Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

Richardson was enjoying an uneventful ride in second, but the racers behind him were in big trouble, thanks to a rocket-ship ride launched by Brian Brown, who wa back in seventh when he reached the bomb. The KX500mounted racer picked off rider after rider until he was fourth overall and hard on the heels of third-placed Russ Pearson. "Just before the first pit, I started battling With Pearson," Brown said. 'T d get close and then he'd pull away when the wind would change and the dust came back. I finally got around him after we did a couple ofswaps before the first pit." At the end of the first 50 minutes of ra·cing, Davis dashed into pit row a minute and a half ahead of Richardson, with Brown half a minute back in third, just ahead of KTM 250 pilots Russ Pearson and Brian Garrahan, and a KX500 piloted by Shane Esposito. "1 had a three-kick start and 1 have no idea where I was at the bomb," Esposito said. "1 feel 1 was outside of the top 30, but 1 just started picking people off." Seventh overall was in the hands of KX250 racer Steve Hengeveld, and Baumann, Garth Sweetland and Jeff Capt rounded out the top 10. Oakley Lehman entered pit row in 12th overall, but he knew he would be a lot further back before he set sail into his second loop. "My front brake went out and I had to ride the whole first loop without it," said Lehman. "1 got passed by quite a few guys and then [ lost time in the pit, changing it." Richardson was also having brake problems. "1 started to lose my rear brake near the end of the first loop," he said. "1 thought [ would tell them in the pits so we could change it at the next stop, but I didn't think about it when I got in there and 1 forgot to tell them." The 40-mile second loop began with a sprint down a sand wash and then headed out toward the Pinnacles before winding along the tops of the Spangler Hills and back to the pits via Teagle Wash. "The second loop seemed to me like a mileage loop," Davis said "We got on a road for a long time and it was kind of zaggy in and out, and there was a lot of crossgrain." Richardson was too busy trying to cope with on-again-off-again brakes and the threat of Brown's KX500 to worry abou t the terrain. "Brown caught up to me midway through the second loop and passed me, then he blew a corner and 1 passed him back, and then he got back by me," said Richardson. '1 was doing okay with the brake then. In the second loop, I could pump it up and it would work, but by the third loop it was pretty much gone." Pearson was riding a steady - but uninspired - race in fourth overall. "Today 1 didn't feel real 'on' - 1 just didn't have it," said Pearson, who had still managed to lead the 250cc division all the way from the drop of the banner. Just behind him, an all-out battle was being waged for fifth between Esposito, Garrahan and Hengeveld. "You couldn't really pass that much, because the dust just stood there," said Hengeveld. "It seems like every time I got right on them, I would crash because 1 was just too overexcited." Right behind that dogfight was a three-wa y tussle between Vet racers Baumann, Capt and Sweetland. ;'The second loop was a little fast," Sweetland said. "1 ran stock gearing today and it was a little too fast on the bike, so 1 lost a little time on the second loop." Just a couple of spots back, Tim Staab, who was leading the Four-Stroke Experts, was keeping his eyes peeled. "1 thought the markings were really poor," said Staab. '1 got off the course four or five times." Then the riders headed into loop ·three - a grueling 25-mile section of roller-coaster uphills and downhills coupled with s.trength-sapping whoops. "The last loop was pretty much just serious stadium whoops," said Davis, who held a 58-second lead over Brown. "They ran you up in the rocky sections, which was a lot of fun, but then there were just tons of whoops." Third overall was still held by Richardson, who had a three-minute safety margin over fourth-placed Pearson. Esposito, Garrahan, Hengeveld, Baumann, Capt and Sweetland rounded out the top 10 and were followed out into the final loop by YZ250 pilot Matt Murphy, Four-Stroke leader Staab, and Senior-class leader Kevin Hasten, who had catapulted his YZ250 up into 13th overall. "1 got off pretty good on the second loop, and 1 was just surviving by that had· a big cloud of coolant going for a while," he said. '1 must've broken a radiator line or something, and I think 1 rode the last half of the loop ·with no coolant in it." But out in front, it wa smooth sailing all the way for Davis and Brown. The racers charged into the finish just after noon and, after 100 miles and just over three hours of racing, they were only 20 seconds apart. "1 had a good ride - no problems today," said the Montclair Yamaha/FMF /Lobo Racing-backed Davis. "1 don't have any predictions for the series. 1 will just try my best and see what happens." Second-paced Brown also reported a trouble-free race. "1 didn't have any problems and the bike ran great," he said. Richardson's KX500 survived long enough to take (Left) Russ Pearson captured the 250cc Expert~lass win. (Above) Dan Richardson took top honors in the Vet Expert division. "1 was leading him all the way up until just before the last check and [ lost the ribbon," said Baumann. "1 just didn't see it and 1 turned left. Capt followed me. We were both looking for the ribbon, just kind of shaking our heads. We looped back around and he got the ribbon before me." "1 had a slow start because somebody crashed into me, and I spent the rest of the race just working my way up," said Capt, who crossed the finish' just a few bike lengths ahead of Baumann in eightll overall. Sweetland completed his race in 10th overall, ahead of YZ250-mounted Matt Murphy, and YZ400F racer Staab topped the Four-Stroke Experts in 12th. Lehman raced home in 13th, ahead of four-stroke racer Taber Murphy and Italian Luca Tussardi, who was riding a 250cc TM, and Vet racer Gary Lacharite finished 16th, just ahead of 250cc Vet Paul Shafer. The first 125cc bike to cros the line was a KX125 piloted by Dorian Crawford. He finished 18th. Four-stroke racer Mike Korenwinder and Husaberg pilot Rob Zimmerman rounded out the top 20, and Kevin Hasten topped the Senior division in 23rd. _ Dirt Diggers Hare & Hound Red Mountain, California Results: March 12, 1999 (Round 2 of 7) stage," said Hasten: "1 had about 10 guys pass me on the third loop, but 1 made it:' By halfway around the third loop, some of the front-runners were doing little more than just trying to make it to the finish. "In tlle last loop, my tires went flat," said Garrahan. "My Mooses went low and I couldn't hit the whoop-de-doos, because it was kind of squirrelly. 1 was saving myself for the last loop, because I'm a better technical rider than most of these guys, but I couldn't really do what 1 wanted to do because of the tires." Already struggling with no rear brake, Richardson found a new reason to worry in his final loop. "Halfway around the third loop, 1 third overall and a wire-to-wire win in the Vet Expert division. "The course was rough - really brutal and more whoops than I'd like - but it was good," Richardson said. "Of course, it's good when you get a good start and you're out front." Esposito's steady run earned him fourth overall, just six minutes off the winning pace. Russ Pearson took 250cc honors for KTM in fifth overall, with fellow KTM 250 racer Brian Garrahan not far behind in sixth, and KX250-mounted Steve Hengeveld in seventh. A last-minute off-the-course excursion gave KX500 racer Jeff Capt the edge in the hard-fought battle for second in the Vet class. OIA:. 1. Ty Davis (Yam); 2. Brian Brown (Kaw); 3. Dan Richardson (Kaw); 4. Shane Esposito (Kaw); 5. Russ Pearson (KTM); 6. Brian Garrahan (KTM); 7. Steve Hengeveld (Kaw); 8. Jeff Capt (Kaw); 9. Abe Baumann (Kaw); 10. Garth Sweetland (Vam); 11. Matt Murphy (Yam); 12. Tim Staab (Yam); 13. Oakley Lehman (Kawl; 14. Taber Murphy (Hon); 15. Luca TussarCll (TM); 16. Gary Lacharite (KTM); 17. Paul Shafer (Yam); 18. Dorian Crawford (Kaw); 19. Mike Korenwinder (Yam); 20. Rob Zimmerman (Hbg); 21. Chuck McBurney (Kaw); 22. John Spaeth O

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