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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128095
Stroke/125cc event and then went on
to finish an impressive fourth in the
Pro race, almost edging out the
injured Abbott.
Unfortunately Smith did not leave
Saturday's bad luck behind him, as
he experienced even more misfortunes in the Pro race, which made a
top finish nearly impossible.
"Today I got stuck in the gate on
the start," said the fifth-place finishing Smith. "Basically, Watts and I
were coming through traffic in that
powder dust. About the fourth lap, I
got by [Ty] Davis and then I hit a
Manzanita and went right over the
bars. I smashed the pipe and the bars
were all bent. I got up from there and
just pushed my way forward. The
bike beat me up a little bit because
the pipe was pinched and I was down
on power, so I was hitting all the
bumps hard. I thought I was going to
(Top) Steve Hatch took fourth.
(Above' Despite being nicked up from
an eartler crash, Destry Abbott (11'
soldiered to a third-place finish.
(Below' Rodney Smith chases Pat
Garrahan en route to a fifth-place
finish.
catch up to Steve [Hatch] and Destry
[Abbott]. but when we pitted I got gas
on my goggles and it bumed my forehead and my eyes got all watery. We
had a rough day. We just made few
mistakes, right from the start."
Smith's gate-jumping cohort
was as equally disappointed
with his finish. Round-one winner Watts showed up on Sunday ready to do battle, but
instead of fighting for the lead,
Watts fought the gate, the
rough course and arm pump
throughout the two-hour event.
"It was my fault," said Watts
about the premature start.
"The gate dropped a little bit
and I went to go and it didn't
drop anymore. I thought, 'Well,
she's going to drop now,' and I
went straight into it. I came
through real well on the first
lap, but after that I got massive
arm pump. I just couldn't hold
on and it lasted for a long time.
It really wasn't until the last
three or four laps that I started
riding good. Once I started riding good I could reel those
guys in without a problem.
"On the last lap my bike would
hardly run because the filter was so
clogged," continued Watts. "It's all a
big disappointment, but you have to
take the good with the bad and hopefully this is the only bad one. Everything seemed to be going against me
today and I just toughed it out. It
wasn't what I expected and what I
thought I could do."
(Left) GNCC champ Shane Watts
suffered a hard get-off but still
finished sixth.
(Above' Ty Davis struggled on his
250cc thumper, finishing seventh.
During the early laps Davis was
among the group made up of Watts,
Smith and Kurt Caselli, who had to
work their way through the pack to
break into the top 10. The course was
high-speed, dusty and there was
nowhere to rest. Davis and other top
riders turned consistent 10-minute
lap times, but it seemed to be the first
couple of laps that were ultimately
the most crucial.
"I was having trouble in the beginning," said YZ250F-mounted Davis.
"The bike was a tad slow. It ran good,
it was just hard getting out of that silt.
It wore me out. A bigger bike would
have went over the bumps a little
nicer, but mine just sat in everyone.
The course kicked my butt. But it was
a good course. It was definitely tough
and challenging. It was hard to know
where you were and that silt just separates everyone. You'd slowly catch
them and then eat tbeir dust."
Eight-place finisher Kurt Caselli
ate no one's dust during his decisive
win in the 125cc race on Saturday,
but Sunday was a little different for
the teenager. Caselli switched to a
250, but arm pump made it difficult
for him to maintain a rhythm. Husaberg's Ryan Terlecki continues to
progress in his new off-road racing
career. Terlecki finished a respective
ninth ahead of Saturday's Open/
250cc race winner David Pearson,
who rounded out the top 10.
eN
Off-Hoed at Speedworld
Phoenix, ArIzona
Resulls: Febl1UlrY Z4-Z5, ZOOl
PRO: t. Shane Esposito (Kew); 2. Mike
Kiedrowski (Su,); 3. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 4. Steve
Hatch (Suz); 5. Rodney Smith (Suz); 6. Shane Watts
(KTM); 7. Ty Davis (Yam); 8. Kurt Caselli (Yam); 9.
Ryan Teriecki (Hbg); 10. David Pearson (Yam).
cue' _
n
VET AA: 1. Paul Krause (KTM).
VET EX: 1. Willy Simons (Vam); 2. Bam Simons
(Yam); 3. Don Turk (Yam); 4. Brian Bruning (Yam);
5. Ken Kozlik (Yam).
VET INT: 1. Ned Lowerre (Suz); 2. Vincent Roger
(KTM); 3. Donald Tussing (KTM); 4. Bart
Blankenship; 5. David Myers.
VET NOV: t. Christian Quest (Hon); 2. Alan
V;olette (Yom); 3. Doug Mohr (Yom); 4. Dean Bari