Tavo Vildósola

Gustavo Vildósola Perez Tejada better known as Tavo Vildósola (Born in Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico on February 1, 1982) is a Mexican off-road racer and entrepreneur.

Tavo Vildósola is an official Red Bull athlete.^[1] His #21 SCORE Trophy Truck is sponsored by Red Bull, Mastercraft Safety and Mexicana Logistics.

Racing career

Vildosola Racing SCORE Trophy Truck during the 2010 Baja 1000 victory celebration in Mexicali

Vildosóla started racing at a very young age. Raced his first official off-road race in the year 2000 sharing the wheel of a SCORE Class 1 buggy in the San Felipe 250, in preparation for the Baja 2000. In the Baja 2000 he was copilot of Chris Harrold in the SCORE Class 1 buggy of Vildosola Racing.

Tavo and Brian Ickler raced a SCORE Lites class vehicle for the 2003 Baja 1000 and finished 1st in their class with a time of 19:18.17 (41.86 mph).^[2]

In 2005 Vildósola raced an Ivan Stewart built ProTruck #204 powered by a Toyota V8 engine and was crowned champion of its class in 2006^[3] and 2007^[4] in the SCORE series.

Tavo jumped on the SCORE Trophy Truck driver's seat in the Baja 1000 of 2007, the 40th edition of the race. Vildósola and his father Gus Vildósola finish second place making it, at the time, the best finish position ever achieved by a Mexican national team in the Baja 1000.^[5] This achievement was only surpassed by Vildosola Racing itself on 2010 winning the overall on the 43rd edition of the premiere off-road desert race.

Vildosola Racing managed to finish second during the 2010 Baja 500 after Andy McMillin. Tavo led a good portion of the race but finish second after having problems a few miles of the finish line in Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico. Vildosola Racing made history again being this the best finish position of all times for any Mexican national team on the elite class, the Trophy Truck on any Baja 500.^[6]

Vildosola Racing SCORE Trophy Truck during the 2011 CODE Off Road Mexicana Logistics 300

Tavo won the overall in the 43rd edition of the Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 making him, alongside his father Gus Vildósola, the first Mexican national to win the Baja 1000^[7][8] He drove Trophy Truck #21 of team Vildosola Racing to the finish line in 19:00.04 (55.87 mph). Since 1973, a 4-wheel vehicle had not won the overall time over the motorcycles.

The 2011 SCORE season started with Vildosola Racing taking 3rd place overall on the 2011 SCORE Laughlin Desert Challenge with a final time of 1:56:37 (51.45 mph).^[9]

After a good start on the San Felipe 250 Tavo was leading the race until on race mile 90 the trophy truck had a broken transmission which took the team nearly an hour to fix. The team finished 13th with a time of 5:03.57.^[10]

Tavo raced at the inaugural Tecate SCORE San Felipe Challenge of Champions in September 2011, started 4th and led a big portion of the race after having mechanical problems at mile 190. He finished 9th with a time of 7:33:21.^[11]

Vildosola Racing presented a new Trophy Truck for the 2012 Tecate SCORE Baja 500. The new Trophy Truck was built by Dave Clark and Vildosola Racing, its lighter and narrower than the old truck and also was built to use 42" wheels. The team started 22nd and was able to pass several drivers after a transmission failure left them out of the race while running 6th.

For the 2012 Baja 1000 Tavo and Gus got a 28th starting position draw, (started 25th after withdraws) which would make things harder for them as they would have a lot of dust and trucks before them. Around race mile 1000 Vildósola had passed all of his competitors and for the second time in a row on a peninsula run won the Baja 1000 overall, beating the motorcycles again, only the second time this happens since 1973, the previous time been in 2010 when Vildósola won the overall. The father and son duo stopped the clocks at 19:45:00 (56.79 mph) and made history again been the only Mexican national team to have 2 Baja 1000 titles as the overall winners of the race.

5 days after the 2012 Baja 1000 a protest was filed against Vildósola from the B.J. Baldwin team which accused Vildósola of having made an illegal pit on the highway. The protest was accepted by SCORE International against their own rules, since protest can't be filed after 24 hrs of the unofficial results are made public. SCORE penalized Vildósola with 90 mins demoting him to 8th place overall and stripping him from the race win.

The 2013 San Felipe 250 was won by Vildósola whom had end up 2nd only 3 seconds behind Bryce Menzies, nevertheless Menzies failed to cross a Virtual Check Point which cost him a 5-minute penalty which gave Vildósola his 2nd overall win on the San Felipe 250.

2014

The 2014 season brought 6 races for Vildosola Racing, and the team had the best start in history for them having end up in the top 2 in the first 3 races of BiTD and SCORE International's San Felipe 250.

For the opening race of the 2014 series for BiTD the Parker 425, Tavo had a 2nd-place finish with a time of 7:18:11.466^[12] only 10 seconds behind the O/A winner Jason Voss and 22 seconds in front of 3rd place Mark Weyhrich. The 3 lap race had what many called the closest finish in off-road racing.

San Felipe 250 brought another victory for the Vildosola team, winning their second San Felipe race in a row and for the third time in their history, having started it in 20th position since the qualifying for this race was ruled out for a draw. Tavo finished the race in 3:31:27.320.^[13] Vildosola was quoted saying he was happy to win this race which he considered his home race due to the proximity of the race course to Mexicali.

At the Mint 400 Tavo had yet another great performance, finishing a strong 2nd place behind Andy McMillin. Vildosola had qualified 8th for this race and after problems with Mark Weyhrich's trick truck just 30 miles before the finish line Tavo locked in another podium for the 2014 season.

2015

The 2015 season will go in history as the best season for the Vildosola Team, winning 2 races in the SCORE series and 1 on the only BiTD race they participated.

At the 2015 opener for the SCORE series Vildosola dominated the San Felipe 250 making it 3 San Felipe races in a row the team has won it, the only team to do so in history. Tavo finished 5 hours 10 minutes 16 seconds.

Tavo participated at the 2015 Imperial Valley 250 and won again, making it the first time for his team to win 2 races in the SCORE series in the same year.

On the Parker 425 Tavo also had a strong win finishing first on the 2015 edition of the race. Tavo participated on this race in 2006 and picked up where he left on the 2015 race winning it for a second time.

Best Results

(*)^[22]

(+) Best Overall Time

Personal life

On 2014 Vildósola was appointed CEO of Mexicana Logistics.

Son of off-road racer Gus Vildósola. He is married to Leticia and has a daughter named Ximena.

References

1. ↑ Red Bull. "Gustavo Vildósola". Red Bull. Retrieved 2010-12-07. ...perfiles 
2. ↑ Press Release (November 21, 2003). "SCORE Baja 1000 Official Finishers". desertrides.com. Retrieved 2011-03-20. SCORE LITES (VW-powered, Limited single or two-seaters-1835cc)-1. Brian Ickler, Poway, Calif./Gus Vildosola Jr., Mexicali, Mexico, Jimco, 19:18:17 (41.86mph) 
3. ↑ Press Release (January 30, 2007). "Vildosola & Freeman ready to defend their Baja Protruck championship". dirtnewz.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07. ...in 2006 they finished first in the final points standings 
4. ↑ protruck.com. "2007 BAJA PROTRUCK CHAMPIONSHIP RACING SERIES Driver Point Standings". protruck.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07. ...W Gustavo Vildosola 
5. ↑ Press Release Baja Racing News.com
6. ↑ MyBajaPhoto (June 6, 2010). "Congratulations to Tavo Vildosola 2nd place in TT and 2nd Overall - 2010 Baja 500". race-desert.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07. ...Congratulations to Tavo Vildosola 2nd place in TT and 2nd Overall - 2010 Baja 500 
7. ↑ Josh Burns (November 19, 2010). "Gustavo Vildosola Jr. and Sr. Win 2010 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000". off-road.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07. ...It took 42 long years before a Mexican national citizen stood atop the podium in a Score Baja 1000 race, but that historic feat was accomplished this morning at the finish line of the 2010 Tecate SCORE Baja 1000 when Gustavo Vildosola Jr. and Sr. earned the overall victory in La Paz. 
8. ↑ Ken Hutchinson (November 19, 2010). "2010 SCORE Baja 1000 Race Results". motorcycle-usa.com. Retrieved 2010-12-07. ...the biggest news from this race is the overll win by the Red Bull backed Vildosola Racing Trophy Truck team. For the first time in the 43-year history of the Baja 1000, a Mexican national team has claimed the overall victory. Red Bull Racing’s Tavo and Gus Vildosola 
9. ↑ Jason (January 16, 2011). "2011 SCORE LDC Photos – Sunday". race-dezert.com. Retrieved 17 January 2011. Gus Vildosola Jr/Gus Vildosola Sr, Mexicali, Mexico, Ford F-150, SCORE Trophy-Truck, 1:56:37 (51.45 mph) 
10. ↑ SCORE (March 13, 2011). "Race Results From San Felipe 250". SCORE International. Retrieved 13 March 2011. 13. Gus Vildosola Jr. /Gus Vildosola Sr., Mexicali, Mexico, Ford F-150, 5:03:57 
11. ↑ SCORE (September 11, 2011). "Results From San Felipe Challenge". SCORE International. Retrieved 11 September 2011. 9. Gus Vildosola Jr./Gus Vildosola Sr., Mexicali, Mexico, Ford F-150, 7:33:21 
12. ↑ BITD (February 1, 2014). "Official Results". BITD. 7:18:11.466  |access-date= requires |url= (help)
13. ↑ SCORE International (March 1, 2014). "Official Results". SCORE International. Retrieved 16 March 2014. 1 21 Gus Vildosola Jr. Mexicali, BC FOR 1 03:31:27.320 
14. ↑ Press Release (2002). "SCORE: Baja 1000 Results". desertracing.com. Retrieved 2011-10-16. 4 1608 P16 Gustavo Vildosola, Jr. 
15. ↑ Press Release (November 21, 2003). "SCORE Baja 1000 Official Finishers". desertrides.com. Retrieved 2011-03-20. SCORE LITES (VW-powered, Limited single or two-seaters-1835cc)-1. Brian Ickler, Poway, Calif./Gus Vildosola Jr., Mexicali, Mexico, Jimco, 19:18:17 (41.86mph) 
16. ↑ Official Results off-road.com
17. ↑ Official Results off-road.com
18. ↑ Vildosola Racing vildosolaracing.com
19. ↑ Baja Racing News baja racing news.com
20. ↑ Official Results bitd.com
21. ↑ Official Results codeoffroad.com
22. ↑ Race Results redbull.com

External links

• Vildosola Racing
• Mexicana Logistics
• YouTube Vildosola Racing Channel
• Tavo Vildósola on Red Bull
• Vildosola Racing Facebook
• Vildósola on Twitter