Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

my Own Race Ryan Dudek Yamaha YZ450F rider Ryan Dudek, a local motocrosser, proved that he's also a pretty darned good off-road rider, finishing the race in fourth. "It went pretty good today," Dudek said. "I got off to a good start, but since they don't make a big tank for this bike yet, I had to make a lot of stops, but that actually worked out kind of good because I got water. I grew up riding here; it's one of my favorite places to ride, but I'm not used to the two hours. I'm pretty happy; my goal was to get in the top five, and I got fourth." Steve Hatch Yoshimura/Suzuki team rider Hatch had nothing but problems right off the start, but the former National Enduro champ didn't give up and plugged away to an impressive fifth overall. "The first 10 seconds were the worst 10 seconds of my life," Hatch said. "I got a little antsy on the start, and when the gate feU, it fell right on my [frontl wheel. I mean, it wasn't even close - it caught my whole wheel! I'm like, 'Oh, you geek!' I still got off okay, maybe midpack, and then, on the MX track, I stalled it. I kicked and kicked and kicked and finally got going dead last. I floored it the first lap and was taking huge chances. Basically everything worked good, except the start. I rode like the wind, using every inch of the track." Joey Lanza KTM-mounted Joey Lanza was sitting pretty good, running as high as sixth, before things started going badly toward the end of the race. "It (his bikel started blubbering; I'm not sure why, but I think it was the ignition," Lanza said. "Then, when I was running about seventh, I was about to jump the big jump on the motocross track, and just as I was about to take off, it kind of blubbered. Oh man, I flipped it good. Luckily, 1 landed on my feet first and didn't get hurt too bad." The crash left Lanza scraped and bruised, and his bike badly damaged. As a result, Lanza did not finish. Dave Neumeister Things did not go well for Dave Neumeister at Gorman. Neumeister, who holds down eighth place in the series points standings, was running in the top 10 when he crashed. Neumeister reportedly broke his leg in the fall. noticeable ground on Kiedrowski, and by 30 minutes Davis was fighting just to keep his lead, let alone trying to extend it. As the two riders entered the motocross section of the course, Kiedrowski made his move, got around Davis, and immediately started pulling away. By the next lap, Kiedrowski had already stretched out his lead to 15 seconds, and by the one-hour mark, had nearly doubled that margin. As the race went on, Kiedrowski just seemed to get stronger and stronger, while Davis, surprisingly, began losing even more ground and was in danger of losing second to KTM's Kurt Caselli, who was amidst a late-race surge. With about 20 minutes left in the race, Kiedrowski was well on his way to his second win of the series, while Caselli had caught Davis and soon passed him. And it wasn't long after that, just moments before the white flag came out, that Davis pulled off the track and retired to the pits. The heat and humidity had gotten to Davis. His body had dehydrated so badly that he just couldn't go "on any farther and was eventually flown along with another dehydrated racer via helicopter to a nearby hospital for treatment. "We were going at each other's throat," Davis said the following day. "I was givjng it everything, and he [Kiedrowski] was always right there; Mike was going fast. I was trying to go his pace, then I got tired. Then Caselli came up and I'm like, 'Man, he's not backing off.' After he passed me, I thought, 'Okay, I've got third,' but I started getting light-headed, dizzy and getting the dry heaves. I didn't know if I could go one more lap or not; it was one of those hard calls to make, but I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. I just pushed myself too hard on Saturday [during the amateur program, where he raced against Kiedrowski in one of the Pro classes] and just drained myself." Davis was released from the hospital later that night. Meanwhile, Kiedrowski was celebrating his win in the pits, but not without concern for his fallen rival. "I got off the gate real good," Kiedrowski said of his race. "I came out fourth, so I was pretty happy with that. I knew with the weather and stuff, it would be a real long, hot race. In the motocross track right off the start, there was an opportunity there and I got by two guys right away, and I was right on Ty's back wheel. Then we went through the back section of the course and it was pretty dusty; I could hang right there with him, and he was going fast. I mean, I would not want to have gone too much faster. "After six laps, I thought, 'Man, I've got to do something and make a move.' I got close to him just before the motocross track, because I couldn't pass out there on the desert part. I got him about three-quarters around the MX track and then just laid down some rubber. I just kind of kept focused the whole way and rode a good race. "When I was behind Ty, I could tell that he was toning it down a little bit, and that's why I thought it was time for me to go. I was eating a lot of dust and was working hard behind him. It's unfortunate what happened to him." Caselli ended up finishing out the race in second and seemed to be actually going faster at the end. The KTM rider held down third for most of the race, but was never really a threat to either Kiedrowski or Davis until after the halfway point - that's when Caselli mounted a serious charge, reeling in Davis and actually picking up a few seconds on Kiedrowski, but he still finished some 30-plus seconds behind the Suzuki rider. "At the end, Caselli started turning it up," K,iedrowski said. "He was rid- Kurt Caselli seemed to thrive In the heat. The KTM rider made a charge at the end of the twohour race to finish second overall. ing really well; I mean, I was doing everything I was before. He got close, but I had a pretty good cushion." "I didn't get the start I wanted and kind of fell back at the beginning; I a motocrosser, pulled beside me. I didn't want anybody getting by, so I tried drifting out on him, and I slid out right over a jump - I cheesed it. I got up, and right after the motocross I fell down again. So that put me way back. 'Well, I just made my day nice and hard.' I just pushed all day and worked my way up little by little." Rounding out the top five overall was Dudek and Steve Hatch. With just one round left on the schedule, Kiedrowski sits on top of the leaderboard with 135 points, while Davis falls back to second with spun off the gate," Caselli said. "After the pit [halfway point], I felt good and started charging. With a half-hour left, I started riding as hard as I could and I caught up to Ty pretty quick, passed him, and I couldn't really see Kiedrowski. But I guess I was only like 30 seconds behind him. Everybody was telling me, 'You're catching 'em, you're catching 'em,' and rooting 114. Caselli is third with 88. me on, so I was trying to push. I caught Ty and was stoked about that but didn't have time to catch Kiedrowski: CN HURgry V.llay SVRA MX &arman, Califomia Results: lug. 31-SepL 1 Another rider who seemed to just get stronger and stronger as the race went on was Russ Pearson, who start- PRO: 1. Mike Kiedrowski (SUI); 2. kurt Cllselli (KTM); 3. Russell Pearson (Yam); 4. Ryen Dudek (Yem); 5. Steve Hatch (Suz); 6. Robert Nllughton (Suz); 7. Bobby Garrison (Yam); 8. Brilln GGrrahan (KTM); 9. Craig Wessner (KlIw): 10. Robert Fouts ed off mired in the pack, but managed to climb up to third at the finish. He took the checkers over four minutes behind Caselli. "I couldn't have asked for a better start," Pearson, who was riding a new Yamaha YZ450F, said. "I was second off the start, and then [Ryan] Dudek, (Hon). WORLD OFF-ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (Alter S of 6 rounds): J. Mike Kiedrowski (135/2 wins); 2. Ty Davis (114/3 wins); 3. Kurt Caselli (88); 4. Brian GlIrrahan (77); 5. Robert NlIughton (74); 6. Russell Pearson (66); 7. Steve Heltch (58); 8. Dave Neumeister (42); 9. Dlivid Peerson (38); 10. Nick Pearson (32) Upcoming Round: Final round - Milford, Califomia, November 10 BRIEFLY••• The Yoshimura Suzuki team showed up at the Gorman race with brand-new. 2003 DR-Z400s. The bikes. ridden by Mike Kiedrowski. Steve Hatch and Rodney Smith. were. of course. highly modified and punched out to 450cc. Kiedrowski and Smith's DRs use RM250 transmissions. while Hatch's bike uses a standard DR tranny. Pretty much the only difference between the stock '03 DR·Z400 and the '02 DR is the color of the side panels - the new one' S are now white. Speaking of Rodney Smith. the Suzuki rider did not race on Sunday. though he did ride dUring Saturday's amateur program. According to Yoshimura/Suzuki team manager Mike Webb. Smith did not ride because he came down with the flu. Plus, with the GNCC senes resuming next week. Webb did not want to take any chances with his GNCC defending champ. A couple of riders showed up at Gorman armed with the new 2003 Yamaha VZ450F four-stroke. including Russell Pearson (rightl. who finished third on the bike. and Ryan Dudek. who finished fourth. "The bike ran awesome," Pearson said. .. Off the start. it had enough power to pull me and get me second off the start. II's got so much power. so nice. II's completely stock - it doesn't need more power. doesn't need anything." Up until the Gorman race. Pearson had been riding the YZ250 two-stroke. Privateer Robert Naughton had it a little easier at Gorman. The Suzuki RM250 pilot received some support through the factory off-road team and was pitted right next to the Yoshimura team. who were also pitting out of the company's 600cc road race team's factory semi. Naughton. who was bothered by a hurting lower back from his two previous crashes in Washington and Utah. started the race near the front, feli back. and then climbed back up at the end to finish a hardearned sixth. Pat Garrahan says he' scorning aiong quite well following his broken leg that he suffered earli- er in the year. Garrahan was a spectator at Gorman. and he says he hopes to be able to ride the last WORCS race of the year at Honey Lake. "I haven't ridden a motorcycle [dirt bike] yet, but I'm riding my bicycle and a trials bike. I don't want to rush things: I'li come back when I'm ready." More than 500 riders turned out for the Gorman round of the WORCS. which, according to promoter Dave Hamel. was a WORCS record for the two-year-old series, They've had. however. larger turnouts in the past at multi·sanctioned rounds, but this was an attendance record for a straight WORCS points race. cue I e n e _ S • SEPTEMBER 11,2002 41

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