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/127952
da y' s race, Dub ach beat Rich Ta yl or, Er ik Ke h o e , D r e y Dirks an d Kell y Andris to th e flag, and ma ny of th ese ri d ers w ould a ls o p ar ticipate in the 250cc Pro ra ce on Su nda y . As yo u would expect, Dubach was elated with h is successfu l ride at Mammoth . "My ma in job is testing motorcycles for Yamaha, an d that keeps me really busy," Dubach said, "so I d on't get to race very often anymore, but I think I'm going to try to m ake the Washougal National a nd ma yb e a few more a t th e end of the season. I'm just so glad to win here." It w a sn 't all s moo th sa ili ng for Dubach, th ough, as he faltere d in Fri d a y' s Four-Strok e Pro ra ce , but h is Wh ite Brothers teammate Spud Walters was ri g ht th e re to kee p th e Ya m a ha effo rt on top.. "W hi te Br others is h elpin g Sp ud Walters and I fo r this race, so we ' re p ret ty happy that the race I didn't win, Spud w o n ," sa id Du bach . " Ever v ra ce we competed in, one of us w on , 'so that's a g reat feeling." In the Fou r-Stro ke event , Northern C a li forn ia nativ e Walters w a s righ t there to step in a nd keep th e W h ite Brothers team on top af ter Dubach had troubles rig ht off the sta rt of the second moto. "You kn ow, I won ev ery race (eight m otes) the week before, and both rnotos Thursday, so I had a good w eek going," said Dubach . "But boy, Friday just wa s no t good . I mad e a little m istake right o ut of the gate and the guy next to me so rt of came over into me, and I w en t down. I go t going from that and caught up to the leaders. I had just moved int o th ird - pretty close to the leaders - when I hit so mething in the back (of the track). I don't even kn ow wha t it was. It was kind of in a shadow , and I w a s going pretty fast and flipped off pretty good that time. It bent the bike up bad. I just pulled it in. Yeah, Friday w as a tough d ay for me. " But Frid ay w as a grea t day for Waiters , as he started w ell in the firs t FourStroke mo to a nd to o k firs t a hea d of Duba ch , Scott Myers, Nathan Wo od s and Jim my Lamustus. Towa rd the end of the moto, Dubach closed on Walters, w ho held on to win by on ly a bike length over his fellow Yamaha rider. About halfway through the race, I started to get some arm pump - ju st U about 'w hen Dubach s tart ed reeling me in ," Walters sa id. "I made some reall y big mistakes toward s the e nd o f th e rnoto. I wasn't real happy with the w ay I rode, so in the second moto, I wan t to relax so my arms won' t pump." In th e second moto, Walters took the holeshot bu t took a spill right away. "After th e start, I felt good, but I got to th e bo ttom of th e hill and the front end just wash ed o u t on m e," Walters said . "I hit some bumps and the front end slid out. Fortunately, I didn' t stalI the bik e , bu t I still resta rted n ext to las t." Scott Myers got off th e ga te quickly, and he twi st ed the throttle and tri ed to run awa y from the first-ro u nd w inner a nd th e rest of th e field . Walter s had to w ork qui ckl y, an d he sliced and di ced hi s w ay th rou g h th e pack, advancing rap id ly . A fter pa ssin g eigh t rid ers in the firs t la p , a nd sev era l m o re on th e seco n d lap , it seemed as if no t h in g coul d s to p Walters fro m reachi ng the f ro n t and a n inev it a b le show dow n w it h his o ld frie nd Myers . Si nce Cali fornia ra ce fa ns have w it nessed Wa Ite rs and Mver s battle man v tim es over th e ye ars, ,~h en Walter s had clo sed th e ga p and placed Myers in his s ig hts, it w as deja vu . "Sco tt (Mye rs) and I are really good friends, and I was stoked to see him ou t front," Wal ters said. "I wanted to put on s o m e goo d ra ci n ' w i th h im , but h e crashed right in fron t of me. Th at 's how I got by him . I wa n ted to ha ve a good race with him, but (J) defini tely w anted 'to bea t him." Despite the fall , Myers was a ble to quickly rejo in !he race withou t losi ng any positi ons. Afte r the spill, how ev er , Mvers could onlv chase Walters fro m a d istance to the finish flag. " Myers was ridin g r ea ll y good . I cou ld see him ea ch lap, so I wa s just rid ing smart. I wasn't reall y hammering as hard - just making sure I didn' t crash," Walters said . " Actu a lly, when M yers fell, I almost we nt down with him ." But Walters kept it together an d rode a p erfect race to no tc h the wi n over Myers, Woods, Larnus tus , Brian Nelson, Cook, Carter G urnee, Jerome Law , Todd Downs and Anaya. After the win, Waiters expressed his gratitude. "I really want to say thanks to White Brothers and my mechanic, John Anderson," he said. "White Brothers build an ex cellent bike a n d th ere is no w a y" could be here without them." In Friday's Open Pro event (which Dubach andWalters d id n' t en ter), a traditional two-mote scori ng sys te m was a lso u sed . In the firs t m oto, Clawson Ra cing ' s Ru st y H olland g ra b bed th e holeshot and raced to th e w in ah ead of Du stin Nelson and Myer s, with Justin Tierney, Jimmy Lew is, Ed McCoy, Robbie Taft, Travis Marks, Jake Wi ndham an d Cliff Cook ro und ing out the to p 10. In the seco nd moto, Holland took the holes hot again , with Myers, elson, (Above) Rusty Holland rode to victory In the Open Pro class. (Left) J lrl Dostal (40), winner of the 125cc Pro class, leads Chris Wheeler in the main event. (Right) Honda of Troy team manager Erik Kehoe (35) leads HoT team rider Stepha ne Roncada In 125cc Pro act ion . , « , ~. Tiearney and the res t of the pack in tow . Holland got a fast start despite initially misjudging the gate. "I hit the ga te, and as I wa s backing u p, the gate fell," Holland said. "I we nt ag ain as I wa s roll ing ba ckw ards (but) I got the holesh ot anyway." Beh ind H o ll and ' s r oo stin g 500cc Honda, Nelson battled past Mye rs, and W indham a n d Lewis e n g a ged eac h other i n an exciting d og fight fo r fifth p lace. Bad lu ck haunted W!ndham in the first moto when the clutch failed on his bo rrowed KTM, but Wi nd ha m had

