Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Evan Laughridge rode his heart out all weekend, He even repassed McGrath for the lead at one poInt In Saturdays 125ee main. He finished second In that event, fourth In 250ee Pro. At the start of moto two, it was Davis with the big holeshot, followed closely by Dubach and McGrath. But disaster struck Dubach before he could even get around to the green flag. McGrath pulled alongside the heretofore Vet King down Mammoth's famous downhill and subtly just left him too little room for comfort. "I got pushed high up on that soft berm and got stuck, just temporarily," Dubach said. "I was trying to pull it around and somebody hit me from behind and drove me down the hill. I was wrapped in the banners and all that. " Dubach's bike was damaged in the incident (see Briefly ... ), and he pulled off shortly thereafter. However, Dubach's misfortune was a blessing for McGrath. "I was relieved that Doug wasn't right behind me," McGrath said. Meanwhile, McGrath's team manager Larry Brooks was putting on a bit of a show in third, chasing holeshot artist Davis. Brooks was actually up front early in both Vet Pro motos. "Getting good starts has never been a problem for me, but finishing was tough," Brooks said. "I didn't have any preparation for this race. Jeremy let me ride his practice bike, and we just kind of came up here for fun. I more or less race because it's fun. Mammoth's just awesome, so ... To come up here with Jeremy and all our whole group and just hang out and do whatever - it's a blast." Brooks eventually garnered respectable 6-6 moto finishes, good enough for fifth overall. McGrath ended up taking an easy win over off-roader Davis, while Rich Taylor, David Barrett and Billy Frank rounded out the top five. "I really felt like I had good lines, and I felt a lot better the second moto," McGrath said, "but I'm sure there would've been another battle if Doug wouldn't have fell down. Ty got an awesome holeshot there, and it took me a lap to pass him." "I just tried to stay on his heels for as long as I could, and I eventually just started falling back," Davis said. "It's all right. I don't race moto' anymore, so for me to hang with him even for a lap was really cool." OPEN PRO Without McGrath in the field for the Open Pro motos, lots of people had theories about who was going to take the win, but Dubach was definitely the popular vote. KX500-mounted Richie Owens pulled a monster holeshot in moto one, with Dubach hot on his heels, while Honda-mounted Tim Weigand was lying on the ground in turn one; however, Owens only held the lead for two laps before White Bros./Honda's birthday boy Spud Walters went around the outside of both of them at once and looked momentarily - to be on a mission of sorts. Walters' lead lasted less than a lap, though, as he took a spill before the finish line. "I blew it," Walters said. "I was going over to the inside rut over there [in the turn before the finish], and there was a rock right in my way. I went to set up for the corner, and I hit the rock. Next thing I know, I was on the ground. I had no choice. But I felt really good. I think I could've won it, but I guess that's racing." The lead went back to 19-year-old Owens, with Dubach still on his tail. Dubach finally made his move on lap six of 10, relegating Owens to second. "I was riding a little tight the first several laps, and I thought, 'It's 10 laps, so I've got some time,'" Dubach said. "Spud was riding really aggressive and he got around both of us in, like, two tums, so I thought, 'Oh well, I better get this Kawi guy [Owens] so I can keep Spud in sight.' Then Spud fell down, so that kind of took the pressure off of me again. I took another lap or two and then got around that Kawasaki. I'm glad to get that one under my belt after the day I had yesterday." Owens finished second, while White Bros./Honda's Paul Carpenter, on his first visit to the Mountain, barely held off Walters for third. Taylor finished a distant fifth, ahead of Davis. Weigand fought his way up to ninth by the finish. Owens once again used his 500cc of two-stroke power to pull a monster holeshot at the beginning of moto two, but he was gobbled up by Davis and Weigand by the end of the first lap. Dubach was fourth and pressuring the teenager. By lap three, Weigand had passed Davis and was beginning to pull away quickly. Dubach had dispatched Owens, and he took note of the escape. "I just got into the race and just paced it a little bit, and then I saw number 80 [Weigand] was starting to pull out a little, so I started picking up the pace," Dubach said. "I didn't want to put my overall in trouble." Notice how he called it his overall, as if he owned it from the drop of the gate. Owens fell on lap four, while Dubach began slowly reeling in Weigand, only to experience some bike trouble (see Briefly... ) with about three laps to go and fall into the clutches of Carpenter. Dubach did the best he could to hold off Davis and finish third in the moto, while Weigand won by a comfortable margin over Carpenter. Dubach was surprised to hear he had won the overall. "I was just trying to put some good laps together, and then I got really close to a fence and bent my rear brake up over my footpeg," Dubach said. "So, from that point, it was just survival. I just wanted to hang on as long as I could, and I just barely did. There was another guy [Davis] coming, who finished right behind me. But a 1-3 was good enough for the overall. I can't complain." About his somewhat surprising moto win, Weigand said, "I just tried to ride my own race and look ahead, cue I e Nieo Izzy railed to the MinI 19-111 cia. . win on Friday. not pay attention to who's behind me or what's going on." 125cc PRO As the gate dropped for the l25cc main, Laughridge put his RM125 in the lead, but YZ250F-mounted McGrath was right on his tail. The two quickly gapped third-placed Barrett and fourth-placed Weigand. McGrath made the pass for the lead as the two crossed the finish line, but Laughridge fought right back, passing the living legend back right away. "Dicing with that guy is amazing," Laughridge said. "I had a good line, and he swept out wide, and I'm not one to give up, so I passed him back, and he didn't like that that much - he stuffed me in the back. He let me know who was the king." McGrath made his intentions known and began to pull away. "I just had to pass that one kid [Laughridge] for a while," McGrath said. "He was giving me a fit, though. I passed him, then he passed me back, then I passed him again. The kid was totally holding his own. He was really trying hard when I was behind him, and then, when I passed him, he tried harder to pass me back. I was being cautious. I didn't really want to wreck him or anything. And once he passed me back, I go, 'Okay, well, I'll just have to pass him and put in a couple hard laps,' and he just dropped off, so ... After that, it was easy. I'm feeling good." The race for the lead was essentially over at that point. McGrath pulled out to a seemingly easy win, while Laughridge was never really challenged for second. Weigand ran third for most of the moto and had a big enough lead on fourth-placed Jeff Northrop on the last lap that even a big fall on the downhill, which ruined his CR 125's front brake, couldn't stop him from finishing on the podium. Weigand's right forearm looked like n e _ S • JULY 17, 2002 25

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