Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127187
Just ask Ashcraft if it was hot. Temperatures soared above 100 degrees in the Nevada desert. Larry Roeseler (shown) teamed with Kenny Parry and won the 220-mile long Las Vegas 300 as well as the $960 first-place purse. The YZ250WR Yamaha team of Dan Ashcraft (shown) and Kurt Pfeiffer finished se~ond overall and second in ~he 250cc division. Best in the Desert Series: Round 2 Roeseler/Parry scor~ Las Vegas 300 victory By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren LAS VEGAS, NV, APR. 8 Team Green's Larry Roeseler and Kenny Parry hit the jackpot with.a runaway win in the Las Vegas 300 Hare & Hound team race. In temperatures that soared above 100 16 degrees and terrain that many riders described as the tighest and rockiest they had ever seen, the KX250-mounted duo made the 220-mile ordeal look easy. They blasted through to the front of the pack just a few miles into the course and stayed there all the way, stretching out a comfortable 10 minute lead on their way to the $950 winner's purse. "We basically led the race from start to finish - it was great," a hot and tired Roeseler told Cycle News at the end of seven-and-a-half-hours of racing. "The course was totally 'awesome and the bike ran perfectly. It was just a really good te.st out there." "It was a great race," agreed Parry. "I can't tell you how good it feels to win it. This is my first major win and it's just the best." Round two of the four-race Grand Slam Series, which is hosted by Casey Folks' Best in the Desert organization, got off to a flying start with a sky diving display over the starting area shortly after daybreak. The first racer left the line at 7:00 a.m. and the rest of the l5l-team field followed, one rider every 15 seconds, powering up the dusty trail right into the rising sun. "The dust was just miserable in the first loop," said Kurt Pfeiffer who was the lead-off rider for the Dan Ashcraft/Pfeiffer YZ250WR team. "It was so bad I got stuck down in one of the ravines we were warned about at the riders meeting and I couldn't get back out. We lost seven or eight minutes there.': Tight and twisty terrain was the order of the day and the racers faced challenge after challenge as they muscled their bikes around the first half of the figure eight course. "Being tight off the start was really good for me," said Roeseler, the 10th rider to leave the starting line. ''There were lots of canyons right at the beginning so we didn't get spread out and I could catch up and pass really easily." Roeseler started pouring on the pace from the moment the starting flag fell and was soon picking off the earlier starters during the first 30mile loop. Kawasaki's Ted Hunnicutt blasted his way up from fourth to enjoy the clear air at the front of the pack. Also on the move were Danny Hamel, who was teamed with Kenji Gauthier on an RM125, KTMmounted Dan Smith and the Over 30 Pro team of Scot Harden and Brent Wallingsford (KTM). The first half of the figure 'eight course took over an hour to complete and most of the racers were happy to hand over their mounts to their partners for the 4l-mile second loop, but Roeseler and Hunnicutt, who led the charge into pit row, gassed up and kept going. Hamel handed his Suzuki over to Gauthier in third, Mike Tripes and Steve Wiseman swapped a Kawasaki in fourth and Bryan Folks gave his 125cc Cagiva to teammate Mike Heers in fifth. "We started 34th off the line and Danny brought the bike in third overall so we think we had the elasped time lead," said Gauthier. "We were going really well and I was catching Hunnicutt about 15 miles out but then we lost the ignition and that put us out of the race. " Also coming up fast was the Open. Pro KTM piloted by Dan Smith and Tom Kelly, and KTM teammates Harden and Wallingsford were putting the moves on the Vet comenders just a few places back. The seconq half of the figure eight course was even tougher than the first. "It really makes you work," said KTM pilot Daryl Folks. And the terrain was not the only challenge. "That was a long loop and my partner ran out of gas near the end of it," said Team KTM's Harden. "He put some gas in and kept going but then he found (fellow KTM pilot) Dan Smith. He'd run out of gas too, so Brent drained half the gas back out of his bike and gave it to Dan so they could both make it in." With two and a half hours of racing and one complete figure eight behind him, Roeseler handed the lead motorcycle over to Parry with a seven minute lead. Hunnicutt limped out of the loop in second and the Daryl Folks/Darin Cartwright KTM had moved up to thiid. "I hit some cross grain out there and jammed my back real bad," said Hunnicutt, who was having problems standing up straight after his two-loop ride. "I didn't really realize how bad it was umil I got into the second loop. It was an effort just .to finish." With Hunnicutt out of the running, the rest was up to· teammate Hurd. "It's going to be hard to do the last two loops by himself, especially -in the heat of the day," said Hunnicutt. ATK pilot Eric Hallgath brought the first Open class bike through in fourth overall, with the Smith/Kelly KTM in fifth and a YZ250WR piloted, by Carlos Serrano and Grant Palenske in sixth. Honda's Bruce Ogilvie/Chuck Miller combination thundered through in sevemh and the Harden/Wallingsford KTM headed the Over 30 class in eighth. John Braasch and Brett Duncan led the l25cc Pros in 10th overall and KTM's Dick Burleson and Barry Higgins were way out in from of the Over,38 competition in 13th. The sun was high as the racers completed their second figure eight and I05-degree temperatures started to takeits toll. Chuck Miller was one of the first to bite the dust, leaving teammate Ogilvie in charge of the Open class Honda effort and half of the top-running Women's team dropped out, leaving Anna Cody Merritt to fend for herself. Those who were still running were feeling the heat too, and it was even worse for those forced to ride solo. "The heat bothered me a lot," said Team Green's Hurd. "It just wears you out and then I crashed on my head at the end of the second loop. I just hit some rocks and it spat me right over the bars. I landed square on my head and it gave. me a really bad headache. I couldn't concentrate after that. I wanted to go fast but it was so tight and rough I' just couldn't hang on any more." Even veteran racer Ogilvie was starting to fade. "Things were going well for us bu t then Chuck got sick and I had to ride the rest of the race by myself," said Ogilvie. "The heat was awful