Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GRAND PRIX 10 right out in front of me. I would've plowed him if I was in a rough section. They needed some crowd control out in the desert but, other than that, it was a good race." The $500 125cc Pro purse went to Kris Keefer in 11 th overall, who finished one place ahead of rival quarter-liter Pro Dana Van Stee. "The course was really rough and I got a little tired," Keefer said. "I need to train a little bit more." After an evening of relaxation for some of the riders and fevl;!rish repairs for others, the engines fired again for an 8 a.m. start on Sunday - or didn't fire, as the case may be. See-your-breath cold made many of the Vmtage ,bikes balk at their early starting time and there were a lot of huffing, puffing riders by the time Sunday's first banner fell. The Vintage / Classic part of the field included everything from mint-condition BSAs to a well-worn Zundap. There was a Hodaka Super Rat in the back rpw, a dog-on-the-tank Yamaha, and even a step-through Honda that looked decidedly awkward over the triples.. Staten put his 1970 44Bcc Maico out in front from the first comer, but Rick O'Donnell on a C&J-frame XL350 kept the pressure on all the way through. The battle had the crowd cheering, but it was the sight of the 10 sidehacks leaping off the top of the water jump that really got the spectators excited. That, and the one-each-side pass that Staten and O'Donnell executed in a tight corner near the finish-line chicane that put a sidecar on its back with its driver and monkey trapped underneath. Staten was still in front of O'Donnell when the checkered flag came out and Mike Burns Jr. and Robert Morgan took a wire-to-wire win in the sidecar division. "There was some close racing out there. I've got a few more holes in my jersey now," Morgan said. After a break for the Kids/PeeWee event, Davis was on the starting line for Sunday's third race, which combined four-strokes with dual sport bikes, and it was clear that he was back with a vengeance. The Kawasaki racer was out in front from the moment the banner dropped and was cruising more than a minute ahead of the competition with three laps under his belt. "My bike made it - awesome. Last year I blew up in this race," Davis said after taking the win. "The course i n't bad because it's all smooth right now they must've graded it last night. My only concern was building up a lead because I knew I had to stop and gas." "It's so fast out there that even a 650 is not enough motor. I think you need.a turbo bike," said Roeseler, who was running second in the early going but disappeared on lap three after his KLX650 started making strange noises, which turned second over to Honda's Capt. Third overall in the Four-Stroke division went to Casey Longman, who campaigned a stock XR600. Gene Smith, who was sponsored by Triumph back in the late '60s, provided a blast from the past when he slid in to the finish. "This is great," Smith said. "Desert racing hasn't changed a bit. I'm seeing the same faces and everybody here hasn't aged or changed but me. I'm going to go and protest right now. Somebody out there was spinning their tires and making dust." A quick change of mounts and the Davis / Krause / Hengeveld / Abbott tussle started up again in the 250cc Pro race. Davis was a steady minute ahead (Lett) "Rocket" Rex Staten won the Vintage class on a 440 Maico. (Above) Steve Hengeveld took home first-place money as the top 250cc rider in the Pro race, (Below) The Vintage class takes to the track after the hand-onhelmet start. by the end of the second lap and raced on untouched, while a back-and-forth battle raged behind him. "The 250 is the most fun bike on this course," Davis said. "It's lighter and you can just hammer it. It's easier to ride and it's fast. Apart from that, it's the same exact thing loop after loop after loop. You know where the potholes are by now." Hengeveld held off a last-d itch effort by Abbott to complete the course in sec-' ond, and Book took fourth ahead of Craig Smith and Russ Pearson. "Hengeveld and I were battling the whole time," Abbott said. "In the last loop I got right next to him and was going underneath him when I hit a guy's handlebar. The guy fell off and he was pretty mad. He was trying to pull me off the bike. It was an accident in a tight corner, but I think he's going to come looking for me." The racers got a 45-rninute rest while the Quads slid and bounced their way around the course and then it was time for the final event of the weekend - the Open class, which put all the top racers on the front line once again. In a repeat of every race but Saturday's opener, the Unclassified event, Davis was out in front by the end of the first lap and had built up a comfortable. one-minute lead by the end of lap two. His KX500 ran flawlessly, his jumps impressed the crowd, and the competition was hard-pressed to catch even a glimpse of his rear fender. "I guess I was pretty con,fident," Davis said. "Things had been going well and I really knew the course, so I had a bit of fun." There was no fun being had in the battle for second as Staten and Krause went head-ta-head yet again, Smith ran a steady third and Roeseler was fourth until he decided to retire at the end of the second lap, • "He was just trying out a bike and it isn't really set up, so he was afraid about what he was going to do to it if he continued," Team Green manager Ron Heben said. "He was only playing and he didn't want to blow the bike up, so he called it quits." Randy Norman moved up to fill Roeseier's spot and the order remained the same as the racers headed into their fourth and final lap. "That's where I got Staten," said Krause, who had been losing the racelong tussle for second by less than a bike length. "He got a rear flat and that made a big difference," Krause was not the only one to take advantage of Staten's flat: "I got him over the water jump right . before the finish," Smith said. "Because of the flat, he went through the whoops (that led around the side of the water jump) and I went over the jump and that gave me an edge." When the final flag pf the weekend fell, it was Davis, followed by Krause, with Smith in third and Staten a disappointed fourth. But whatever their finish, the racers were happy to have competed at another Adelanto Grand Prix. "It's a great race and you can't argue with the number of spectators that it draws," said Davis, who looked back on his weekend's efforts with a contented smile. "Maybe next year the Desert Vipers will build the jumps.a bit bigger so we can do some maneuvers over them and really impress the crowd. It's hard to do much when they are narrow and small, and we have to please the spectators to keep them coming back." {X Adelanto GP Adelanto, california Resuhs: February 1-2, 1997 OPE PRO: 1. Ty Davis (Kaw); 2. Paul Krause (!

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