A Blackpool off-road racer is staging a major cross-Atlantic campaign, trading the Fylde coast for the gruelling deserts of the Baja Peninsula.
Operating under his lifelong race team name ‘Team-X’, Pat Masters is custom-building and preparing a unique British Land Rover to take on the world-famous National Off Road Racing Association (NORRA) Baja 1000 race.
The challenge is a relentless race, normally 1,000-miles but in 2027 it will be 2,000 miles long, in serpentine route navigating sand, rocks, and extreme desert temperatures stretching from Ensenada to Cabo.
To put it into a local perspective, it is the equivalent of racing from the top of the United Kingdom to the very bottom entirely off-road and back.
Pat's drive for motorsport was ignited over forty years ago on the streets and beaches of Blackpool, where he began racing radio-controlled model cars at just 14 years old. He graduated to full-sized vehicles in 1995 and has spent the last 30 years winning races, securing two British Championships, and serving as an international desert crew chief.
Unlike many international teams backed by massive corporate budgets, Pat hand-builds, repairs, and navigates his own vehicles. Alongside maintaining a full-time job and caring for his family, he is single-handedly managing the development of his custom-engineered, yellow-and-black tiger-striped Land Rover.
Following 800 miles of successful high-temperature testing in the Sahara desert, the car is currently undergoing final tweaks as well as being seen on the UK show circuit, before being shipped across the Atlantic for the race in April 2027.
Pat said: ‘’I am relentless in this goal, and I will cross that finish line one way or another.
“An English driver in a custom British car entering an iconic American race brings a completely unique spirit to the grid. I want to show that with enough grit and resourcefulness, a lifelong dream born right here in Blackpool can conquer the toughest terrain on earth.”
Team-X is currently seeking additional local and regional business partners to back the journey.
You can find out more by emailing: Patrick.C.Masters@gmail.com
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