Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series Round 1 : Desert M. C. By MICHAEL DEMAREE PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA The course was divided into two loops, the first being a fast jaunt LOCERNE, CA, JAN. 27 o say that Ty Davis is due would be an understatement. The versatile rider is widely regarded as one of the fastest off-roaders around, and yet he seems to get dealt one bad hand after another. Last year, the Califomian had difficulties just finishing races, let alone winning, and the frustration was starting to show. At the opening Hare & Hound National of 2002, however, it appeared that Davis had finally shaken the jinx. After 80 miles of desert and dust, the Montclair Yamaha rider was leading the pack home when disaster once again struck - this time only about a stone's throw from the finish. Davis' YZ426F ran out of fuel, leaving defending champ Destry Abbott to scoop up yet another victory. around the rocky hills that surrounded the pits. Its trail remained mostly in the high-speed valleys, making it tough for the 250cc pilots to hang with the big-bores. "I got a good jump on everyone at the start, but about 200 yards into it, I started to get passed by the Open bikes," said Montclair Yamaha YZ250 rider Russ Pearson. "All I could do was to head farther and farther to the outside to stay out of the dust. It was the type of start were if you could go 100 miles an hour, that's how fast you were going." At the end of the bomb run, Abbott's KX500 went into the trail section ahead of Davis and Team Green's number-two man, Brian Brown. Dust played a huge factor early on, with those behind the top T 30 FEBRUARY 13, 2002· cue I e n e _ lIS five having to shut it down to avoid hitting any hidden obstacles. Nine of the top 10 bikes at the end of the bomb were KX500s, with Davis' Yamaha being the sole exception. The racers completed the first lap, and going into the pits it was still Abbott with a slight margin over Davis. Brown was still third, with teammates Shane Esposito and new recruit David Pearson following close in tow. The top 250cc rider was Russ Pearson, who had worked his way up to seventh from an end-of-bomb 11 tho His closest quarter-liter rival was KTM's new ace, Kurt Caselli, who - despite the fast layout - was up to 10th after being back on the start. The beginning of loop two gave the 250s a chance to try and make up some time, as the club sent the course through the infamous Moon Rocks. Following 10 miles, of that things once again speeded up. Russ Pearson used this section to do most of his damage. "I had heard the first half of the second loop was going to be tight, so I decided to push hard and see how many guys I could bag,· Russ Pearson said. "I saw Esposito up ahead and put the hammer down to catch him... 1 got up to his fender and then clipped a moonrock with my handlebar and wadded it hard. I jumped up and went to get on my bike and dropped it down the other side of the hill I was on. Once I got it together, I eventually was able to pass Espo and my cousin David." Speaking of David Pearson, the Kawasaki rider was the victim of a blown fork bladder. "I was doing good," he said. "I love m 500. It is so stable at high speed. I just had a little bad luck. I started to hear a clanking sound in my front end and noticed that about the last five inches of travel on my front forks were packing up. It was like riding lWid1 five indles less of travel. Needto MY, my hands got a little tired towards the end of the race." (Jp front, Abbott had his hands full with Davis, who the champ through the nasty n. the bike going up a hill," • "Luckily, I was able to Wore Davis could pass e, about a mile later I had a _big crash on top of the hill. I ran 'lo my bike to get going as fast . Just as I was taking off, ;>t"'"

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