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PaJ"'tS Unlimited World Off-Road Championship Series After getting off to a top-five start, Davis, on his Zip- Ty Racing/Montclair Yamaha-backed YZ250, gradually made his way to the front and eventually passed Smith for the lead during the second lap. Davis steadily pulled away from Smith but could never really relax. His lead increased to about 10 seconds, but by that time, it was time for him to pit for gas. Smith, on the more fuel-efficient four-stroke, took over the lead when Davis pitted, but his lead was marginal. After topping off with gas, taking a swig of water and putting on a fresh pair of goggles, Davis re-entered the track in second place and only about five or so seconds behind Smith. Davis ran down Smith again, passed him, and like he had done earlier, gradually pulled away from the Suzuki rider. Davis' lead grew bigger and bigger this time, while Kiedrowski, who had been sitting well back in third, began closing up on his teammate Smith. By the halfway point, Kiedrowski had caught Smith and soon passed him. It was also about this time that both Kiedrowski and Smith had to pit for their one and only stop for gas. This gave Davis a commanding 40-plus-second lead. As the race entered the second hour, however, Kiedrowski made a charge at Davis, picking up a second here and a second there, and when the Yamaha rider had to pit for his second and final time, Davis saw his lead shrink to about 25 seconds. Meanwhile, Smith had noticeably lost STORY AND PHOTOS BY KIT PAl..JI'\ER lAKE HAVASU CITY, AZ, MAR. 17 hat do you get when you mix sand, whoops, rocks, dust (and a little bit of mud) with a Yamaha YZ250? The perfect ingredients for southern Californian Ty Davis to win his first World Off-Road Championship Series event. The desert terrain at the Crazy Horse Campground in Lake Havasu was, indeed, just right for the former Hare & Hound National Champion, who lives in the highdesert town of Hesperia. "Yeah, this course was right up my alley," Davis said. "It was an exceptionally good course; it was challenging and a lot of fun." Still, Davis had to work hard for his win, as he had fellow desert racers Destry Abbott and Russell Pearson to contend with, as well as the Suzuki guys - Rodney Smith, Steve Hatch and defending WORCS Champion Mike Kiedrowski - but the whoopedout and brutally rough course did not favor the heavier Yoshimura-tuned DR-Z450 four-strokes, or any bigbore thumper for that matter, though all three Suzuki team riders did give Davis his toughest competition throughout the two-hour race. Smith pressured Davis for the first half of the race, while Kiedrowski pushed the Yamaha rider hard in the second half. And Hatch was lurking in the shadows early on, too. Kiedrowski, the opening-round winner at Phoenix, ended up taking second, while YZ250mounted Pearson rallied late in the . race to pass Smith and finish out the race in third. Smith took fourth, while Suzuki RM250-mounted Robert Naughton rounded out the top five. 16 MARCH 27, 2002' .. y .. I • n __ s ground on both Davis and Kiedrowski, while Pearson started to close in on him. "I was pulling away when I stopped for gas," Smith said. "After that, I got messed up for a couple of laps, lines changed and I lost my rhythm." At this point, Pearson was on the move, as he caught and passed Smith and reeled in Kiedrowski. The two battled for a couple of laps, and then Kiedrowski started to inch away from the Yamaha rider, who then dropped his bike in a turn, ending Pearson came from behInd to tlnlsh third. (Above left! ,.,. Davi••klrts the edge of Lake Havasu on his WIlY to victory at round two of the WorIcI Oft-Road Champl_shlp Series In ArIzona. (Above) DefendIng WORCS ChampIon Mike K1edrowsld (1) successfully defended a late-race charge by Ru.sen Pearson (11S) to tlnlsh second and retaIn hi. serle. lead. their battle. During their skirmish, the two actually gained a few seconds on the leader. "I had to turn it up when Russ got behind me," Kiedrowski said. "If I finished third, then Ty and I would be tied for the points lead - we went 1-3