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OFF-ROAD ~~---300--------------= BEST IN THE DESERT SILVER STATE SERIES I " - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - l By Anne Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren TO OPAH, NY, APR. 18 isplacement counts when it's time to tackle the fast roads of northern evada, but the Montclair Yamaha team of Ty Davis and Donnie Book weren't about to let a 1DOcc deficit get in the way of their second checkered flag of the Silver Sta te race series. The YZ40D-mounted duo grabbed the lead right off the start and worked hard all day to stay there, pulling out all the tops in the open sections and using every inch of tight terrain to their advantage. At the end of 300 miles of hard-<>n-the-gas racing, t{le Yamaha duo dashed across the finish three minutes ahead of their nearest 500cc-mounted rivals to take the overall win, and their share of the purse for the Open Pro win. "I'm really happy with the way things worked out," Davis said. "I didn't know we would be in the hunt this much, especially because we just pulled the bike out of the crate and put it together Tuesday. FMF built us a special pipe this week that made all the difference. We definitely 10 t time in the fast sections, bu t we got it back when it was a bit tighter." The victory was extra sweet for Book, who uffered two broken wrists early in the year and had to watch Davis go it alone in the first round of the five-event series. "It's great to be racing again," Book said, "and it's so awesome winning this on a four-stroke. It's a 400 compared to the 50Ds out there, and I was lagging in some of the sand washes just because of my weight, but we came out on top and that's all that matters." The Tonopah 300, which is put together by promoter Casey Folks and his Best in the Desert Organization (which recently added truck and buggy classes to the traditional motorcycle lineup), drew just over 80 motorcycle teams to the high desert near Tonopah, llJ1 old silver-mining town southeast of Reno that is known today as the home of the Stealth Bomber. The racers were up early, braving temperalures in the low 30s as they prepared for the 6 a.fll. start, and dawn had just broken when Mike Healey led the charge into the 3OD-mile, six-pit course. Davis was the second racer to leave the one-bike-every2D-seconds start, and he had his sights set on the lead right from the "Y0rd go. "I started melling antifreeze right off the start, and I knew he was doomed. I knew it was only a matter of time before I saw him sitting on the side of the trail," said Davis, who found Healey and his Vosburg Racing KTM 380 at the 5-mile marker. Healey's misfortune put Davis out in front and, with no dust, all the Yamaha pilot had to contend with were ice-covered puddles and the chill in the air. Some of the racers who followed had a lot more working against them. "I was supposed to ride with Jim Gray, but I crashed in practice yesterday, so he's riding iron-man," said Todd Hoy, whose mistake in the whoops left him with more than 50 stitches above his left eye. "1 think I hit the brake master cylinder, and it went through my goggles. I was probably doing around 40 miles an hour when it happened." Right behind Gray in the starting lineup was Greg Bringle, who was also riding solo after his partner crashed and broke his collarbone prerunning for th'e SCORE San Felipe 250. The first leg of the course headed south out of Tonopah for 27 miles to pit one, then crossed over Highway 95 for a 37-miIe run back to the starting area for the second gas stop. Davis had the lead all the way and was 3 't, minutes ahead of the KX500 piloted by Destry Abbott and Dave Ondas on adjusted time as he passed the 66-mile mark. American Honda's Johnny Campbell, who was riding solo by choice, brought his XR628 through in third, five minutes behind Davis on adjusted time. 'The course was great. (Casey) Folks used all my favorite roads up here," Ty Davis and Donnie Book teamed up to win the Tonopah 300 In Nev8d8. said Campbell, who knows the area well after riding many Tonopah events and all three years of the Nevada Rally, which used many of the roads and trails in the vicinity. "I've ridden up here a lot, so I thought I had a really good chance to win this one, but somehow I just wasn't clicking today. I blew a lot of turns." Fourth overall, and almost neck and neck with Campbell on adjusted time, were Yamaha pilots Shane Esposito and James Summers, who were locked in a back-and-forth battle for the 250cc Pro lead with Kawasaki racers Oakley Lehman and Brian Brown. "They started behind us and got by us the first time when Brown had to stop a nd pull a filter skin," said Lehman. "We passed them back a little after the halfway point and started pulling on them a little bit, but we were within about half a minute of each other all day." The KX500 piloted by Paul Krause and David Hamel cleared pit two in sixth overall but lost some time - and their bike's rear fender - just a little further into the course. "I did a little dirt-sampling," said Hamel, who had just taken over from lead-off rider Krause. "And that was