Not many people would be aware that there is a lone Kia Sportage not only competing in, but winning some of the worlds most gruelling off-road events including the world famous Baja 1000.  In 1993 Darren Skilton competed in the 10,000km Paris-Dakar Rally and finished.  After completing the worlds toughest race in its first off road event the Kia was shipped to the USA where it won the 1995 Baja 1000.  It was the first vehicle in history to complete both events.  For anybody thinking it was just plain lucky the Kia has won the Baja 1000 in 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 & 2000.

In the 1997 SCORE series, the Kia not only completed every single kilometre of every event but also won, an amazing achievement.

As well as winning Class 3 which is for 'short wheelbase sport utility vehicles' in the 1998 SCORE Desert Championship series it also won its class in the 'Best In The Desert' series of four events.  Darren drove the Kia to victory in two of the four events including the premier event, the 'Silver State 300'.  He also won four of the six SCORE races and finished a close second in the final race, the Baja 1000.  The Kia was competing against a tough field including Nissan Pathfinders, Chevy Blazers, Ford Broncos, Jeep CJ7's & Isuzu Amigos which are powered by 6 cylinder and V8 engines.
The SCORE series started in 1974 held around the eastern side of the Baja peninsula and Nevada desert, some of the toughest and most desolate terrain in the world.  If a vehicle breaks down, the driver and navigator are on their own.  In the Silver State event the number of pit areas are severely restricted posing additional challenges to the competitors.

In the 1999 Baja Skilton crossed the line first being only one of three competitors in Class 3 to complete the event.  Skilton piloted the Sportage for all but 145km of the 1082km course in 21 hrs 21 mins a full 22 minutes ahead of a Pathfinder and and 39 minutes ahead of an Isuzu VehiCross.
Left : Darren Skiltons indestructable Kia Sportage.  Although the engine has been stroked to 2.3 litres with an increased output of 125kW @ 6200rpm (factory 94kW @ 5300rpm).

The chassis and body are factory Kia with a chrome moly roll cage, and weighs in at 1521kg.  Despite what some sites say, the transmission is a factory stock standard automatic transmission (with oil cooler) and has proven bulletproof so far despite being a the potential weak link.  Darren races the Sportage in two wheel drive as much as possible to minimise wear to the drivetrain, and only engaging
4WD when absolutely necessary.

The 360 litre racing fuel cell gives a range of approximately 800km.

Sportage Racing
Darren Skilton's Career Highlights (Kia Sportage)

1992  2nd Place, SCORE Baja 500, Class 6

1993  1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 6
         1st Place, La Rana, Class 6

1994  1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 6

1995  1st Place, FIA Baja Espana, 2WD Class
         1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 3

1996  Seeded by FIA for Cross Country Rallies

1997  1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3
         1st Place, Vegas to Reno, Class 3000
         1st Place, SCORE Baja 500, Class 3


1998  Completed th Paris-Dakar Rally
          1st Place, Best In Desert, Class 3000
          1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3
         
1999  1st Place, SCORE Lauglin Desert Challenge, Class 3
         1st Place, SCORE San Filipe 250, Class 3
         1st Place, SCORE Baja 1000, Class 3
         1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3

2000  Completed Paris-Dakar-Cairo 2000, Class T3
         1st Place, SCORE Baja 500, Class 3
         2nd Place, Nevada 2000, Class 3000
         1st Place, SCORE Baja 2000, Class 3
         1st Place, SCORE series, Class 3


           
A reporter from 'Popular Mechanics' in the US recently acted as co-driver for Darren Skilton during a SCORE desert event.  The 10 hour stretch was frequently accompanied by long bouts of nausea and the experience later described as 'a 10 hour car crash'.  The Sportage reached speeds of 110 mph. 

He also reported that because the second gear of the standard automatic tranmission was too high which saw Darren running the 2.3 litre four pot to 7000rpm in first for extended periods.  Once the transmission reached 210 degrees he engaged second to allow it too cool down.  The sound of the engine was described as 'a motorbike on nitromethane'.  Almost makes earplugs redundant really.  Ten hours in in a noisy, bouncing race car with no windscreen and an engine that loud brings on a whole new dimension to endurance (pain ?).

The Sportage crossed the line in 46th place, and won the Class 3 honours.  Of the 214 competitors across 24 classes, only 114 finished the race.

















Darren is now racing a Kia 'Trophy Truck' Class in the SCORE series premier class and is powered by a 3.5 litre V6 and is factory backed by Kia Motors.  The power output is quoted at @ 350bhp / 6200rpm.
The success of the Sportage in the gruelling events has been even more amazing considering how 'stock' some of the vehicle is.  As mentioned earlier it uses a factory Kia ladder frame chassis and body, stock automatic transmission, engine block and management system.  The suspension is an exotic race set up with up front, two 3" coil over shock absorbers, chrome-moly upper A arm, stock lower, knuckles and wheel hubs providing
15" of wheel travel.

The rear has a single 2" shock allowing 9 1/2" travel attached to a bulletproof Ford 9" differential.  However this isn't much compared to some vehicles which allow up to 20" of travel on all four wheels.

Stopping power is provided by performance brake pads on 11 3/4" rear NASCAR style Wilwood discs and 11" stock fronts (!!!).  Wheels are 15x7" US Racing rims wrapped in BG Goodrich Baja 33x10.5/15" tyres.