1999 Adelanto Grand Prix
BfG SIX GRAND PRIX SERIES. ROUND 1
Since the reign of the legendary Larry Roeseler and the
late Danny Hamel, Davis has
been the man to beat. Granted,
he has faltered a few times
with seized motors and the
like, but he is still considered
the "King of Adelanto;' a title
that Roeseler once held a mere
seven years ago.
The starting line of Saturday's Unclassified race held
high hopes for racers who
thought they might be able to
upset the confident Davis. The
brave souls included Destry
Abbott (the Team Green
speedster who won the first
round of the AMA National
Hare & Hound two weeks
prior) and Johnny Campbell
(who in the past has been one
of the rare com petitors to beat
Davis at Adelanto). Book,
Davis' Montclair Yamaha
teammate, and the brothers
Pearson also had hopes of winning gold, as did several other
factory-backed racers and even
some privateers with a handful
of throttle and everything to
lose.
Much to the delight of
everyone (except for Davis), Abbott
turned out to be the winner in the
Unclassified race. Davis was not far
behind, but it gave hope to everyone
else. rt was also the Unclassified contest
that let the racers know that they were
in for a long race weekend, as the course
had already begun to deteriorate,
becoming extremely whooped-out and
gnarly. Instead of the traditional B-mile
course, this year's course went further
west and added 4 miles - in the form of
sand whoops, which was not a Sunday
drive by any means.
The story in the 12Scc class revolved
around Abbott again, though for a different reason; It seems that the Desert
Vipers MC (the hosting club) felt that
the infamous water jump, on the moto
(Above) As always,
Johnny campbell was a
threat, finishing second
in the Four-Stroke race
and fourth in the Pro
race.
(Above right) Adelanto
newcomer Shane
Esposito took top 250Cc
honors in Saturday's Pro
race.
(Right) Nick Pearson
rode fast enough to
finish second to
Esposito in 250Cc Pro
action.
,..
(Left) The Adelanto
Grand Prix draws
racers in the
thousands. The
starting grid looks
more like a
Southern California
freeway than the
start of an off-road
race.
(Right) The famed
water-hole jump is a
crowd favorite,
especially when
racers don't quite
clear the muck.
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