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World Off-Road Championship Series: Round 2 STORY AND PHOTOS BY MATT FREEMAN PHOENIX, AZ, FEB. 24·25 'i7ruth be told, there was nothing Ueasy about Shane Esposito's round-two WORCS win, but he sure made it look that way. The Team Green/Price Racing/MSR-backed KX250 rider from Reno, Nevada, set Speedworld on fire during Sunday's 120-minute Pro race when he completed the first of 12 laps with a 10second cushion. Despite a demanding course and badly blistered hands, Esposito's lead only got fatter and so did his wallet when he pocketed the $5000 purse money that Cross-Road Adventures puts up for the winner of each round. "Oakley Lehman got the holeshot and once I got by him I pretty much rode from there," Esposito said. "Noth· points lead, dropping sixth-place finisher Shane Watts to second. "They put on the pit board that Watts was back a little ways, so I knew I was in the points lead," said Kiedrowski. "I like winning championships. Everyone remembers that more than they do the actual race." Surprising even himself was thirdplaced Destry Abbott, who almost did not even take the starting gate after a crash on Friday left him with a separated shoulder. Abbott was actually practicing on the Speedworld track when the crash occurred, but with the help of a nearby doctor, he was still able to compete. . "Friday, I was just practicing on the track and I came off a jump side ways and high-sided," said Abbott ......~,.."..----,--..",.---------------,--, who lives in nearby Peoria. "Doctor Wick, a great doctor here in town, has seen me five times since Friday. This morning he came over and we were doing electrical treatment. Without all his help and good medicine, I don't think I could have ridden. "I came here to get good points," Abbott said. "I didn't think I'd finish third. I got a good start and didn't try to ride as fast as I could. I think that paid off. I tried to find (Above) Shane Esposito (40) gets the jump at the start of the Pro class at the Worfd Off-Road Championship in Arizona. (Left) Esposito held on to take his first win of the young serfes. (Below) Mike Kiedrowski moved into the series pqints lead with a second-place finish. ing really happened. I rode my own pace and went where I wanted to go." The runner-up spot for the second time in as many tries went to Team Suzuki Off Road's Mike Kiedrowski. The Yoshimura DR-Z400 pilot gated well in the Pro race and ran third behind Team Green's Destry Abbott for the first couple of laps, but once Kiedrowski got by Abbott, he set out to capture the leader. "I was just trying to catch up to Esposito," Kiedrowski said. "He was on the gas because I was doing everything I could. He was definitely a lot faster than me today. There wasn't much more I could do." Instead of catching Esposito, Kiedrowski did move into the series 46 MARCH 14,2001 • cue I • n • _ s smooth lines and save energy and I think that's what helped." Abbott was not the only rider with problems over the weekend. 'On Saturday, several potential Pro-race contenders fell victim to the hardships of off-road racing. Esposito failed to finish the Open/250cc event when the linkage on his KX500 broke. Team Suzuki's Rodney Smith, who finished fifth in Sunday's main event, suffered a flat tire during Saturday's FourStroke/125cc race. By that point, KTM's Scott Myers had already taken himself out of the event when he ripped open his boot by kicking a tree stump and ended up with a broken toe. TM's Gordon Ward was also an early casualty when a bad crash in the Vet race sent him home prematurely. And, while leading the Vet race, Montclair Yamaha's Ty Davis returned to the pits early when the bottom-end on his YZ250F began to go south. Luckily, Davis' mother-inlaw was headed to Arizona and a new 250F motor was the last thing she packed. What could have been a lackluster outing for Steve Hatch turned out to be a good weekend for the Team Suzuki rider. "For the last five days I've had a stomach flu .and I've been really sick," said Hatch. "I just decided to ride, be smooth, do the best I could and get some good points." Hatch finished second to teammate Kiedrowski in the Four·