting gaining ground in the first 10 miles. However, as the dust got thicker, Mr. Murphy decided he wanted to take a closer look… and the electrical problem surged again, causing the Dominator to start missing, as though it was hitting a rev limiter… at 4,000RPM. Andrea decided that with such a short race, stopping to change sensors would definitely keep him off the podium and maintaining the championship lead, so he tried to do the best he could with the car, however best was far from good enough, as Andrea and Darren Carey, is co-driver in this race, had to settle for 4th place. After leading for 8 races… this result pushed Andrea and Sandy as combined driver for Class 1 #130 to 3rd Place, and it is always nice and we appreciate a podium finish, however we also got to see the Dominator’s full potential, and believe that she has all the makings of a Champion!
Kudos to our friend Rodimiro Amaya Jr., who drove an incredible and flawless race in San Jose, beating the TTs and winning overall, clenching the Championship for him. Congratulations, very well deserved and we wish Rody all the best of luck In SCORE in 2017 where he will be part of the BJ Baldwin team as a second driver, as well as racing the Southern Baja Championship, and we believe that he will be a great asset to BJ.
Obviously, we would have loved for this season’s story to have a happier ending for TANOM Racing, and although we are grateful for our 3rd and 4th finish, we feel that the Championship positions do not reflect the incredible effort, great work and heart portrayed by the whole TANOM Racing / No Limits Baja Team, nor the incredible support and products given to us by our fabulous sponsors:
- Tanom Motors
- Vision X Lights
- Evans Cooling
- Quaker State
- K&N Filters
- Optima Batteries
- ARNIAN Freight Logistics
- Renegade Race Fuel
- PCI Radios,
- ToyMakerz
- Sammy’s Beach Rum
- ProRace
- Autometer
- BFGoodrich
Thank you all for believing in us, for supporting us and for being part of our family! Gracias!