GRAND PRIX
(Left) Ty Davis came to
Adelanto and left $7000
richer. He won five out of
six classes.
(Below) Paul Krause
checks in with the Vet
Expert-class victory.
,
By Anne Van Beveren
Photos by Tom Van Beveren
ADELANTO, CA, FEB. 1-3
e came, he rode, he conquered.
With decisive wins in five of the
<7
weekend's 12 even.ts, Ty Davis
turned the 17th annual Adelanto Grand
Prix into his own personal playground.
Davis began his two days of racing in
the high desert of Southern California
with third place in the Unclassified race
but, once the warmup was over, it was
full steam ahead all the way. The Team
Green racer dominated every class he
entered and, when the dust finally settled, the 125cc, four-Stroke, 250cc, Open
and Pro-cla s titles all belonged to one
JA
man.
"It was a great weekend," Davis said.
"It was probably worth about $7000 to
8
me and it's always fun when there's a
paycheck."
But, he admitted, the glow from
dominating What is probably the largest
off-road event in the Southland was
caused by more than just the payoff.
"I really like this event. It's got variety and the fans are awesome, cheering
me on all the way through the course.
That means a lot to me," Davis said.
"It's probably boring watching the same
guy win everything but, even to the last
race, they were still cheering me on like
it was the first one, and I'd like to thank
them for sure."
The small town of Adelanto was
bursting at the seams long before the
first race of the weekend got under way
on Saturday at 8 a.m. Support vehicles,
including Kawasaki's Team Green semi
truck, were lined up near the sta rt,
music blared courtesy of a local radio
station, and vendors were setting up to
(Below) An
estimated
2000 bikes
competed on
the 1o-milelap course
over the twoday race.
sell everything from tri-tip sandwiches
to race jerseys.
It was all go in the pits, too, as the
top competitors in the desert racing
business checked their schedules and
made a few last-minute adjustments.
The Desert Vipers MC had laid out
an almost 10-mile loop that combined
asphalt and high-speed graded dirt
roads with a two-mile desert section and
a two-mile motocross section that incorporated an over / under bridge, a triple
jump and a water jump that had spectators crowding the bleachers all weekend.
The field was almost 400 riders
strong when the banner dropped for the
first race of the weekend - the Unclassified event that many of the top contenders used to warm up and check out
the course for the more important
events later in the weekend.
"The Unclassified race was really,
