Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series Round 3; Sageriders MC Davis wasn't just hiding in front of STORY AND PHOTOS BY DOUG KARCHER the dust; he was steadily pulling away from the field, though he almost saw SPRINGVILLE, £IT, APR. 13 y Davis ended his two-year National Hare & Hound win drought with a wire-to-wire win in central Utah, and took over the points lead in the process. "It feels good to finally win one," said the Montclair Yamaha rider after keeping his YZ426F out in front for all 84 miles to claim the Vet class and overall honors. The closest anyone came was teammate Russ Pearson, who finished 30 seconds back on his YZ250. The usually potent Team Green duo of former champ Brian Brown and current champ Destry Abbott were relegated to third and fourth, respectively, followed by David Pearson aboard another Kawasaki in fifth. And this was all in spite of a one-minute penalty Davis was given for speeding in the pits (see Briefly...). A veteran of many desert races, Davis knew how critical it was to get a good start in the dusty conditions, and his off-season work on the big, blue thumper appears to have paid off in both reliability and speed. "I pulled Brown on the start, got my line and just had smooth sailing all the way to the sand dune," he said. By the five-mile point, Davis had an 18-second lead over KTM 250mounted Kurt Caselli. Russ Pearson and Brown were another 20 and 30 seconds back, respectively, followed by Abbott in fifth, nearly a minute and a half behind the leader. Ten seconds behind Abbott came the Honda four-stroke of Andy Grider, and then another KX500, this one ridden by David Pearson. T 40 MAY 1 , 2002' cue • • his lead disappear early in the first loop when the one-way valve on his gas tank malfunctioned, causing the cell to inflate, and forcing gas through the carburetor at an increased rate. All he could do was to press on the dry break every 20-30 seconds to release the buildup of air. At one point, he had to stop and add some fuel that he was carrying, but he was able to make it to the alter- n • vv s Montclair Yamaha's Ty Davis bombs across the desert on his way to the Sagerlders Me Hare & Hound victory. Davis took over the points lead in the series with the win. nate gas where he "stole" a little from Russ Pearson and was able to correct the problem. One hour into the race, and nearing the end of the first loop, Davis had extended his lead to a minute and a half over now-second-place Russ Pearson. Caselli had held onto second for almost the entire first loop and was looking for the pits when he ran out of fuel, ending his race for good. Pearson was trying to catch Davis, but now had Brown breathing down his neck and Abbott close behind. Behind them, the field had begun to spread out. Grider came through next, a full five minutes behind the leader, his big Honda sputtering and missing as he struggled to stay ahead of David Pearson, who was quickly making up ground. The leaders made the pits and headed out onto the more technical seconq loop, but not before Davis was stopped and held for 60 seconds for speeding in the pits. This allowed Pearson to close the gap between him and first to half a minute. It also brought Brown to within striking distance of the two leaders as they picked their way along the course. But Davis blazed on and didn't give up even a second of his lead. As they entered the tighter, more technical sections of loop two, second and third were within a minute of the leader. There was even speculation among the course workers that Pearson's 250 would catch and pass Davis' more ponderous 426, or that Brown would catch them both. But Davis showed the form that earned him two Hare & Hound titles (along with one National Enduro crown) and didn't give up so much as a second of his lead; it was no surprise when his was the first bike home, though Davis himself admitted, "I never count it out until I cross the finish line." Davis' teammate Russ Pearson rode his 250 to second overall, first 250cc machine in utah.

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