Best in the Desert Off-Road Series
Round 2; Adelanto Gra
a
Prix
,
Shown hen! _the
Jump
.........
la fnortte
lalur ......"
d4!lItrY Abbott won the
Unc....1fIecI and Team
categorf. . and 100k MCOftd ...
tile 2IIOs,;
By STEVE
Cox
PHOTOS BY MARK KAR1YA AND
Cox
ADELANTO, CA, FEB. 23-24
!
hane Esposito has been one of
the front-runners in desert racing
for a few years now, and having
switched to the elite 500cc class fulltime only at the beginning of 2001,
he has yet to show the dominance he
displayed in the 250cc division. But if
the Adelanto Grand Prix was any indication, Esposito has arrived.
The Kawasaki Team Green rider's
dominance started early on the week·
end, when he won the Ironman
Expert class, but that class didn't
really have the kind of competition he
was used to. Therefore, he was pretty
much just using it as practice for the
big events - the $10,000 Pro race
(the last race on Saturday) and the
Best in the Desert Pro Team Race
(the last race on Sunday).
At the start of the Desert Vipers
MC's $10,000 Pro race, Esposito
quickly jumped into the lead of the
90-minute-plus-one-lap event, and
he was followed rather closely by
teammate and two-time defending
AMA National Hare & Hound Champion Destry Abbott.
"On the start, going down to the
first turn, it was me and Destry, and I
Team Green'. Shane Esposito won the two
bIggest I'IIC" over the -"end: the $10,000
Pro contest on Satu~ and, wtth teamonat.
Abbott, the Best In the Duert T..... _ _ on
au....... He also took the lronman diwI8Ion and
_ tItIIt In the Open race.
56
MARCH 13, 2002'
cue
I
e
n
e
_
so