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/128136
finishing roughly four minutes behind Kiedrowski. Rounding out the top five was KTM rider Pat Garrahan. "Whew, I made it," Garrahan said. "That was a tough race. I knew that I just had to finish, because I knew a lot of guys would have problems here. But I had some problems myself when I had to pit for a clogged air filter on the sixth lap, a lap after I had pitted for gas. So I wasted time, pitting twice like that." Wade Phillips, from nearby Needles, California, is certainly no stranger to the sand, and the KTM rider used this to his advantage. Phillips started off eighth, stayed consistent and nabbed sixth overall, taking the checkers about two minutes ahead of Rodney Smith. Smith, the reigning GNCC Champion, had a tough day. The Suzuki rider got off to a seventh-place start, then crashed hard while trying to work his way up. "I swapped and knocked myself (Left) Robert Naughton (46) leads Caselli (53) and Shane Watts early In the two-hour race. Naughton ended up second. (Below) Rodney Smith crashed hard but still finished seventh. out," Smith said. "I was running sev- "We [Suzuki] focused on both the east [GNCC] and west [WORCS] coast off-road titles, and we got 'em with Rodney and Mike." The Laughlin race was significantly different than any of the other WORCS races this year, as far as terrain is concerned. Held along the banks of the Colorado River, and a within stone's throw of the Avi Resort and Casino, the Laughlin finale was pretty much a closed-course desert race, featuring lots of deep sand, some whoops, and long, fast straightaways. Seeking out smooth lines through the bushes proved invaluable. The course layout was relatively short - slightly less than five miles so lap times were right around the six-minute mark. Naughton got the jump on the 26rider Pro-class field, but Caselli had the lead before the first lap was completed. With a clear racecourse ahead of him, Caselli left the pack in his dust, pulling out a comfortable lead by the second lap. But Shane Watts was on the move. Watts, the previous round winner in Oregon, put his KTM 200 EXC into second place after passing Naughton on the second lap. Once into second, though, Watts couldn't gain any ground on the high-flying Caselli, but instead starting losing ground. Caselli had stretched out his lead so much that when he pitted for fuel on the fifth lap, he still had a commanding lead on Watts when he got back out on the track. On the next lap, Watts pitted for fuel as well, losing even more time when he decided to change an airfilter. The filter change actually cost Watts a posi- tion, as Naughton blew by and took over second. Watts went back out in third, well ahead of Kiedrowski, who was running fourth. By the halfway point, the leaders were well spread out, with Caselli leading the way over Naughton and Watts, who was riding with injured ribs and seemed content with third. A few more laps went by and Watts' ride suddenly came to a painful end when he crashed over a drop-off jump. When .he landed in the deep sand, his bike swapped, sending him over the bars in a high-speed get-off. Watts was shaken up in the crash but eventually got back on the bike. The former Six-Days champ, however, pulled off a half-lap later. "I don't know what happened," Watts said. '" just plowed into the ground. I hurt my ribs again, and it took a little bit to get my shit together. I tried to go, but I was way too sore." Caselli, meanwhile, continued to put on a clinic on how to ride the sand. He continued to stretch out his lead and eventually lapped up to third place before taking the checkered flag. Finishing a distant second was Naughton for his best result of the enth, trying to get into sixth, when I lost my back brake when I got banners stuck in it. About the halfway point, I swapped in a deep whoop and got ejected, landed backwards and hit my head on the ground. I wasn't out for long, but I felt tired and didn't want to get up." Kellon Walsh, from Alamo, Nevada, finished eighth overall, one position ahead of Steve Hatch, who came Naughton, Kiedrowski said, "I just didn't have anything for Caselli today." Well behind Kiedrowski in fourth finished KTM rider Peter Russell, from Spokane, Washington. Russell doesn't see much sand up in Washington, but you would not have known it on this day, as he rode a good, strong and consistent race, series. "I'm wore out," a smiling Naughton said. "I had nothing for Caselli, but that's okay. I got the holeshot; I knew the start was going to be important because of the dust. Then Caselli and Watts came by me, then I started catching Watts. From there on, nobody was close by me, so I just kept going. It was gnarly out there." When Watts crashed, Kiedrowski took over third and stayed there, wrapping up his first off-road title. Like eye. II!! n II!! vv S • JANUARY 9. 2002 45