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/128126
(Above) Third-place finisher Destry Abbott, winner Mike Kiedrowski and runner-up Rodney Smith (left to rlghtl. (RIght! Steve Hatch tried valiantly to make up for a bad start and tum the race Into a Suzuki 1-2-3, but that plan snapped along with his rear brake pedal after his pit stop. (Above) After the first few laps, Smith tucked in behind his teammate Kiedrowsk. (Left! Destry Abbott lost his rear brake when he caught some track ribbon. He stili maintained an easy hold on third place. (Below) Brian Garrahan (left) fights off Robert Naughton In the early going. Garrahan ended up fifth place, while Naughton took sixth. (Left) Shane Esposito ran in the top five earty but suspected broken reeds left him pushing back to the pits early. (Above) Glen Helen winner Shane Watts saved this swap in the first couple laps, though a few laps later he'd call it a day. "The last lap I lost my rear brake [when he caught some track ribbon]. That's about the only thing that happened; it was a pretty clean race. Third's not bad. I'm trying to win the championship; it's going to be tough, but I'll do the best I can." Brian Garrahan ended up holding fifth place for most of the race on his Maxxis/Race Tech/Smith-sponsored KTM after early tussles with round two winner Shane Esposito, Davis and Pearson. "On the sixth, seventh, eighth lap, I didn't see anyone back there; all three of them faded back," Garrahan said. "I just kept putting in the same pace I did [earlier] and pretty much stayed in the same place all day." And in completing most of the 14 laps in front, Kiedrowski refused to let his guard down. "I just had to keep focused and ride the track," he said. "That's what I was doing, just hitting my lines. Towards the end, the lines were get- ting kind of messed up, and I wasn't moving [so] I started looking and finding a little bit better lines here and there. Then I kind of smoothed out a little bit better and rode my own race. "It's been a while since I won [a major off-road race], probably since [the] Elsinore [Grand Prix 11 months ago]. I thought, 'Don't think you've got it yet; anything can happen. Keep focused, keep riding hard...• And he did. eN Las Vegas MolDr Speedway Las Vegas, Nevada Resulb: September 3D, 2001 O/A: 1. Mike Kiedrowski (SU2); 2. Rodney Smith (SU2); 3. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 4. Steve Hatch (SU2); 5. Brian Garrahan (KTM); 6. Robert Naughton (SU2); 7. Ty Davis (Yam); 8. Devid Pe~lrson (Yam); 9. Patrick Garrahan (KTM); 10. Kurt Caselli (Yam); 11. Kellon Walch (Kaw); 12. David Rees (KTM); 13. Oakley Lehman (I'\aw); 14. Matt Gosnell (Yam); 15. Kyle Kischer (KTM); 16, Clint Braun (Yam); 17. Robert Settles (Kaw); 18. Shane Esposito (Kaw): 19. Kelly Yancey (Kaw); 20, David Flores (Hon). PART UNLIMITED WORLD C'SHIP OFF-ROAD SERIES POINT STANDINGS (After 4 of 6 rounds): 1. Mike Kiedrowski (Suz) 96/1 win; 2. Destry Abbott (Kaw) 88/2; 3. Rodney Smith (Suz) 83; 4. Steve Hatch (5U2) 74; 5. Shane Watts (KTM) 56/1; 6. Ty Davis (Yam) 54; 7. Kurt Caselli (Yam) 52: 8. Brian Garrahan (KTM) 46; g, Patrick Garrahan (KTM) 45; 10. Shane Esposito (Kaw) 33/1. BRIEFLY••• The heat didn't prove to be as bad as first feared; riders coped with it quite well. "I drank my whole CamelBak down," Brian Garrahan said. "Then I came down [pit row] and did a hand-off [to get al water jug. I drank the water jug going down pit row then threw it in the bushes, but all in all it wasn't that hot. You're moving pretty fast. and it was a fast pace so you didn't have time to get hot." Vegas marked the first WORCS race that Robert Naughton has finished, and he did it on an RM250 he'd bought recently after deciding the KTM 200 he raced at the previous event didn't provide enough boost off the line to get the good start he figured he needed. Naughton unoffi· cially earned top privateer honors with his sixth-place finish. Suzuki team manager Mike Webb felt it would be his team's weekend after racing the Vet A class on Saturday. "I knew as soon as I did one lap that we were in the hunt," he said. "I also give credit to [promoters Davel Hamel and Weffl Phillips. They did a fantastic job considering they had a motocross track and a parking lot [to work withl; it was pretty damn fun!" Of Kiedrowski. he said. "I'm real happy for Mike; he needed that real bad, He's done the majority of the testing on the four-strokes with me because he's in Southern California with me, so I always drag him out and make him work!" Round one winner Shane Watts reportedly uncrated a 300 EXC, put it together and raced it at Vegas. Though he ran towards the front in the early laps, he eventually pulled into the pits. "I've got no answers," he said. "The bike was fine," Round two winner Shane Esposito on his Price RacinglTeam Green/Pro Circuit KX250 was another DNF, though he was credited with 12 laps. "I think the reeds broke," he said. Kelly Yancey rode her Team Green/Stroker/Acerbis-backed KL.X300R to her best finish in the series to date - 19th - and achieved her goal of not getting last. She was also scored at 12 laps completed; the top 10 finishers did 14. cue' • n e _ S • OCTOBER 17, 2001 31