Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128103
(Left! Russell Pearson led the strong 250cc b rigade at the Virgin Voyage National with h is third-place effort. He had Brown In his sights b ut fell twic e trying t o reel him In thro ugh the rocks. (Right) Desp ite a flap p ing shroud, David Pearson rode a strong race t o finish fourth. Team Gre en stars, unofficially. "I just fe lt really good th e first loo p, " Abbott revealed . "It was nice to ha ve a nice lead and be able to ride comfortably. I wa s just wa iting for someth ing we ird to happe n , be c au se every th ing was going too good for me." Not for h is t eamm a t e Br o w n , ho we ve r: "T he b ike wa s jus t heads haki ng reall y bad; I could only get up to fo urth gear in t h e valley s . When I c ame back [after fin ls hln q ], I found out the stabi l iz er w a s n ' t workin g . That ' s t h e o n e ' crashed with at Terrible 's To wn [two weeks a go I. so so m ethi ng m ig ht' ve ha p pen ed to it. "It was a bad day . I jus t decided to kee p it s teady and keep the bike up as m uc h a s I could. Destry rod e re a lly well today. Next weekend, I need to do it (win} aga in; he needs to get th ird o r fourth. " Sta a b he ld third out of th e pits followed b y E s p o s it o , te en ag er Ku rt Casell i on h is YZ250, YZ250 racer Russell Pearson and Grider on his Team Green KX500 . The rocky, rugged trails of the las t 40 -mil e loo p saw lots of changes in the or der be h ind Abbott a nd Brown , with Russ ell Pe a rso n ben e fit ing th e most. "I proba bly ma de it thro ugh [in] 20th to the bo mb: he estimated . "Not a wesome [bu t] not hor rible, tho ug h it wasn't like dead last or anything . , just picked guys off [on th e first loo p]. I wa s proba bly seventh o r so mething [out of the pits] . I got by Ca selli a nd Esposito and Tim Sta a b pretty q uic k in th e rocks , and' couldn 't se e an y o ne e lse in front of me. "I ca me into one of the checks a nd [a sk ed ], 'Whe re am I at? ' Th e y said , ' Yo u' re th ird !' I'm like, ' De stry and Brian - o h man , good luck on catc hing them!'" Russell Pe a rson conti n ued try ing his hardest, and bega n seeing som e d us t every once in a while. EventualIy, he c a ught up to Brow n, which fired him up, but he went down twice while try ing to get him through the rocks. "He wa s rid ing well, and I would' ve struggled to get by him [anyway], but I was happy: Pearson said. "I m ean , yo u a lwa ys want to win, but th ird 's better th a n wha t I've been doing ." Dav id Pe a rs on rep ort e d g e tting pa ssed by his cousin as well a s Ca pt an d Da v e Onda s , though h e re p a s s ed b oth t h e G a s G a s an d Kaw asaki before th e pits . "I went out [aft er th e pits] and cha rged m y hard est: Pearson sa id. "At first, I c a ught th e Kaw i boys, Es po and Grider. They took a wrong turn ; th e y were down kind of a t th e bottom of a rock pile . I kept rid ing hard , an d ' caug ht Ku rt, and Kurt was fo llowing Ti m Staab . Kurt g ot by Tim, then finally I got by Tim . Then I caught up to Kurt ; he was rid ing good an d I was rid ing good . I was luc ky, and I ba gged him in a se c ti on. Then I was j ust mak ing s ure they weren't going to catch me ." Gr ider ended u p ta k in g a pa in fu l hit below the be lt that had him th ink ing twice, but he hung in there to na b fifth follo we d by Case lli, who ch a lked it u p to a bad d ay. The race of th e d a y t oo k p la c e fo r s e v ent h, w ith Heng e ve ld ta king it by a s ma ll m a rg in o n his XR650R. "I was run n ing fourth almost till th e end [of th e first loo p]," he said . "Right here , whe re it drops into th e p its , I stalled it, a nd, like , s ix people passed m e . I coul dn 't get it going aga in ! I we nt from fourth to ninth or 10th. O h man! So I came into the p its , go t my tho u ghts tog e t h er and the s econd loo p , I knew I had to charge a nd ju st try to get th rough it. [I knew] it wa s probably going to be really technica l; it turned out to be rea l techn ica l, I thought · it was like a n endu ro the whole wa y. It was definite ly a s m a llbore course." Sta a b ended up settling for e ighth . As it tu rn e d out, the k ickstart -shaft se al on his XR650R fa iled early in the race, and the e ngine began ove rheating as it lost o il. It also fried the clutch near the en d , though he wa s able to hol d off Capt's Gas Ga s 250 . Ondas rounded o ut the top 10 o verall. CN Virgin VlIYa ge Nationa l Luceme Va lley, Califom ia Results: Apri l Zz, ZOOl O / A : 1. Destry Ab bo tt { Kew}: 2. Bri en Bro wn {Kew): 3 . Rus sell Peerson (VlIm ); 4 . Devld Pearson (Yll m ): 5 . A ndy Grider (Kll W); 6 . Ku rt Caselli (Ya m) ; 7. Steve Hengeveld (Hon); 8 . Tim Staeb (Hon ); 9 . Jeff Capt (Gas); 10. David Ondas (Kaw). AMA NATIONAl HARE s HOOND SERIES POINt S STA NDINGS ( Alter 3 or 8 roun ds); I. Destry Abbott (85/2 wins ); 2. Br ian Brown (80 /1 w in ); 3. Russell Pearson (51) ; 4 . Andy Grider (48); .5 . Kurt Caselli (46); 6. Shane Espos ito (45); 7. Ty Dav is (39) ; 8. Luca Tru s s a rd i (2 8) ; 9 . Da vid Pe ars on (21) ; 10. Ste ve Henge veld (26) . BRIEFLY••• Ohio's Grant Parson s made his first visit to the desert. though It wasn 't to race. He's the editor of the AMA's American Motorcyclist magazine and thought he'd take in his first National Hare & Hound to do a story for the magazine about desert racing . And instead of droning out the two hours in a rental car from the Orange Cou nty area . he borrow ed a KLR650 dual-sport bike from Kawasaki. Destry Abbott joined the ranks of motorhome o w ners recently. The drive from Peooa. Arizona. to Luc ern e Va lley for the race wa s its ma iden voyage. Abbott made it a point to state . "I want to dedicate this to Lillie S w ee tlan d . Ullie was a really great perso n. and I feel for her family. She was kind of like an idol to me. someone I looked up to and raced with [when I was getting startedl . She used to always beat me." Swee tland passed away earlier in the week alt er a two -year battle with cancer. She partnered WIth Anna Cody in 1gOO to become the first woma n-only team to finish the Baja 1000 . Andy Grider has a consistent 5 -5-5 record so far In the series. TY Davis got a good start. finding himself ahead of even tual winner Abbott off the line and then tucking into the top live alter the bomb. Unfortunately. his transmission broke soon afte rward. spelling the end of his race. So he packed up. wen t home . got on another bike and spent the rest of the day trail-ridinq. Paul Krause didn't enjoy his usual day at the races. finishing relative ly far back in the pack on his KTM 380 alter spending time in the pit s to address suspension maladies. " You know how some days you're not supposed to be on a bike?- he asked rhetorically . "Today was my day." California Highway Patrol officer Billy Fullmer Jr. estimated he was about filth at the bomb on his month-old KTM 520 and st eadily worked his way back through the pack. hindered by both blisters and the no-time-to-ride sy n d rom e . eventually finishing around 30th . by his esti mation . Following a good first loop. Shane Esposito ended up crashing in the rocks while trying to pass Tim Staab on the second loo p. The Team Green/Price Racing rider was banged up and somewhat dazed. so he swit ched to cnJise mode and finished the event . cue I e n e vv S • MAY 9, 2001 53