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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128078
(Left) Brian Bro w n took th ir d.
(Above) Kawasaki teammates Brown (left) and Abbott (ri ght) will shoot it ou t for the Hare &
Hound Nat lonal tille at the final race in Lucerne Valley, October 24.
(Bel ow) Dry conditions at Wendover made for major dust.
slowed slightly and began to make the
hard left hand turn tha t would put him
o n to th e sta r t of th e co u rse, h e was
unaware th a t Dustin H e a d m an was
coming up from behind . Charging hard ,
Headman attempted to pass by driving
to the inside, straight across Davis' line .
His bike hit the Yamaha's front wheel.
sending Da vis over the bars and on to
the groun d in fro nt of the en tire field of
rid er s. Throug h th e thick d ust , it was
im possible to tell what happened next,
a nd it w as u ncl ea r w he the r a no ther
(rnu ltibike ) pil eup in th e sa me Corner
was the result of Davis and Headman
coming toget her, or a separate incid en t.
When the du st finally cleared enough to
see, e v e ry on e was up a nd gone but
Davis. With a pu sh fro m so me spectators and a few kick s, he was ru nn ing
again, bu t by now the leaders were long
gon e, taki ng with them Davis ' hopes for
a third national title.
"I was in fifth gear and we were just
ba ck ing down to make the comer and
he (Head man) just ca me in and clocked
me," said Davis . "I went end over end,
a nd 1 could n' t find m y bike it wa s so
dusty , and I thou ght 1 was going to ge t
ran over. I just put my back like this (he
hu nches ov er with his head tucked into
hi s ch es t) and 1 tri ed to loo k ba ck. I
knew it (the bik e) was in (the dust ) there
so mew he re, a nd I fou nd it, and it was
bent u p . It would sta rt a nd then q uit ,
and 1 finally got it going."
When asked about the first-tum incident , Headman offered , "I was way on
the inside and he (Davis) came in li ttle
to o ti ght a n d s ta rted turn in g, a nd I
didn't hav e nowhere to go, and hit him
and he went d own . It was kind of a bad
d eal. I hope he' s all right. "
Abbott w at ched it unfold from
behind.
"I sa w Du stin ta ke Ty out. 1 don 't
think he reali zed we were turning, and I
was about 10-20 feet behind him , a nd I ·
wa s kind of worried ab out Ty becau se
he hit him hard ."
Meanwhile, out front, the riders settled into a fast pace, the dust making it
all but impossible to pass.
"Brian and I went back and forth off
the st ar t, and 1 got him just before the
road cross ing , a nd it was so dus ty that
yo u cou ld n' t reall y d o any thing, and I
just rod e smooth," said Abbot t.
H eadm an , on a C R500, sa id, " I
swung out a little wide (out of the first
turn ) and got the lead r ight th e r e .
(Later) I had to s lo w the pace d ow n
b ecause m y b ike. was ov erh e ating.
Destry go t me about half wa y through
the second loop. I guess he had a minute
off me on the seco nd loop . I caug ht him
pretty quick but couldn't get around his
dust; there wa s just nowhere to go."
Team Green' s Brian Brown sa id, "I
go t a two-kick start, so tha t wasn't that
great. After Headman took Davis ou t, 1
passed Destry . I wa s in second and blew
the next corne r in the sand wa sh . Destry
was right behind me and he had more
momentum out of the corne r. He passed
me right there and that was abo ut it."
G reg Z illerkopf, ba ck a fte r a tw oyea r legal ba ttle with KTM th a t kept
him ou t of racing, finished fourth overall and first Vet A, on a Kawasaki 500.
"I got a good start, then go t a flat tire
at the s ta rt of th e secon d loop, a nd I
rode the wh ole thing with a flat front. I
could see Brian in front of me, but then
I'd was h ou t and it wo u ld remind me
that 1 need ed to slow down, espec ially
considering our bik e broke yesterda y.
Kawasak i put new -center cases on it last
night. I wa s just happy to be here."
Abbott held on to seco nd until he
passed Headman on th e second loop .
On ce in front , he never gave it back. The
Pro C ir cuit / Sh oei / A cerbi s /Team
Green-back ed rider was d efinitel y
pleased by his wi n. .
"The last loop, Du st in caught up to
me aga in, but it was fast a nd dusty, and
I jus t rode a really good pace and kep t
him be h ind m e," Abbo tt sai d. "I fe lt
really good; it was probably the tou gh est win I've had . Dustin rod e great, bu t
the Kawasaki wo rked bette r.
" It wou ld h av e been neat if Da vis
hadn ' t go ne down and we could 've see n
if we could 've beat h im stra igh t out. I
felt pretty confident tha t we cou ld . The
club did a rea lly good job. They ran us
through so me tight stuff. The markings
were a little better."
After the e ve n ts of t he first turn ,
Montclair Yamaha's Davis had to settle
for 10th p lace.
'The firs t loop was just rea lly dusty
a nd th ere were guys cras hi ng all over
the p lace, " Abbo tt sa id . "I was 20t h a t
the end (of the firs tIoop) an d I almos t
pulled in . The second loop was pretty
challenging. It was a lot of old course,
lots of wh oops. We d id ge t into some
tigh t stu ff, and I may have pa ssed five
or six guys on tha t loo p."
First a nd second pl aces in th e 1999
Har e & Hou nd Cha mpionship Series will
be decided at the final round at Lucern e
Vallev, California, on October 24.
" I;d lik e to win it on a go od not e ,
an yth in g can happ en ," Abbott sa id .
"Bria n' s a great rid er, so I'm not go ing
to dou bt that can do it, that' s for sure.
He' s m y teammate in the Bes t of th e
Dese rt Series, a nd he 's ridi ng reall y
good, so we' ll see w hat hap pen s. My
goa l is to w in a cham p io ns hip, a nd I
have a chance of winning the Hare &
Hound , a n d maybe th e Bes t in th e
Desert."
Brown sounded pretty matter of fact,
saying, "It' s coming down to Luce rne.
As long as 1 win that one, I should have
it."
O ne thing is for su re, thou gh . With
Davis now ou t of th e runn ing a nd no
one else close, the '9 9 tit le will go to a
gr een bike - but wh ich one?
eN
Wendover National
Wendover, Nevad a
Res ults : October 10, 1999 (Roun d 5 of 6)
O /A : 1. Destry Abbo tt (Ka w ): 2. Dustin Headma n
(Hun); 3. Bria n Bro wn ( K..1 W ~; 4. C rcg Zitt erkopf ( I(.,W);
5. Shane Esposi to (K.. ..); 6. Tim Staab (Ya m ); 7, Brandon
w
Ge rber (Hus) ; H. Kurt Case lli (Ka w); 9. Taber Mur phy
II-Io 10. Ty Davis (Yam ).
n);
OPE~ EX: 1. Destr y Ab bo tt ( Ka w) : 2. Dus t in
H e-ol ma n (H on): 3. Bria n Brown (}(.1""') .
d
250 EX: I. Eri k G riffi th ( K.1W); 2 . Adam Eva ns
(V.lm) ; 3. Bronk Finlln-on (K.1W).
125 EX: 1. Kurt Cawlli ( Kav): Dana Van Stl~ (K. w );
l
3. Matth ew Murphy IYam}. .
4/STRK EX: 1. Tim St.l.l b (Y,l m ); 2. Brandon Gerber
I Hu »): 3. Tabor Murph y (Hun).
30+ EX: I. G rl'g Zi uerfo ff ( Kaw): 2. J Ot ' Rodorl ck
(Hun) : 3. Kevin Bro wn [Ka w ) .
40+ EX: 1. Ch arles Banu-y (GG ); Steve Pi ti s (A TK) ;
3. Da rre l Bro w n (Hou).
50+ EX: t. willi.un Maxim (K.1W); 2. Pres ton Gerber
( KT M ); 3. Harold Simllll ~ ( I<.:TM ).
WM N: 1. Rebecca C illt'! (K.1\v ); 2. Kim Bush (CC);
3. Luana C.,nfid d (K .1W).
O I~EN AM: 1. Mkh.ld Tuult., (Hon) : 2. Eric Neb-on
( KT \-O; 3. Codv Robbins (K.l w I .
•
250 AM : ' 1. Daniel \1 ., d ~l."n (H on }: 2. M icha el
Rllhin~m (K. W); 3 . N., lh.ln Evans (Yam).
1
125 AM : 1. TIi..tan Sherwood (Y. m) ; 2. JO