Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

GRAND PRIX BIG S IXGRAND PRIXSERIES (Left) Gas Gas 25G-lnounted Greg Zitterkopf s howed up and finished third 250 and seventh overall in the Pro race. (Right) By winning the Vet class and taking a third in the Open Expert race, Paul Krause ' salvaged some sa nity after having bike problems all weekend. 18 "E ve ryo ne sai d I was running first when I came around again," Campbell said . "Afte r tha t, I go t rea l relaxed and jus t started wo rking ." With only a few lap s left, man y rid e rs b eg an to fa l1 back o r drop ou t. Healey came arou nd with his rear tire comin g off th e rim, and Nick Pearson had to make a long pit stop to adjust his s hock a nd replace a broken si lencer. Others we re just feelin g the rigors of 90 minutes of Adela nto chop. "My sus pension was killing me and I have a messed-up ankle," said Hengeveld, wh o had started out very strong. His Kawa saki teammate Lehman was not faring mu ch better. "I had a great start, and the first few laps we n t good, but I started to fad e," sa id Lehm an , w ho fini shed a stro ng sixth in the pr evious 125cc race. "I have huge blister s on my hand s." Va n Stee bettered h is fifth p lace in the 0-200cc race into firs t 125cc in the Pro event despit e tiring toward the end. "The race was too lon g," Va n Stee said . " I was basically by myself th e entire time." At the finish, Campbell shed tea rs of joy after h a nging on to the win over Staten. "Rex (Staten) started coming on the last couple of laps, but I just put my head down and went," Campbell said. "It could n' t hav e gone better." Staten's a ttack on Campbell netted him second place. . "I was just trying to charge on Campbell," said Over 40 racer State n. "I came up on a lapped rider and the guy ended up taking me off the course over some fallen yucca trees . After that, I thou ght, 'I' m not going to kill myself: " . a nd as held on to third overall, and Abbo tt turned inan impressive first ride on a KX250, earni ng fourth overall and first 250cc Pro. Abbot t's 25Occ-class win did not come eas ily, however, as Russ Pearson put in a good fight all the wa y until the last laps. "Ou t on the cou rse, I pas sed Des try (Abb o tt) a n d t h e n h e g o t me ba ck, " Pea rson sa id. "Th e n I s lid out and crashed on the pavement. It wa s rou gh and fast out there." Thi rd 250cc Pro went to Zitterkop f, who turned in a n impressive rid e for so meone who' s n ot a fu l1-time ra cer any more. "I' m just happy to be here to race," Zitt erkopf said. "I was bummed tha t I haven ' t raced this yea r. I go t pumped up and pret ty tired out there: ' Sta ten ran away wit h the win in the Vintage/ Classic/ Sidehack race aboard the sa me 1979 YZ400 tha t he raced as a fac to ry Ya ma ha motocrosser. Jason Trubey and Gerald Leighton rounded out the top thr ee. Staten's second wi n of ' . the wee kend turned ou t to be his last, as he hung up his helmet to specta te th e rest of the d ay. "I go t the holeshot and ran away and was go ne," sai d Staten about his mo rning-race win . "I'm finished now and I'm tired. " Davis and Campbell took the starting line for the first time on Sunday, but it was not to race. The two popul ar riders mounted an ATV and led the para de lap for the Kids/Pee Wee event. Racing on a sho rtene d cou rse, ll-year-ol d Bradley Goo lsby jump ed out to the lead but , at the finish, Jesse Little and Michael Brew er too k th e top two sp o ts in the 80cc class, lea ving Goolsb y in third p lac e . KX60-mounted Sean Borkenhagen headed up the 60cc bikes with a run away win. The Fou r-Stroke /Dual Sport race ca me next, a nd Da vis and Campbell were ready to continue the battle they had started on Saturday. Before the race wa s two turns old , Dav is had hi s YZ400F ou t in front of Campbell, Capt, Hea ley and Staab. "I rode my own pac e and go t a good s tar t. I pu t 25 seconds on Johnny (Campbell) and just got it to the finis h line," said Davis, who rode the sa me bike to a Na tiona l Hare & Hound wi n one week ea rlier. "I can't believe th e thing ran that fast against a 628, (wi th a) high er-revving cam . Th at thing s tayed righ t w it h him. Hi s b ike is a lit tle bit faster on top , but not much." Campbell confirmed that. "We'd stay the sam e d istan ce all the way," he said , "bu t he'd roos t me in the motocross tra ck: ' Heal ey and his KTM 620 made his way around the Strok er KLX of Cap t to take third . Staa b was p lanning to pass Capt as w ell w he n he fell righ t befor e the finis h. "I tried to go aro und h im (Capt) in the last tum and I fell," said Staab, w ho go t up in time to finish fifth . Less than 30 minutes after smoking the Four-Stroke compe titio n, Davis was on the line again fo r th e 250cc race. Heng eveld proved tha t his bad start in the Four-Stro ke race had been a fluke as he pul1ed th e h o le shot, w it h fe llow KX250 rider Lehman on his rear w heel. How ever, it w as n't lon g befor e Davis found his way to the front. "A cou ple of Kawasaki guys go t the holeshot and I passed them ou t there in the squ are edges," sa id Davis. Even tho ugh the cou rse was gra ded Saturday night, two days of racing certainly did its damage to the high -speed dirt roads. "Square edges everywhere you look it's ugl y out there," Davis said abo u t the condition of the course. "The re's nothing aro u nd her e that we eve r race tha t's like this . You 've go t to have rea lly good suspe nsion. I did n't eve n have a steering s tabilizer, but my suspension wo rks so well : ' While Davis was opening up a huge lead, Hea ley mad e a pass on Hen geveld for second, but as Healey came throu gh the mo tocross sectio n to take the white flag, his bike stopped. "As soo n as they put ou t the w hite flag, I ran out of gas," He aley sa id. "I went over to the pit and found some gas and poured it in while three gu ys go t by me . I en ded up passing tw o o f th em back. Me and Ondas drag-raced ou t on the back straightaway side by side un til we hit lapped rid ers, and he backed off and I just wen t through them:' H ea le y wa s ab le to w o rk hi s way back in to third but co ul d n ot ca tc h Hengeveld, who was also having so me problems of his own. "Before the last lap , a lap per cras hed in to me and [ probably lost 45 second s there," said Hengeveld of his predicament. "He was a big gu y and he hit me and landed on me. It was a big dog pile, and it wa s ha rd to get him off of me. I lost time bu t I still held on to second: ' Fourth, behind Healey , went to CR250-m ounted Ma tt Murphy , who passed Lehman just before the finish. The Open race was expected to be another showd ow n between Dav is and Campbell, bu t Abbott had something else in mind . Abbo tt once again go t his KX500 out in front, but this time there was nothing that was going to sto p him from taki ng th e w in . Da vis, Kra use, Ondas, N ic k Pears on, Ca p t, Id ah o ' s Bria n Brown a nd Ch iapuz io w ere a ll bunched behind Abbo tt halfway around the first lap. By the tim e the lead pack entered the mot ocro ss sectio n, Abb ott an d Davis had opened tip a few seconds on the rest of the pack. Ca m pbell came arou nd a ll over Krause' s rear fend er, look ing to snag third place. "I fin ally - for the first time all weekend - go t a clean start," sa id Krau se, w ho co ul d he ar th e bi g four-stroke of Campbell behind him th e en tire race. "He pushed me , bu t I felt good . Yesterday I had bike problem s, bu t this is ou r test bike. We test ou r sus pensio n and lit- tle' things here and there for the Best in the Desert series. It's kind of tired, but it w orked perfectly today." Before the white flag fell, Nick Pearso n drop ped ou t d ue to his not feeling well, a co ndition th at p lag ue d him all weekend. A bbo tt was in perfect condition, even though Davis was hot on h is heels the entire last lap. The final lap of the whole w eek end turned ou t to be th e closest and most in tense for the th ou sands of spectators w ho had stayed to watc h. As Abbo tt an d Da vis ca me th rough the infield an d rocketed over the wa ter-hole ju m p, Abbo tt had a lead of less than a bik e leng th. Just before the finish shoot, Davis d ived in to ma ke the pass bu t fell sho rt and had to settle for second. "The last la p , Ty passed me and I p a ss ed h i m back a nd h e passed m e again and then I passed him back," said Abbott about the final few turns of the race. "I knew he was going to make a little time u p in the tight stu ff, and I had a feeling he was going to try to stuff me. I'd do the same thin g, so I'm no t mad at him. But he tri ed a nd he wen t d own, and I got the win - pret ty awesome." Da vis co ng ra tula ted Abbott a t th e finish as Krau se an d Ca mpbell motored to the finish, raci ng for third place in the sa me fashion as the top tw o contenders. Campbell showed Krause a front wh eel in th e la st few tu rns, but he co u ld n' t make a pa ss stick. Ondas and Capt filled in to ro u n d ou t th e to p s ix n ot far behind the di cing d uo . "I could n' t get around Krau se," said Ca mpbell, w ho a d mitt ed to getting a bad star t back in the d ust. "He put up a re a l good fig ht. Out back, he' d pu ll away a little bu t I' d ca tch him in the motocross section. We had a good dice fo r most o f th e race a nd I can ' t complain. I made it through the weekend l~ and that was my whole goal : ' Adelanto Grand Prix Adelanto, California Results: Janua ry 31-February 1, 1998 (Round 1 of 6) PRO RACE: 1. Johnny Ca m p be ll (Ho n): 2. Rex Staten (Kaw): 3. Da ve On das (Ka w); 4. Destry Abbott IKaw); 5. Russell Pearson (KTM); 6. Tim Staab (Hon): 7. Creg Zitt er kopf (G-G); 8. Oa kley Lehma n IKaw ): 9. )eff . Capt (Kaw) : to. Craig Smith (Kaw ); 11. Steve Hen geveld (Kaw): 12. Bri an Brown (Ka w); 13. James Su m me rs (Yam); 14. Co rdon Ward (TM); 15. M.att Murphy Il-lonl. O PEN PRO: 1. Johnn y Ca m pbe ll IHo n): 2. Rex State n (Kaw): 3. Da ve Ondas (K., W). 250 PRO : 1. Destry Abbott ( Kaw ): 2. Russell Pearson (KTM); 3. Greg Z it er kop f (GoG). t 125 PRO: 1. Dana Van Stee (Ka w ). O PEN EX: 1. Des tr y Abbott (Ka w): 2. Ty Davis (Ya'm ); 3. Pau l Kr a us e (Ka w); 4 . Johnn y Ca m p bell Il-lon): 5. Dave Ondas (Kaw). f 125 EX: 1. Ty Dav is (Yam ); 2. Erik Hallgath (KThl) ; 3. Russell Pearso n (KTM); 4. Steve Hengeveld (Kaw): 5. Dana Van Stee (Ka w). 250 EX: 1. Ty Davis (Ya m) ; 2. Stev e He n gev eld (Kaw): 3. M ike Hea ley (}(TM); 4. M.ltt Mu rph y (Hen): 5. Oa kley Lehma n (Ka w ). UlCLFD: 1. Joh nn y Campbell (Hon): 2. Tod d Hoy (K1"M); 3. Dave Ondas (Kaw). VET: 1. Pau l Krause (K,lW); 2. Abc Bauma nn (Kaw): 3. Don nie Morrison (Hon): 4. G reg Zitte rkopf (G-Gl. SR: 1. Rex State n (Ka w): 2. Craig Adams (TM); 3. Bob Ma xwell. 4-STRK EX: 1. Ty Da vis (Yam); 2. Joh nny Campbell {Hon): 3. Mike Healey (KTM ); 4. Jeff Capt (Kaw): 5. Tim Staa b (Hen ). ClSC: 1. Re x Staten (Ya m ); 2. Jason Trubey; 3. Gerald Leighton (Hus). KID S: 1. [esse Little; 2. Michae l Brew er; 3. Bradley Goo lsby (He n).

• Cover