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/127721
.H inR DesertHOUND A E& SUver State Series Round 2: Vacation Village Gold Strike H&H .Best the (Left) Winner Todd Hoy leads Destry Abbolliate in the race . Abboll ended up finish ing third overall and taking the 250Cc class win. (Below) Greg Zillerkopf, aboard a four-stroke KTM, chased Hoy down to the wire but came up 50 seconds short, thus fin ishing second overall . JEAN, NY, MAR. ]] ere are at least two characteristics most closely identified wit h desert racing: dust and lack of handl ebar-to-ha ndlebar racing . Wh at generally happens is one guy jumps into the lead for kee ps in th e fi rs t 15 or 20 mil es; everyone behind him can see about tw o feet so passes tend to be su icida l. Such was not the case at th e 12th a nn u a l Vac ati on Villa ge Gold Strike World Ch ampionship Har e & Hound . Why? In a word, r ain . Not mist, no t showers, we are talking del uge! But it didn't last lon g - just as the leaders got to the last of three loops, it let up. Thus ~ ensued a three-man, 35-mile mota that spectato rs wou ld've paid money to see, it was so in tense . When it was all ove r, it was Californian Todd Hoy w ho th e spectators' finally saw come ou t on top after the racelon g battle. . Destry Abbo tt found h imself in the early lead on his Kawasaki KX250, but he found front-ru nning a difficult task . " It w as real di fficult," he admitted afterwa rd . "I don't like being ou t front. When I heard the 250s were starting out front, I was jus t d rea di ng it becau se I can 't read the terrain . That first loop I got passed by th r ee p e op le, th en I pa sse d them back. I just wasn't riding rea l good; after that I started getting my rhy thm going." The pit area found mo st peop le huddled inside their vans an d tru cks as the racers finished the first loop of 38 miles because of rain, which had been a light shower at the star t and wa s now a full downpou r, inclu ding hail on some part s of the course. . " It ju st p oured on u s th e s econd . loop :' Abbott rela ted . "I tor e m y Roll Off' s off and was rid ing with no goggles, then m y grip came off - I'm su re everybody else had prob lem s, too ." As th e lea d e rs co m p le te d loop tw o ' s 31 miles, however, it began to let up. Converse ly, the three at the front di dn' t. Abbo tt found Colorad o' s Jim Gray aboa rd his KTM 250 giv ing him a run as we ll as KTM 550-mou nted Hoy. A shor t distance beh ind, but in the running on correc te d time r.w as KTM 's Greg Zitterkopf, the defending race cha m p, on his 620cc thumper. Gray led the tr io of leaders head ing up into the moun tai ns eas t of town on the last loop, Hoy holding Abb ott off in the uphill sand wash run. In the higher ele va tion, the go in g go t tig h te r, an d both 250s sneake d by th e big 550. As expected, Hoy used the top -end advantage of his O pen bike in the flat final run to the finish to get by Gray, but Abbo tt banzaied his way to beat everyone else ph ysically to the checkere d flag. However, on co rrecte d time, Hoy kne w th at finishing seco nd physicall y was eno ug h to beat Abbo tt and , possibly, take the overall. It wo uld depend on ho w far behind Zitterkopf finished, then timekeeper Bob Maichle would have to settle the qu esti on because of the differ ences in start times. When the ad justed times were posted, Hoy wa s indeed on top with a time of two minutes, 34.05 secon ds, besting Zitterkopf by 50 second s. The Four-Stroke class winner, however, characteristically offered no excuses: "I rod e probab ly one of the best races I've ever ridde n. I was having fun lik e everybody els e, and it was a good race. It went by rea lly quick." Abbott took th e 250cc wi n a third overall in tw o min utes, 35.21 seco nds, followed by Gray 's 2:35.37 lime . Freshma n Pro Nick Pearson, 17, took th ird 250, fifth overall (2:40.20) on his KTM. KTM's Sco t H arden d eserves menlion for his sixth overall in winning the Over 30 class - again. No t orily was he fight ing the effects of a weeklong bout with the flu, bu t he also broke his ankle abo u t four miles off th e start wh en he caugh t his left foot under the pe g in a gou t. He tr ied as best he cou ld to blo ck