Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

HARE &HOUND AAfA NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP HARE &HOUND SERIES (Left) Team Green Kawasaki's Ty Davis made It three wins In three attempts by winning the Jericho, Utah, National Hare and Hound. (Below) KTM's Nick Pearson shadowed Davis all day on his KTM300 and finished second overall less than a minute behind Davis.. By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren JERICHO, UT, APR. U awasaki's Ty Davis walked away from round three of the National Hare & Hound Series with an impressive three-for-three record of overall wins but, with the competition refusing to call it quits and getting closer and closer with each new battle, it is still way too early to make any predictions about who will be champion at the end of this year's best-five-out-of-sevenevent series. The challenge at the Utile Sahara Sand Dimes Recreation Area, about 120 miles south of Salt Lake City, came from young Nick Pearson, who hung on Davis' fender almost all the way around the SO-mile course. The 19-year-old KTM 300 racer was less than a minute behind the Kawasaki KX500 ace when he completed the grueling dash through . the wilds of Utah and showed no signs of tiring. "He rode really well today and he was on me most of the way around the second loop," Davis said. "There was somebody right on my butt all day. 1 never got a chance to relax." The course laid out by the Sage Riders Me has always drawn rave reviews from the hare and hound contenders but the weather that goes along with it has earned a completely different reputa- lion. The racers were in luck this time around and, while snow fell the day before the race, all they had to contend with when the banner dropped for the start at noon on Saturday was a chilly breeze. "This is what desert racing is all about," said Senior-class racer Steve Pitts. "The course is excellent, and, after the snow yesterday, the traction is superb - the bike's hooking up great." The start was the usual rollercoaster ride through the impressive sand dunes that gave the riding area its name. "It's really hard to get through the sand on a little bike and it's impossible to keep up with the big bikes in that stuff, but once we got into the dirt, you couldn't have asked for better conditions," said Kawasaki KX125 racer Dana Van Stee, odds-on favorite to take the championship in the 125cc division. Davis had no problems with the sandy start and was leading the way as he streaked past the bomb. Donnie Book had his KX250 wide open in second, Dan Richardson and Tommy Ady secured a spot in the top five and Destry Abbott was surprised to find that he was in good shape as he picked up the start of the course ribbon. "I g'ot a two-kick start but luckily nobody took my line, so I passed a lot of people on the way to the bomb, and I was running like fourth or third," the KTM 360 pilot said. "I just got huge arm pump in the early going and had to let Pearson get around me." The happiest starter was Over 40 Expert Steve Pitts, who was shocked and amazed to find himself running sixth overall. "I had the best start I've ever had in my life at a National. I was way out in front with the fast guys," Pitts said. "Of course, I lost it all shortly after that on a sand dune but it was still a great way to begin a race." But there were many more bad starts than good ones. Steve Hengeveld found himself stup.: in the middle of the pack, while Paul Ostbo "ate it big time" off a dune and ended up back in about 40th. Brian Brown stalled going over the edge of a dune and ended up landing on top of another racer. Pearson got off to a slow start but used a hard-on-the-gas dash through the dunes to put himself back within striking distance of the leaders as he headed ou-t into the 37-mile first loop. Davis continued to lead the way, but Book and Pearson were soon tucked in right behind him. "I had the lead but (Book) was right on my butt off the start and he followed me for the longest time," said Davis, who spent the opening miles looking back over his shoulder to check on the challenger's progress. "I couldn't even lose him in the. tight stuff. He keyed off me and just wouldn't let me get away. I was trying like mad to shake him." The terrain ran the gamut from wideopen roads to tighter-than-tight trees that kept the racers on their toes all the way. "I kind of misgeared my bike," Book said. "I didn't know there was going to be so much fast stuff, so I geared it for the slow stuff and I was just maxed out. I wasn't picking up anything in the open stuff. I kind of made a mistakll there." Book made another mistake in a tight, tree-lined section of the course and went down, which let Pearson take over the number two spot. "I got by him when he tipped over and I just concentrated on keeping it up on two wheels from there to the end of the first loop," said Pearson, who was only 25 seconds behind Davis as he ,dashed in for gas.

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