Bahía de Los Ángeles to San Ignacio
Ensenada, Baja, Mexico
May 5, 2026
Day 3 of the NORRA’s Baja 6 Day Rally pushed competitors deep into the heart of Baja, covering 235.6 miles of special stages and 25.2 miles of transit on the run from Bahía de Los Ángeles to San Ignacio.
Fast, technical, and unforgiving in sections, the course delivered everything racers expect from Baja – dust, rocks, and just enough chaos to keep everyone honest. The reward? One of the most iconic finishes of the rally, dropping out of tight washes and palm-lined corridors straight into the streets of San Ignacio.
Up front, Craig McCarthy controls the rally, holding both the overall lead and the 6100 class lead, with Brent Fox and Tim Herbst close behind.
The fight for the 6100 King of Baja title is still wide open, with McCarthy leading over Fox, Herbst, and Ryan Arciero, while Travis Williams remains in striking distance.
Kevin Murphy, behind the wheel of the No. 48 for McCarthy, summed up the feeling of finishing Day 3 Baja-style: “I love coming into San Ignacio, it’s such a great feeling to end a stage there. You come through the wash, into the palm trees, tight and technical, and then drop right into town where you’re welcomed with open arms. The truck’s been running strong, and I feel lucky to be here with this team. Craig trusts me with his truck, and honestly, it’s my favorite race of the year.”
Fox kept it simple: “We had a good clean day.”
In UTV, Kristen Matlock still holds the overall lead, despite an early setback:
“Our flawless run came to an end early today when Wayne hit a rock around RM 15 in the first special. We lost some time changing the tire and had to be smart through the rocks without a spare until pit one. He pushed hard in the next stage and made up some ground before handing it over to me for the run into San Ignacio. We may have missed the stage win today, but we’re still holding the overall UTV lead, so we’ll take it and keep pushing.”
Behind her, August Renezeder charged through adversity to sit second in class, battling silt, traffic, and limited visibility early before mounting a strong comeback: “First time down here, and that opening stage was wild. I got stuck in a big silt section behind a few cars and couldn’t see anything, felt like I was crawling forever. We started deeper in the pack after missing a stage yesterday, so we had a lot of ground to make up. I was pretty frustrated early on, but in the second stage we just put our heads down, pushed hard, and the car was solid. We were able to pass around 10 to 12 cars on the road, so that felt really good.”
As the rally rolls past the halfway point, the leaderboard is anything but settled. Baja has a way of rewriting the script when you least expect it—and with more miles ahead, the fight is far from over.
Photos: Trackside Photo
