MOTORCYCLE RACING : Team Honda Racers Admit to Illegal Motorcycle Switch and Forfeit First Place in Baja 500

Ted Hunnicutt Jr. of Thousand Oaks learned something Sunday. In his first SCORE Baja 500 off-road motorcycle race, Hunnicutt learned about competing in a foreign country and emergency repairs in the the boondocks. He learned that iguanas don’t bite and that Mexican beer tastes pretty good after a dusty ride.

He also learned a little about motorcycle subterfuge.

In the wake of a scenario that could have been found in contra -gate testimony, Hunnicutt and Larry Roeseler of Bloomington, Calif. were awarded the overall championship Sunday night, several hours after the event concluded.

After finishing a full minute behind the team of Randy Morales of Burbank and Dan Ashcraft of Huntington Beach, Hunnicutt’s team was declared the winner when officials determined that the Honda team of Morales and Ashcraft illegally used a second motorcycle.

“It wasn’t a smart move,” SCORE publicist John Holgate said. “They had to know they were cheating.”

Hunnicutt’s Kawasaki-sponsored team was ruled the winner after the team produced photos of the Morales-Ashcraft cycle used at the start of the event. “We took some film to one of those one-hour developing places in Ensenada,” Roeseler, 30, said.

The controversy unfolded when Ashcraft encountered mechanical difficulties approximately 30 miles from the finish line. After the Team Honda repair crew arrived on the scene, they illegally replaced Ashcraft’s motorcycle with a back-up bike, Holgate said. At 9 p.m., six hours after the race had been completed, officials determined the cycles had been switched.

Morales said he was out on the course when the cycles were switched and had no knowledge of the infraction. He said, however, that the team chose not to contest the ruling.

“We basically forfeited the win,” Morales, 23, said. “We didn’t dispute it. It was a bad mistake, and I’ve already apologized to Hunnicutt and Roeseler a thousand times. I told them I feel terrible about what happened.

“I know I’ve never cheated in my life, and Dan says he’s never done this, either,” Morales said. “This is pretty embarrassing.”

Said Ashcraft, 25: “All we could think about was winning. After I finished, though, I wasn’t happy about it. I couldn’t eat because I had knots in my stomach. I’d never done anything like this before, and I guarantee I’ll never do it again.”

Said Hunnicutt, 23: “I think it was a pretty rotten thing for them to do. We don’t need that behavior out there. They stole the attention we deserved at the finish line. I’d really like a chance to beat those guys again.”

Roeseler and Hunnicutt finished in 8 hours, 9 minutes, 15.1 seconds. Ashcraft and Morales, who finished at 8:08:15, were disqualified.

John Rudder of Granada Hills won the 125cc division.