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31 st Annual NMA World Mini Grand Prix, Presented by Hansen's Energy Drinka Las Vegas World Speedway By KAT SPANN PHOTOS BY MARTEE AND MARK BURKE lAS VEGAS, NV, APR. 16-21 W avi Millsaps cashed in no less than four times at Las Vegas' World Mini Grand Prix, pulling down wins in the 85cc (14-16) Stock and Modified, 85cc Open and Supermini classes. Lady Luck was also kind to Georgian Nick Adams, who yielded three titles in the 125cc Open Non Pro and both Stock and Modified 250cc Intermediate events, and to nine-year-old Californian Trent Pugmire, who collected three wins in the 65cc Stock and Modified (9-11) and 85cc (0-11) classes. Only four other riders collected multiple championships, making it 28 MAY 8, 2002ยท I: U I: I e evident that the competition was thick at the event, held just north of the Strip. North Carolinian Dakota Mathews put his KTM on top of the Stock and Modified 65cc (6-8) contest, while Californian Mike Alessi made an impressive showing on his Hondas in the 85cc Stock and Modified (12-13) divisions. Yamahamounted Colorado rider Joshua Hansen was the fastest rider in the Stock and Modified 125cc Pro program, as Californian Mike LaPaglia added Suzuki to the win column by winning both the Stock and Modified 250cc Novice classes. The anticipated Millsaps-Alessi showdown only surfaced in two classes during the event, due to age separation, and they came out even. Milln e _ s saps raced and won both the 85cc (14-16) motos, while Alessi charged at the front of the 85cc (12-13) classes for both wins. "The 80 Open was my most favorite and most difficult race," offered American Suzuki/Pro Circuit/No Fear/SoBe/Alpinestars/ Renthal/Dunlop-sponsored Millsaps. "Everyone was on equal bikes, and everyone was riding terrific." Three divisions of 80cc Open classes were narrowed from a field of 100 riders to a final run-off of 30 on Sunday. Millsaps garnered the holeshot, with Alessi and Nick Evennou on his flank. "I got a third-place start but moved into second on the first lap," said American Honda/FMF/ Varner/Fox/CTi/Kurt Hendricksen MX School-backed Alessi. "But Davi was already gone. My rear wheel exploded on the third or fourth lap, so I couldn't do the triple in the back, which cost me time." Millsaps once again was the fastest off the gate in the Supermini class, followed by fellow American Suzuki riders Bryan Johnson and LaPaglia. Alessi gated fourth off the gate, but went down in the second turn. "I didn't get a good start," stated Alessi. "But I was coming out of the first corner and started to make a pass on LaPaglia in the second turn, when he came from the outside to the inside and totally took me out. But it's okay - I'm okay with that." Alessi started dead-last after picking up his bike from the bottom of the pileup that was created by his soil sample. In the meantime, Millsaps was sailing with the lead. "I had no clue that Alessi went down," Millsaps said. "My mom tells me to never look back." By the end of the second lap, Millsaps already had a few seconds over Johnson and LaPaglia, with Adam Chatfield in fourth and Alessi ninth. "I was trying to go as fast as I could," Alessi said. "There were a whole bunch of kids crashing, and then I passed a whole bunch of guys in the whoops. I just kept trying my hardest to get back up front." Millsaps took the win by a good margin over 125cc Pro rider Johnson and 250cc Novice rider LaPaglia, while Alessi stretched himself to the limit to finish fourth. Hansen went into the second motos of the Stock and Modified 125cc Pro racing as the underdog, with third- and fourth-place points, respectively. But he pulled the rabbit out of the hat in both final outings to take the wins and the championships. The first moto of the 125cc Stock Pro class was led by Texan Shane Doughty and Californian Jesse Casillas out of turn two, but then Casillas took the point position and kept Doughty behind him through the first lap. Doughty went down on lap two, which allowed the three-way battle for position between Hans Neel, James Marshall and Johnson to move up a notch. In the meantime, Casillas was already gone. Johnson got by Marshall and then passed Neel on lap three to take the number-two spot, as Hansen struggled back in seventh. Ryan Mills was on fire and worked his way forward, passing Neel for fourth before lap four, followed by Michael Blose. Hansen took his turn at Neel and got by him through the whoops as the action remained thick. "I got up to second on lap five behind Casillas and made a little mistake, and it cost me three positions," Marshall said. "Then I clipped a stake in the whoops and fell over, but got up in sixth. I made a last-ditch effort