Tuesday’s Mexican 1000 stage was split into just two specials rather than three, and both were won by off-road icons. SS1 was claimed by the legendary Black Diamond truck of Riviera Racing, while Max and Robby Gordon topped SS2.

Black Diamond, a 1992 Ford F-150 owned and driven by Mark Post, beat Brent Fox and overall leader Craig McCarthy’s modern trucks by just over a minute. Post was faster than Fox by 1:05 and had an extra three seconds on McCarthy. Post was the 2025 Mexican 1000 overall runner-up.

McCarthy also came up short in SS2, finishing runner-up to the Gordons’ #7 by an even closer 34 seconds. Still, he remains on top overall by 3:57 over Fox.

The Gordons are doing double duty between the #7 truck and #77 UTV; Max is the Driver of Record of the former whereas Robby is DoR of the latter. When one is in the truck, the other drives the UTV and vice versa. The #77 was the third fastest SxS overall in SS2 and quickest Forced Induction UTV behind Kristen Matock and August Renezeder, the latter two separated by 46 seconds.

“It was a good clean day for us,” Robby stated. “We had a smooth run with no major issues and didn’t get held up in the dust too much. It just shows how competitive this rally is right now. With two days still left in Baja, anything can happen.”

With all eight cylinders firing rather than six as had been plaguing it, the SCG 008 excelled on the faster SS1 (55th overall) before surviving SS2 (85th) with just a flat.

“We had no mechanical problems so really good day,” said navigator Willem Avenant. “Really, really happy to be where the sun is shining and actually enjoy the finish line.”

Things weren’t as peachy for others. Travis WIlliams had an engine failure early on, but got a replacement from Andre Laurin’s team to get back in the race. The #560 1969 Volkswagen Beetle of Cole Bradburn and Julian Heppekausen broke a shift coupler, leaving the Beetle stuck in first gear for over 40 miles. It successfully reached the end in 136th.

Jim Greenway’s 1980 Raceco 2/1600, one of two Legend Buggy entries, had a wheel bearing issue that led to brake degradation during SS3. Even then, he was able to be the 141st and last finisher for the special.

Stage winners

Selective Section	Number	Competitor of Record	Vehicle	Class	Total Time
SS1	3	Mark Post	1992 Ford F-150	Historic Truck and Truggy	51:57
SS2	7	Max Gordon	2024 Geiser Bros / RPM Offroad 6100	Evolution 6100	2:02:42
Bikes	1000	Colton Udall	2005 Honda CRF450X	Pro Rally / Ironman Roadbook	4:47:55.0

Overall leaders

Category	Number	Competitor of Record	Vehicle	Class	Total Time
Cars	48	Craig McCarthy	2025 1Nine Industries Trophy Truck	Evolution 6100	13:09:59
Bikes	320	Ilya Shcheglov	2025 Honda CRF450X	Pro Rally / Ironman Roadbook	16:50:46

Featured image credit: Art Eugenio / TracksidePhoto