Monday’s Mexican 1000 was one for the Pinillos.

Neither Bruno Pinillos nor brother Sergio are in contention for the overall, but both got some fun in the sun as they finished 1–2 for Stage 3’s SS3 ahead of everyone else. Bruno is racing his trusty 1978 Datsun 280Z, which previously won the 2025 Sonora Rally’s 2WD class and has done NORRA before, while Sergio is taking part in his Jeep Ultra4 car.

The Datsun is a car that the Pinillos hope to race in the Dakar Classic someday. Until then, they have been entering it in ARA rallies and raids like Sonora as well as NORRA events. Despite being one of just two entries in the Legend Cars class, Bruno’s chances at winning it outright were dashed by mechanical issues across the first two days.

While certainly unfortunate, he’s having a good time in Baja. On the liaison to the last special on Saturday, he decided to take a detour to Valle de Trinidad and get some tacos.

Rich Minga is the Legend Cars leader in 105th overall with his 1981 Ed Frisk-built ’62 Volkswagen buggy.

SS3 on Monday was a low-risk day, meaning the usual contenders decided to ease off the throttle as they prepped for the second half of the race. Bruno and Sergio topped the leaderboard, separated by just 51 seconds. Third-placed Justin Reece’s 1985 Toyota truck was third and 11 minutes behind Bruno followed by Dave Ladd’s 1964 Meyers Manx, which the latter then used with a pole to hold up a hammock after the stage.

Everyone else set SS3 times over an hour long with the usual leaders at the front of this contingent. Max Gordon beat Ryan Arciero by 1:25, though the former sits outside the top ten overall. Craig McCarthy and Kevin Murphy, the latter doing the final run on Monday, holds the overall lead with just 19 seconds over Brent Fox.

The bike overall also saw an upheaval as Ilya Shcheglov passed Colton Udall, now leading by 18:44. Kristen and Wayne Matlock still lead in UTVs, but the latter hit a rock 15 miles into SS1 and slowed them down a bit.

The SCG 008 fared well in the rocky SS1 and flat-out SS2 even without rear brakes. SS3 was more of a challenge, but Darren Skilton made it to San Ignacio safely.

Stage winners

Selective Section	Number	Competitor of Record	Vehicle	Class	Total Time
SS1	282	Brent Fox	2023 1Nine Industries Spec Trophy Truck	Evolution 6100	1:35:50
SS2	3	Mark Post	1992 Ford F-150	Evolution Unlimited Truck	1:22:21
SS3	778	Bruno Pinillos	1978 Datsun 280Z	Legend Cars	42:44
Bikes	320	Ilya Shcheglov	2025 Honda CRF450X	Pro Rally / Ironman Roadbook	4:42:01

Overall leaders

Category	Number	Competitor of Record	Vehicle	Class	Total Time
Cars	48	Craig McCarthy	2025 1Nine Industries Trophy Truck	Evolution 6100	10:13:38
Bikes	320	Ilya Shcheglov	2025 Honda CRF450X	Pro Rally / Ironman Roadbook	11:53:32

Featured image credit: Art Eugenio / TracksidePhoto