Cycle News

eGRAND PRIX ~ Best inthe D esertG randS eries:R 2 lam'S ound ~ ~ - ~ More th an 260 rid ers raced through the st reets of Mesquite, a small ga m bling to wn in th e N evad a desert . Fo r th e seco nd co nsec u tive year, Greg litterkopf sco red th e overall victory. Zitte pf rips rko Mesquite Gran Pix r By Anne Van Beveren P h otos b y Tom Van Bever en M ESQUITE. N\'. FEB. 29 awasaki's G reg Ziu er kopf used h is fine ly tu n ed combination of motocross, su percross arid desert racin g ski lls to tu rn a 25th- p lace stan int o a vic tory a t the Casey Fo lk 's Mesq u ite Gra n Prix . T he Kaw asak i KX250 pi lo t never let up for a n in stant during the two-hou r, 80-m ile event , wh ich was ro u nd two of th e five-race Best in th e Desert Ser ies. H e battled neck ' rr ' neck wi th Ka wasa ki teammat e Dann y H amel for th e first fo u r laps , th en broke away in th e fin al la p to finis h a decisive two minutes a head o n adj us ted tim e. T he win , which paid $ 1254, made it two in a ro w a t Mesquite for the 27-year-o ld racer. "Thi s wo u ld 'v e been m y thi rd . overa ll victory, but I got pen a l ized in 1990 and lost the wi n ," said Zitt erk opf. "Losin g th at makes it feel even bett er to win today. " The promise o f a $3500 purse to be divided among th e Pro class es dr ew 33 K 48 pro entries for this year's race. The pros were joined by 233 sportsman racer s, and th e field made a n impressive sight as local police led th e parade through tow n fro m im po u nd a t th e Peppermi ll Cas ino to th e starring lin e outside the loca l element ary school. Mark Morris ha d drawn th e n umber o ne spot o n th e 's ta rt ing grid and head ed o ut a lo ne wh cn the sta rt ing ligh t fla sh ed green at nine a.m. T he o ther racer s fo llo wed four at a time everv 30 seco nds . .wit h th e Pro classes in th e fir st 10 waves and th e Expe rt Sportsmen hot o n th eir heels. The Ama teur Sportsmen raced in a sepa ra te event th at began as soon as the Pro s a nd Expe rts had clea red the co urse. Zitt erkopf was back o n ro w ni ne o f the grid a nd he was n ' t wastin g a ny time wh en hi s start came. H e hit th e gas hard , spi n n ing hi s rear wheel o n th e p avem ent , as he fought for the lead into the first turn a nd stayed o n it all th e wa y. " It wo u ld 've been a n adva ntage to sta n a t th e front. T he re wa s a lo t o f d ust back where 1 was ," sa id Zitt erkopf. " T he re was traffi c a ll th e way , too , and so me time s it was h ard to get arou n d it. " Ma rk Morris made th e most o f th e envied n umber o ne spot. " It' s th e on ly p lace to sta rt - no doub t abo u t it ," sa id the Ka w a sa k i KX 250 ra cer. "The re' s no dust a nd nob od v to h old yo u' up. 1 was extrem el y j az~ed to be leading." Mor ris was sti ll in front at th e en d of la p o ne but when Na tio na l H ar e & H ound Champio n H a mel ski rte d the p its and dashed into th e seco nd la p in th e number- two spot. Morris' reign was o ver. Kawasa ki KX500-mou nted Ha mel pa ssed 15 earl ier starters on hi s way up f rom a row-six start and was mo re than two min utes ahead o f Morris on adjusted time. H a mel kept th e to p spot fo r the next six p laces unt il Ziuerk opf powered th rou gh in n inth , wh ic h pu t Ziu erko p f 30 seconds a head of Hamel on a dj us ted tim e. The pace pi cked up in loop two as the racers go t to know the tight a nd so me times tricky terr a in o f the 16-mile loop t h at wo u n d ba ck a n d forth through Mesq u ite, a sma ll to wn o n Int ersta te IS, 80 mi les eas t o f La s Vega s. T he co u rse began OJl th e east end o f to wn , crossed under the Int ersta te twice, then h ead ed for th e Vir gin Ri ver, wh ic h skins th e so u thern edge of Mesq ui te. It circle d west a ro u n d a da ir y fa rm , criss-crossed back under th e freeway an d th en head ed into a mot ocross sec t io n tha t pro vid ed pr im e view ing for lo cal spec ta to rs . T h e co urse cros sed itself a t th e infamous over/ u nde r sectio n, wh ere rid ers h ad to duck low un de r a large p ipe on the way out and u se ramps to cross over th e pipe on the wa y back , th en head ed into th e fin al wash for th e run back to th e finish. " Yo u had to get real low to get under th e pipe," said Scot H a rden, who showed off a large chip in h is hel met. " I wa sn ' t low enoug h the first time, but 1 nearly got off the bik e every time a fter that. " ATK 's Ty Da vis fell o ff a bri dge just five miles from th e start. "The re was a big o ld go rge a nd 1 slid o ff the wood bridge," Davi s said. " I had to lift m y b ike ou t o f th e tre nc h." The fiel d was sta rting to so n itself o ut by the end o f the seco nd lap. H a mel was a t th e front o f th e pack, wit h Ziuerk opf, n ow in seco nd but still a head o n ad j u sted ti m e. H ow ever, Hamel had wiu led Ziu erkop l's lead to IS seco n ds. Davis survived th e ditch a nd had used h is motocro ss skills to ca tch a ll th e way up to third - two mi n ut es back o n adju sted time. T e- m a Green 's David Onda s wa s a n o ther mi nu te bac k in fo urt h , a n d J ohn R u dder, Brent Fox a nd Da ryl Folks ro unded o u t th e top seven . Ar izo na 's T. V. Holm es l ead s a no ther rid e th rough one of the tig hter sectio ns. T erry Sims had strea ked ahead of th Sportsm en Experts to claim eigh t overa ll on adj usted time, while KT M' H arden led th e O ver -30 P ro s in ninth Onl y 11 seco n ds sep a ra ted Bill Maxi and J ack J oh ns o n a t th e fro n t o f tlu O ver -38 P ro d ivi sion . Mech anica l p roblem s were sta r ti n g to thi n the field by la p th ree. A unsched u led pit a t the en d o f loop on spelled trouble for AT K's Don Griewe Uta h's Brando n Gerber was o u t afte hi s Kawasaki seized o n lap two, a n Garth Sweet la n d was neari ng th e en of his rid e wi th transmiss io n problems Wear and tear on the co urse a lsc proved to be a big factor. " I starte out wis h ing I had a 500 because th tra ck was pretty fast . but it got chewer up and reall y tech nica l and th at wa to my advanta ge," Ziu erkopf said. At the en d of I'll' three, H a mel an Zitterkop f wer e dead even on adj ustec ti m e , and t hey were a not her hal mi nut e up on Da vis. Ond a s ha blasted past six rid ers for fou rth , wh il Sco tt Morr is was ma ki ng a co me bac after getti ng wir e tangled in hi s bik e on lap two . Zitter kopf turned o n th e th ro ttl during la p three a nd ca me o u t of th loop a hea d by two bi ke len gth s. H was looking stro ng a m inute-and -a half a head o n tim e, but a s Hamel wen o u t on h is fina l loo p , Ziuerkopf heade in for a second p it. " I kn ew it was close and 1 didn ' want to sto p . bu t it 's just as well 1did,' sa id Zitterk op ��. " We didn 't put mud ga s in but when 1 fin ished , 1 on ly hal abo u t a n inch left in th e tank. 1�� hadn 't sto p ped , 1 wo u ld n 't have mad n.:: J a c k J o h n so n ' s ta nk left h i stra n ded a mi le fro m the end o f la 'th ree, whi le George McQu iston , whr was ru nning dead even wi th R ich a rc Wilk a t the head o f the Expert pack had a close ca ll co m ing o ut o f h is thirc lap . " I was so close to ru n n ing o u of gas. T he bik e was knocking a nc pin g in g a nd ca rr yi n g o n," sa il McQuiston. Gas problems from sta rt to fin isl pl a gu ed 125cc Pr o leader C ha nce Maughan . T he Suzuki racer ran o u of gas a mi le from (he end of la p tw an d had to run fo u r b loc ks to ge t help th en faced th e de mo ra lizing prospec of pitti n g for fuel at th e en d of ever lap. " I ended u p pi tting four times,' sa id Ma ugha n. " I was in the p its a l day ." Whi le Ma ug han strugg led to ma k up .los t ti m e o n hi s 125cc ri va ls Zitterkopf was waging th e sa me battl fo r the overa ll. H is motocross expe rien ce gave h im a n adva nt age in th tigh t sections of th e co urse, a nd wh il he was p ou ring on th e p ace, H am el was sta rt ing to fad e. " I've been fig h ting a co ld for th e last tw o days a n d 1 sta rted gett in g stomacl cramps tow ards th e end of the race ,"

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