Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Best in the Desert Silver State Series Round 4: Sun Coast Hotel and Casino Tussing (KTM); 3. Phil Douglas/Rex Fie<:k/Eric Von Urff (Kaw). 40+ EX.: I. Olin NetaJ/Terry West (Hon); 2. Steve Pitts/Lee Smith/Frank White (ATK); 3. Lyle Perkins/WiIliam Perkins/P8t Sems (KTM); 4. Dick Alcuren/Todd Teveres/Mike z'ne (Hon); 5. Rendy Blevins/Kun. Sofke Jr. (Hon). 4·STRK EX: 1. Nick Fein/Shawn Wilson/Josh Wilson (Yam); 2. Dave Deloe/Damon Gill/Kevin Wilson (Yam); 3. So Harris/Brian Pinard (Hon); 4. Rlchar.d Purvines/Del Trubey Jr./Jeson Trubey (Yom). IROriMAN EX; 1. Elmer Symons (Hon); 2. Larry Oliver (KTM); 3. David Meek (Hon); 4. Dan Lorenze (Yam); 5. Rick Daniel (KTM). 30. AM: 1. David Croat/James Embro/Duene Schwab (Yam). (Leftj South African Elmer Symons won the lronman Expert class in ninth overall. 4-STRK AM: J. Glenn Hatcher/BlII Householder (Hon). IRONMAN AM: 1. Troy Walker (Hon); 2. Mike Esposito (Hon); 3. Tsuyoshi Otllguchi (Hon). (Rightj Paul Krause (shown) and Daryl Folks Wok the Four-Stroke Pro-class win. BRIEFLY••• impound but 52 minutes late, and were thus docked 52 minutes. Esposito ended up with the day's second-best time, at 4:54:02, followed by Campbell/Hengeveld (4:55:18) and Cooper/Grider (4:55:24). Grider, however, crashed and mangled their bike, and required four stitches in his left forearm. "The first 200 miles yesterday, we were all within a minute, minute and a half, 45 seconds, two minutes, and that was from bike one to bike five," Grider said. "That doesn't usually hap- the majority of the day because of Grider's injured arm. ·We were just trying to get the bike across the finish line," Brown said. "We weren't able to finish the [Nevada] 2000 - we had some problems there - so we definitely wanted to finish this one up front, and we were able to." Cooper and Grider actually ended up with the day's fastest time, at 4:28: 1 0, followed by Campbell/ Hengeveld's 4:28:34. That gave the Honda camp something to cheer three-day event. Today we stayed about. Jeff Capt and Tom Willis took fifth pretty close. Shane started fading a little bit. With the high-speed roads [and dust], it's hard to pass until the wind overall and first place in the Over 30 Pro class on their Precision Concepts/Dunlop/Checkers XR650R, starts blowing the right way and you despite a huge crash that Willis somehow got up from on the second day. pen in any of these races, let alone a squeeze by. So we just kind of stayed behind Shane all day and hoped that our time would be better than his, but I had an unfortunate crash, so I don't think it's going to happen." Brown and David Pearson got the front-row start for the final day knowing they simply had to keep moving forward to maintain the lead; the same went for Esposito for second. The Honda teamsters faced a do-ordie situation: They needed to pass both Kawasakis and put about 13 minutes on them in just under 300 miles - a tall order to be sure, but not impossible. This made for an exciting sprint to the finish. Campbell and Hengeveld put in their best ride of the race, as did the Cooper/Grider team, but Brown and David Pearson managed to stay in front the entire way to seal the victory. At the checkered flag in Alamo, a scant 58 seconds separated the first four bikes physically. Brown finished first, followed by Hengeveld, Esposito and Cooper, who had ridden 44 JULY 10, 2002' c: Y c: I • Their three-day total of 17:02: 10 just edged the 17:02:27 of Four-Stroke Pro winners Daryl Folks and Paul Krause, on their Sportsman Cycle/Dunlop/ Motul KTM 520M/XC. eN HewadalOOO t.s Vellft, Nevada IlesuIIs: Joe 20-22, 2002 (hUlld 4J O/A: 1. Brian Brown/David Peerson (Kew): 2. Shane Esposito (Kaw); 3. Danny Cooper/Andy Grider (Hon); 4. Johnny CampbeU/Steve Hengeveld (Hon); 5. Jeff Capt/Tom Willis (Han); 6. Daryl folks/peul Krause (KTM); 7. Jeff Phillips/Jeff Sheets/Glenn Taylor (KTM); 8. Billy Hagan/Amn Huntington/Danny Linnell (Yam); g. Elmer Symons (Hon); 10. K.C. Bogue/Bert Bradford (KTM). OPEN PRO; I. Brian Brown/David Pearson (Kaw); 2. Shone Esposito (Kaw); 3. Dllnny Cooper/Andy Grider (Hon); 4. Johnny Cempbell/Steve Hengeveld (Hon); 5. David Fry,'Kirk Stephen..., (Kaw). 30. PRO; I. Jeff Copt/Tom Willis (Hon). 4·STRK PRO: 1. Daryl Folks/Paul Krause (KTM); 2. K.C. Bogue/Bert Bradford (KTM). OPEN EX; 1. Jeff Phillips/Jeff Sheets/Glenn Teylor (KTM); 2. Billy Hagan/Aron Huntington~nny Unnell (Y8m); 3. Beeu H8yden/Kevin Hayden/Michael Tyner (Hon); 4. AI8n Cameron/Titen McKibben/Oabe Strouse (YlIm); 5. Matthew Easley/Steven Rich/Kevin Shea (Hon). 250 EX: 1. Mike Aguilerarrony Aguilera/Kelly Hall (KTM). 125 EX: 1. Ben Amboy/Jeremy Butler/P8trick Wells (Y8m); 2. Tyler Flippen/Kyle Gibson/Jonllthlln M8rtlnez (KTM); 3. Jason Robinson/Justin Wray (Yam). 30+ EX: 1. Gil Grieve/Brett Marshell/Glenn Myers (KTM). 35+ EX; 1. Deryl HlImbleton/Mett Lymen/Steve Trinies (Hon); 2. Steve Pankes/Ron Purvines/Ooneld n • _ S Promoter Casey Folks said the course covered more than 700 miles of new. never-raced·on terrain. ·There was a lot of new stuff: Brian Brown said. "Thafs the stuff I like; I don't like the hammered-up, SCORE-type stuff. - -I don't like looking at the same stuff every time. - Paul Krause said of the course. "From what 1remember of the Nevada 2000. this was a way better course. It seemed like we rode up in the hills a lot more. There were a lot more cedar trees and tight roads. We still had some of the fast valleys and fast roads. but it seemed like we rode new stuff this time that we'd never seen before. A lot of the roads. either they've been freshly graded or they just hadn't been raced on before. because they were really nice and smooth.· He reported seeing a lot more animals. though. Besides nearly hitting a deer, he also saw two herds of wild horses. -Ifs been a wildlife adventure." he said. "I guess a lot of people have seen antelope. but I haven't seen any: Among the guest spectators at the finish was Franco Acerbis and several associates from his Italian plastics/apparel/accessories factory. The enthusiastic Acerbis didn't miss the chance to spread the word of his latest promotional passion; next year s ISDE. to be held in Brazil. He says the November 2-8. 2003. race in the beach resort area of Fortaleza. Ceara. will be run almost entirely in sand dunes. Jeff Sheets. Jeff Phillips and Glenn Taylor earned the honor of top Expert finishers, placing seventh motorcycle overall on their O'Neal/Acerbis/Nationwide Cycle KTM 520M/XC in 17;20: 17. Normally. they compete in the Over 35 Expert class but decided to jump into Open Expert to try for a better overall finish. though they found the competition appreciably stiffer. "We've been within two or three minutes of each other for the whole race.· Sheets said of the eventual Open Expert runners-up. Billy Hagan. Aron Huntington and Danny Linnell. "We decided we wanted to get up out of the dust and get as far ahead as we could." Sheets said. "We like racing for the Expert overall anyway. so we decided to move up a class. and it worked out. The Nevada 1000 wasn't kind to Amateur competitors, as only five amateur teams finished. and the first three were Ironman entrants. The first yellow·plate entry to the finish was Ironman Amateur Troy Walker. who took his Sierra Employers Alliance/SSI Management Group Honda to 30th overall in 20;30:55. Team Hawaii made its now annual trek to the Nevada desert with two squads. Despite getting a flat tire. the Daryl Hambleton/Matt Lyman/Steve Trinies Over 30 Expert team fared best. finishing 19th overall on their Pflueger Honda/IMS/Dunlop-sponsored XR650R. "The tire came off the rim twice. so I used some branches to get it back on." Lyman said. Despite this being his third desert race in Nevada and having ridden in Baja twice. Lyman denies being used to the desert-racing speeds. -On the bike. this is probably the fastest I've ever gone in my life. even in a car." Lyman said. "In Hawaii. you can't drive 100 miles an hour in a car." Team Aggie (Mike AguileralTony Aguilera/Kelly Hall) flogged their Team Aggie/Bushwhackers MC/God-backed '98 KTM to another BITD finish and won the 250cc Expert division in 20;18;01. good for 28th overall. .Jonah Street. who won the series championship last year with partner Steve Hengeveld. has been laying low this year. but he did ride a little bit at the Nevada 1000. He shared the 1-90 Motorsports/Sue & Sherry/Precision Concepts XR650R with Scott Von Bargen in the Over 30 Pro class. but Street dismissed speculation of him making a return to the sport of desert racing. Asked if he misses desert racing. he said; "Not so much. I'm pretty much a trail rider now. I'm into that going my own pace. not worrying about having to go too fast. I'm not missing it at all. really. - After starting out seventh overall, Street and Von Bargen DNFed on the third day. Three 125cc teams competed. and all three finished. Ben Amboy, Jeremy Butler and Patrick Wells had the most success. riding to the 125cc Expert victory on their North County Yamaha/Piper Performance VZ125. Ty Davis had a tough time preparing for the Nevada 1000. A late shipment of race parts prevented him from getting his bike assembled until just two nights before the race. And. to make matters worse. a large brush fire broke out near his Hesperia. California, residence and threatened the home of a nearby friend. Davis put his race-prepping plans aside to help his friend save his house. Davis couldn't test his race bike until the afternoon before the start. Even though fourth-place wasn't what .Johnny Campbell was hoping for. he did find some positives after all was said and done. "Our performance. well, one side of me says it was definitely on the lackluster Side: Campbell said. "I came out of the gate just a little too cautious. Ifs only been 10 weeks since my big get-off at the Terrible's Town 250, and I'm still acquiring some confidence. I think now that I've got three days of racing under my belt. it really gave me more confidence. By not going down. not doing anything stupid. but just having a solid, clean ride was actually a positive thing. In light of getting a fourth·place overall. that's not what we're here for. but under the circumstances. I feel okay about it. I think just getting my mind up to speed with the pace is the next step. the next 10 percent. "

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