Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

BRIEFLY••• Kurt Caselli didn't plan on being a spectator at the SoCal M.C. race. but when his crew couldn't get his KTM 525 MXC sorted out on race morning, he had little choice. Electronics problems seemed to be the most popular theory for why his thumper popped and spit and refused to respond positively to jetting changes. which prevented him from riding. Zach Dodson had a good ride going in the 250cc Expert class until his father stopped him about halfway through the second loop. It seems that a pit-crew member inadvertently dumped straight gas into the KX250's fuel tank. so the elder Dodson frantically chased his son down. stopped him and added some oil to the fuel. "I'm lucky it didn't seize." Zach said. "It sure did run good on straight gas. though." He'd finish an unofficial 21 st overall. fourth 250cc Expert. Dodson's brother. Luke Dobson. ended up winning the 250cc Expert class and finished an unofficial 14th overall on his KX250, despite a four-kick start. "The first loop. I pretty much rode at idle because of the dust. - he said. Andy Grider and Steve Hengeveld didn't stick around very long after the race. They did. after all. have places to go and people to see. The plan was to meet the rest of the Honda team and begin marking pit locations and start pre-running for next month's SCORE Baja 1000. Grider. at least. plans to return for the series finale back at Luceme in two weeks. however. "I've got to break into that top three." he said.• I've got two fourth-place finishes now. That's my goal for the next one - top three - then we' II see where it goes from there... (Above, lett to right) Russell Pearson, his father, Lee, and Ty Davis go through the Inevitable post-race analysis. put the move on Russ. I came up over a rise; it was one of those washouts that are everywhere - you just roll through them. I jumped one off the trail trying to get around him, but there was another one about a foot deep with a square edge. The front tire landed right in it and stopped and pile-drove me into the ground with the bike." The third-gear get-off severely bent the subframe of his KX500, leaving Brown with little choice but to head back to the pits and take a DNF to go with his two wins and two thirds in the series. "We had some wash-outs that just weren't marked; I was thinking there'd be a helicopter here all day flying people out when I went through them," Grider said. "I had a couple close calls. I cased one pretty good and bent the frame. I was surprised at how fast it was and how big the holes were. Going through the race, that's all 1could think about." Despite tipping over a couple times, Grider put his Precision Concepts/Dunlop/O'Neal XR650R in front of fellow Honda racer Steve Hengeveld's Precision Concepts/IMS/ MSR CRF450R for a fourth-place finish, matching his career best. "I got Ty Davis and Russell Pearson were both quick to praise their new YZ4S0Fs. deeming the bikes faster and easier to ride than the 426s. Neither felt hindered by the four-speed gearbox. either. "Even with 15/44 gearing, first is still low," Davis related. "On a 426, you couldn't get away with that because the internal gearing's a lot higher. It'll probably go 90 with this gearing. You're not going to go any faster out here." Pearson had another take on it: "There's that much less shifting... After finishing sixth. David Pearson had to fix a flat tire on his truck, though he did it at a much more relaxed pace than when he was changing tires on his KX at the ISDE two weeks before. "It wasn't a real good day, but it wasn't too bad," a disappointed Pearson reported of his race at Lucerne. However, his sixth place, combined with Brian Brown's DNF, unofficially moved Pearson to third in pOints. Though disappointed with his result. David Pearson certainly had his moments during the race. As Andy Grider recalled from early in the race, "David Pearson went by me like I was standing still - wow! Brian [Brown) was on one side of me, Destry was on the other side, and David went by us like we were just sitting there!· Defending MIieII champ Desby Abbott made his retum to I'lICIng. He diced for the Iud In the earty going before crashing a couple of times and settling for third. Brian Brown suffered a major crash that lett his bike unrldeable and his lett knee banged up. Pearson and Abbott] had a chance to win it in one of these last two races. "I'm just glad it's over with. This whole week I couldn't sleep. There's a lot of pressure. I'd hate to go this far and lose it. I mean, it's one thing losing races right at the finish, but losing a championship [at the end] would really suck. I'm really stoked - I win the Vet class, I win the over-all - first old guy to win the Hare and Hound Championship! It feels good." eN him right before a big straightaway, and the 650 just outdid the 450. 1was a little surprised to see Steve on the 450 today, just because this race is known as a fast race." Davis, however, had few problems with the second loop and motored away to a seemingly easy win. "The second loop was really good - a lot of fun, technical," Davis said. "I think they had different people mark different sections; you could tell because there were sections that were just great, they were marked so SoCaI M.e. lucems VIllsy, Califamil Results: Omber 13, 2002 [Round 7 of 8J O/A: 1. Ty Devis (Yem); 2. Russell Pearson (Yam); 3. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 4. Andy Grider (Hon); 5. Steve Hengeveld (Hon); 6. David Pearson (Kaw): 7. Mike Childress (Han); 8. David Ondlls (Kow); 9. Joey UlnZO (KTM); 10. Dovid Rees (KTM). AJItA HARE & HOUND NATIONAl CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 7 of 8 rounds): I. Ty DllVis (16513 wins); 2. Russell Pellrson (1601J win); 3. DllVid Pellrson (111); 4. Brilln Brown (102/2 wins): 5. Destry Abbott (87/l win); 6. Tober Murphy (80); 7. Rob Zimmermon (77); 8. Andy Grider (74); 9. (TIE) Kurt CoselUfBrod McNew (60). well. Then other sections, you were like, 'Oh, this ain't looking good!' "It was an interesting series because all three of us [Davis, Russell cue I e n e _ s OCTOBER 23, 2002 9

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