Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Fast-starter Brown fou nd himself battling dust in fourth, and Abbott elbowed his way up to a respectable fifth. "In the first loop, [ didn't ride real well," sa id Abbott. "1 just can' t ride that fast stu ff out h ere v e ry w ell. Th e Kaw a saki ra n great - it worked awesom e - but I just didn't wa nt to go that fast. 1 just didn't feel comfortable, so 1 didn't do it. I didn't want to risk it." Da vis compl eted th e lo o p in ju st under an hou r and was only 12 seconds ahead of Krause when he hit p it row . There was a tw o- minu te delay be fore thir d-placed Book appeared and another two minutes back to Brown, Abbott and Nick Pearson. Ondas d ashed through the pi ts in seventh overa ll, a h ead of Ru ss Pea rson , Cap t and 12Scc-cl a ss leader Eric Hall ga th . KX250-moun ted racers Steve He ngeveld and Doug Chiapuzio came nex t, an d Tim Staab cleared loop one in 13th. 'This is my first race on a two- stroke in a bout th r ee years ," said KXSOOmount ed Staa b. "I' ve always had po or starts on my Fou r-s fro kes, and 1 kn ew that these bikes ge t good bo mb runs, so [ just wanted to see how 1 coul d d o on one of them. Actually, I go t pinched off and ha d a really bad sta rt, but the bike was awesom e and it wo rked re a ll y good ." Casey Longman led the Four-Stroke Expert class in 14th overall at the first pit, ahead of Open Expert Ron Sh ul er and Vet Expert Dan Richardson , while Bryan Freeman , Shane Esposito, Donnie Morrison and Rick Daniel round ed out the to p 20. Esposito, who had already tied u p the National title in the 12Scc Expert class, had decided to celebra te by trading his YZI25 for a YZ400F. " l just wanted to see what it felt like to run u p a t the top in stead of bein g back there on a 125," said Esposito. The 40-mi le seco nd loop provided a complete cha nge of pace from loo p one . "T he 'firs t loo p was reall y fas t a nd had a lo t of w hoops in it, " said N ick Pearson. "Basically, it was just hang-onand-go-a s -fa st-as-you -ca n, but in the secon d loo p they had some tight rocks . The seco nd loop was neat. It got into the hills and intosome rocks and some go at t rails a nd cow trail s . It was a f u n course." Casey Longman described the course as one of the best he has ever ridden. "The se co nd lo op had a rea l good va riety of rocks , di tches, ledges, washes and things like that," he said. "It w as real awesome." And so was the racing. "Going into the seco nd loop, I knew 1 had one cha nce, and th at wa s just to unplug and go a s fast and ha rd as 1 could," said Krause. Ditto for Abbo tt, who knew that getting second or third overall in the yearlong seri es would be determined by how he did in that final 40 miles . "1 ha mmered down on that sec ond loop," sa id Abbott. "1 passed Book in th e pits and w e had a g rea t race. We went back and forth, back and forth. We were hanging it out because we bo th wan ted the number-two pl at e (in the se r ie s ). Whoever beat th e other was going to get the number-two pla te, and we were riding hard ." Davis continued to lead as loo p two headed ou t past Anderson Dry La ke. Kra use w a s holding ti ght in se cond, Abbott and Book were neck and neck for third, and Brown was hold ing h is own' in fifth. Chiap uzio's ho pes of a stellar finish faded along with his rear brakes about 10 miles into the loop. Vet-clas s lead er Rich ard so n lost time stopping every few m iles to kick a lo ose swinga rm bolt back into place, and Hallgath's run at the head of the 12Sec pack came to a sudden end when he caught his leg on a rock . "1 was on a little, mellow, thirdgea r trail," Hallgath explained . "We were sq u eez ing between some rocks and I hit a rock that just pierced me right in the leg. 1 had to lie down for quite a while." Positions were start ing to tum over at the front of the pack, too. Nick Pearso n caught Brown -near the halfway poin t a nd knocked him back one spot, and Russ Pearson dodged past Ondas, Kra use got passed by two of his competitors. "1 kind of undid myself a little bit," said Krause. " 1 rode too much lik e a thro ttle jockey and stuck myself on the ground a couple of times , and 1 had to s low down and let Abbott a nd Book pass me." T he Abbot t-Book ba ttl e was th e fiercest of the race. Book h ad the edge m o st o f th e way a rou nd the s econd loop, but he lost his slender ad vantage at a road crossing just thr ee miles from the finish. " 1 just didn't read a road crossing righ t and [ hit it and stacked it up just going s o fast, " Book sa id . " I was ou t over the fro nt end for so long and finall y I just ate it. I couldn't believe it. 1 was g o in g so fa st , I w a s a ctually p retty happy I cou ld get up and go so quick. I think the adrenaline was what got me up and got me going." But his problems weren't over. "1 wa s st ill in third - I wa s e v e n ahea d of Krause once I got back up - but I didn' t have any goggles [eft," he said. " 1 lo st them in the cra s h and I just coul dn't see, so what can vou do?" Whil e Bo ok s q u inted hi s wa y through th e final s ection, Davis was cro ssing th e fin ish. Despite losing th e ribbon for a minute or tw o almost within sight of the finish line and making a wide loop off to one sid e of the course, the Yamaha racer was still five minutes ah ead of the competition when it counted , and took the checkered flag at 11:25 a.m . "1 got the lead rig ht after the bomb, and everything went great from there," said Davis. "The clu b did an awesome job of marking. [ can't believe how well they did . I've never ri dden a race marked this well befo re." Abbott, w ho passed Kra use five miles from the finish and bagged Book just three miles out, held on to cross the line in second - a finish that netted him number two in overall points. "1 got lucky and beat Book," Abbo tt said afte r finishing just inches ahead of Kra u se and half a minu te in fro n t of Book. "He was actually lead ing coming in and all of a sudden I saw him lyin g on the ground . The last two miles was jus t cross-grain and he ree led me back in. We we re balls out the last two miles, but I made it. 1 was just riding consisten t and it paid off, an d the bike worked awesome wit h the Pro Circu it sus pension and motor. I'm real happy." Kra us e, w ho g ra bbed th ird w he n Book wen t down, chased ha rd all th e way to the finish, but he cou ld n' t quite get by Abbott to claim second. "Right here in the rocks; I got up to Abbo tt a nd said, 'O h, I've got to tr y aga in: but I couldn't d o it," said Krause, "bu t 1 had a good, clean ride - no big problems - and I thought it was a really good race course . The firs t loop wa s pret ty fast but fun - you had to wo rk the w hole time, and we actually rod e a lot of ne w trails I've never seen before in the second loop." Krause was al so impressed by this year's National Hare and Hound Series. "This is probabl y o ne of t h e best y ears we've ever had for the se r ies, because there were more w inners and the racing has been much clos er: ' he said. "I'd [ike to see a couple mo re races added. We need to figure ou t a wa y to get Oregon and Wa shington to step u p to Nationals or something, so w e can expand the series." Fourth overall went to YZ250-mounted Book. "1 th ink I e n ded up third in the series, first 250 Exp ert, so I'm p retty happ y with that," said Book. "If I wouldn't have done that little screw-up back there, it would've been bet ter, but I su rvived . The course was really good for ou t here. It just kept you going all day lo ng - really no tim e to rest. Ju st ha mmer down the w hole time." Brian Brown, w ho dashed home in fift h overa ll, d es cr ib ed his Nationa l Hare and Hound Series as d isappointing . "It was a bad series for me this year," (Abov e left) second place went to Destry Abbott, and the fi nish gave hi m second overa ll In the championship , behind Ty Davis. (Above) Donn ie Book was the man wh o was challenging Abbott for second in the series po int standings, bu t he co uldn't do any better than fourth on the day. said Brown. "Jus t getting used to a SOO instead of a 250 take s a while: I p robably finis hed fifth, sixth or seventh: ' N ick Pearson br ou ght his KTM 380 ac ross th e lin e in sixth, just ahead of KTM 250-mounted Russ Pearso n. "1 th ink 1 finished about sixth in the se ries . I broke m y foot ea rly on , so [ missed two races, but it's a good series and I can't w ai t until nex t year:' said Pearson . "I 'll get my bike to run a little bit better, come ou t and have some fun. Next year, hopefully, will be good for us: ' Dave Ondas fin ished eight h overall aboard a KXSOO, just ahead of KX250 racer Steve Hengeveld , and Tim Staab rounded ou t the top 10. Casey Longman topped the Four-Stroke Experts in 11th overall. Dou g Chia pu zio to ok 12th despite losin g hi s rear brake 10 mil es into loop two , and Jeff Capt had to settle O for 13th after his KXSO m ysteriously quit just a mile sho rt of the finis h. Dan Richardson took Vet-class honors in 14th overall and topped the class fo r the series, as w el l. Jo e y Lan za brought his ATK 250 home in 15th, just ahead of Dana Van Stee, who took 12Sec Expert ho nors. ,,, Lucerne Valley Lucerne Valley, Californ ia Results: October 25, 1998 O IA, I. Ty Da vi s (Ya m) ; 2. Destry Abbot. (Kaw); 3. Pa u l Kra use ( Ka w): 4. Do n nie Book (Yam) ; 5. Bria n Brown (Ka w): 6. Nic k Pea rson (Kl'M); 7. Russ Pearson .. (KT M); 8 . Dave Ondas (Ka w): 9. Steve Hen gevel d (Kawh 10. T im Staab (Kaw); 11. Casey Longman (Ho n): 12. Do ug Chiapuzio (Ka w) ; 13. Jeff Capt (Ka w ): H . Da n Richa rdson (Ka w); 15. Joey Lan za (ATK); 16. 0 .,n.1 Va n Stee (Ka w ): 17. Bryan Freeman (KTM ); 18. Rick Da niel (Kaw): 19. Kevin Hasting (Yam); 20. Tommy Roberts (Kaw): 21. Clin t Braun (KTM); 22. Donni e Morri son (Yam); 23. C huc k McBu rn ey (K.1W) 24. Shan e Esposito ; (Ya m) . OPEN EX: 1. Ty Da vis (Yam); 2. Des try Abbott (Kaw): 3. Pa u l Krau se (Kaw). 250 EX: 1. Donnie Book (Yam.) : 2. Russ Pearson (KTM) ; 3. Ste ve Hen geveld (Kaw). 125 EX: 1. Dana Van Stet' (K.,W); 2. Cli nt Braun (KTM ); 3. Eric Hallgath (KTMJ. 4·STRK EX: 1. Casey Lon gman (Honl : 2. Donn ie Morrison (Yam); 3. Mi ke Kcncur (Yam). . VET EX: 1. Dan Richardso n (Ka w) : 2. Rick Daniel (Kawl. SR EX: 1. Kevin Hasting (Yam); 2. Steve Pitts (AN; 3. Bill Maxim IKaw ). , ..... ..... I-< C]) .0 E C]) > o z 21

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