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/127836
EVENTS EDfTEDBY KEITH BUSH (Left) Kawasaki's Paul Krause won three of the four racea be enterd and flnlahed second In the other at the Hllltoppers Twenty-nine Palms Grand Prix. (Below) Kawasaki teammates Steve Hengeveld and Oakley Lehman exchange armbands during the Team Race In 29 Plams, California. The duo finished second overall and flm 25Occ. By Matt Freeman TWENTY-NINE PALMS, CA, APR. 5-6 awasaki Team Green riders Dave Ondas and Paul Krause took the Hilltoppers MC Twenty-nine Palms Wild West Grand Prix by storm en route to claiming four race wins between them. Krause claimed wins in the Unclassified and Veteran races while Ondas topped the competition in the Open race. The also joined forces to take the ever-popular Team Race honors, making it a near-perfect weekend for the two KX500 riders. The Hilltoppers Me Wild West Grand Prix marked the 23rd annual event for the Long Beach-based club. However, it marked the first year that the event was held in Twenty-nine Palms. The race was based out of the town's rodeo grounds which provided plenty of overnight camping. spectator bleachers, venders, and exciting racing. The whole community pulled together to help the Hilltoppers make round three of the AMA District 37 Grand Prix Series a huge success. early 800 entrants showed up and they were not disappointed as townspeople kept the sandy 7-mile circuit watered and graded for the entire two days of racing. "The course was bitchin'," Krause said after battling it out with Ondas during the entire Unclassified race. Ondas holeshot the start but it did not take Krause long to move intd the lead. The two riders then started in on a dogfight around the course that looked like an AMA Arenacross main event. Ondas would pass and stuff Krause in one turn and then Krause would return the favor in the next. Krause issued the final stuff and pass, while Ondas limped away with a blown head gasket. Third place K went to CR500-mounted Donnie Morrison after a race-long battle with Randy Norman. Fifth went to the KX500 of Jason Higgins. One of the only races of the weekend not won by a green bike was the FourStroke race, and Jamie Campbell was there for American Honda to make sure of it. Campbell's win did not come easy, however, as long time rival Jason Kawell led from the start to the end of the first lap. Both mounted on XR628s, Campbell admitted to not being able to keep up KaweJl's pace on the first lap. Once he did pick up the pace and make the pass for the lead it didn't get any easier. Campbell got a little hairball on a fast straightaway and ended up sidesaddle on his bike. "I was dragging my feet for like 50 yards before I was able to save it," Campbell explained. Despite arm pump and an unscheduled stop to remount the bike, Campbell took the checkered flag ahead of the IMS teammates of Kawell and Norman. American Honda-backed Casey Longman who, was doing semi-heel-clickers on one of the double jumps, finished fourth while Suzuki-mounted Robert Barnum rounded out the top nve. "That was great - just like the old 125 days," Kawell said to Campbell about their bar-to-bar race the first lap. When the Team ace rolled around on Sunday morning. Krause and Ondas were back again, but not to race each other - they were now teammates. As Krause pulled the holeshot to the first _tum Ondas anxiously awaited his teammate in the pits. When the leader came around after the first lap it was indeed the KX500 of Krause followed ever so closely by Team Green's Oakley Lehman. Ondas exchanged the team arm band with Krause and headed out on his first lap just as Lehman entered the pits ready to hand off to his teammate, Steve Hengeveld. In the end the Krause/Ondas KX500 was just too much for the Lehman/Hengeveld KX250 around the fast sandy track. Third place went to the 500cc team of Brent Farrell and Robert Baehr, who turned a dead-last start into a successful rage through the pack. After winning the Team Race, Krause had just enough time to get goggles and gas before taking the starting line for the Vet race. Fresh goggles were not needed as Krause had a monster lead by the time the race was two turns old. "It was clean and easy," Krause said about his Vet-class victory. Morrison and Rocket Rex Racing-backed Abe Baumann took second and third, respectively. The corI).bined 250cc and USee race saw new winners emerge for the weekend as Lehman, Hengeveld, and Jeff Kawell, all aboard KX250s, raged to the first tum in a tight pack. The first lap took its toll on Hengeveld as he went down while leading the pack and then blew a rear shock. KaweU moved into the lead just long enough for Lehman to find a place to pass. When the pass was complete Lehman ran away from the rest of the competitors aU the way to the checkered flag, lapping over half the' field in the 90-minute race. "I wish Steve (Hengeveld) didn't have any problems," Lehman said. "We could have had a really good race going." Kawell stayed in second followed by Hengeveld, who was only riding for a finish but still maintained third until the first 125cc of Dana VanStee sneaked up behind him. "I passed Hengeveld on the second to the ~ast lap. I could tell something was wrong," explained Team Green backed VanStee. "Then after I passed him he picked up the pace and he kind of just followed me in real close." Ondas and Krause lined up on the starting line one last time before the weekend was over for the largely anticipated Open race. However, this time it was the KX500 of Rex Staten that won the drag race to the first tum. Not only did the Senior rider holeshot the start, he also led the first 30 minutes of the race. Ondas was on Staten's heels from the get-go but Krause got a fourth-place start behind the third-place bike of Higgins.