Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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White Brothers World Vet Championship Motocross th e World Ve t ra nks, including off -road legend Ty Davis and Jeff Matia sevich. Bu t 36-yea r-o ld Duba ch , even w it h h is re cen t Ac h illes t end on inj u ry wa s th e fa vo re d rider in the event. The tens ion in th e pits in creased as r a ce tim e grew near er and the riders rea lized th e level of co mpetition they face d . Montclair Ya ma ha / Lobo Ra cing / Moose / Oa kley / IMS/ Spec tra / D u n l o p / FM Fs p o n s or e d Da v is s a id, "This is my first on e [Vet Cham pionsh ip] . Th ere' s a lo t of com petition. I raced yesterday up at Gorman. I fig u re d I'd co me do wn her e. This is almos t like a National. I' m not used to the speed yet. Th e pa ce is so mu ch qu icker than I' m u s ed to . If y o u ha v en ' t don e it in a while, it takes awhile to get used to it." Robert, w ho compe ted in th e Ov e r-Sf e v ent o n Saturd ay, sai d, "Today is d ifferent. Today there are a lot of good rid ers." Burr Stro ke r / John Cycles /Troy Lee / Arne tte / Alp ines ta r-backed Fowler a d m itte d, "Af ter y ou ge t ou t th ere o n th e tra ck , that's the easy part. Sitting here wait ing for it to ha ppen, tha t' s the tou gh part. After the ga te drops , it will be okay. " When the ga te released the riders fo r th e fi rs t m or o , Bro o ks le d th e cha rge throu gh the fir s t turn. Pete r Melt o n f ro m Austra lia came th rou gh in By Bet h and Bob LaRock ttl 22 SAN B ERNARDIN CA, NOV 7-8 O, ~1a d every differ ent thing im?ginab le gomg agai nst me commg in h er e , try in g to d e fen d my title, having an injury that kept me out for thr ee months. I've been working so hard , I'm jus t so h appy ," exclaimed Doug Du bach after sweeping Su nday's O ver 30 Pro class at the White Brothers World Vet Cha m pio nship held at Glen He len Raceway. Cha lle ng ing Wh ite Brothers/Yamaha-spon sor ed Dubach for the title were las t year's second -thro ug h-fourth-place finishers : Terry Fowler, Cos ta Rican Adrian Rob ert a nd Chapa rral 's Team Man ager Larry Brooks. Re tu rning to reclaim the tit le was 1996 Cha mpion and Yama ha of Tro y's Tea m Ma nager Eri k Keh oe. As if that w asn't eno ug h, several new 30-yea r-old riders joined (Above) Tom White presen ts Doug Dubach with the firstplace trophy at the White Brothers World Vet Championships. (Right) Ediso n Dye (center) pos ed for "' pictures with (left to right) Gunnar lindrom, Malcolm Smith, Jeff Emig, Rick Doughty and Roge r DeCoster during an intermis sion. Dye, who is recognized for bringing motocros s to the United State s, was hono red with an award named after him - the Ediso n Dye Lifetime Achievement Award. second , w ith Ma tiasev ich , Fowler and Davis close beh in d . Through the next five turns, Brooks reta in ed the lead , while Fowler passed Ma tiasevich a nd Melton for third an d then second. Davis cha rged p as t Ma tiasevich into fou rth . Dubach moved u p fro m sixth to fifth in front of Matiasev ich. Davis cruised past M elt on befor e r e a ch in g th e Bu dd ' s Creek section of track . Shortly th ere af ter, Dubach passed both Melt on and Davis, placing Dubach in third . As th e rid ers made th eir fi rst trip arou nd the track, Bro oks held the lead wit h Fow ler on his back tir e. Du bach, Davi s, Melton and Ma tiasevich pu rsu ed . H o w e v er , Shoei M ountain en ded Brooks' lead in the moto, As Brooks and Fow ler charged do wn Shoei Mountain, Fow ler mad e a close p ass on Bro oks and Brooks we nt down. "I go t underneath him and we came to ge ther a nd u n fo r t un atel y he h a d now here else to go a nd he fe ll ove r," explained Fow ler. "It wasn' t in tentional at all. We're good friends and I feel bad abo u t it." Brooks was hea ted abo u t the altercati on , nursin g a n in jured hand a n d chewed up forearm , bu t he said, " It was fun, I gu ess. No d ifferent than my whole career. It could have been wors e." Fow ler took the lead, but Dub ach d id not allow the glory to last. Dubach flew past Fow ler during lap two as the rid ers we nt up the pod iu m jump. For the next two laps, Dubach held the lead, w hile Fow le r a nd Davis b a ttl ed for second. Ma tiasevich reclaim ed the nu mber-fou r pos ition in fron t of Melton. Dubach held a three-second lead on Fow ler for laps four through seven. For most of the moto, th e crowd's attention was focused on the relentless ba ttl e for second between Fow ler and Davis. Fowler ski llfu lly retai ned second , th e two rid ers rubbing pl asti c severa l times during the moto. Dubac h crossed th e finish line after 26 minutes had elapsed to take the w in.