Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128197
Danny Cooper (shown) and Mike Childress made their debut on a Montclair Yamaha VZ450F and finished third overall. Cooper fifth on a new bike he'd received on Monday. Abbott took the bike for his final ride and enjoyed a substantial lead over Lanza, with Symons about eight minutes behind as they finished lap two. Childress and Christopher Blais the Four-Stroke Pro leader on his Blaisracing.com/Temecula Motorsports/Goat XR650R - rounded out the top five at the end of lap two. Russell Pearson and Hengeveld both experienced bike failures about a mile apart that left them on the side of the trail and out of the race. Esposito finished the race with no problem, ending up winning by some 10 minutes. "We knew we just had to ride to finish [for the win], so we just tried not to take many chances when we caught guys in the dust," he said. "Luckily,-we did draw first [start], but with as many problems as everyone had today, it could've been anything if we would've been starting in the back." "It was basically one of those really good days for us," Abbott said. "Nothing went wrong; it was just an awesome day. Neither of us went down. John Braasch built a really good bike, and it was nice to finally be able to run with the number-one plate [again]. I've got to thank Shane - he rode really well - and hopefully we can win the next one." Lanza rolled into the finish with the bike covered in oil after the oil-level sight glass popped out. "It happened halfway through on Kurt's leg," Lanza said. "We packed it full of putty, then we kept doing that [and topping off the oil] at each check. But when he came in, he said, 'Man, it keeps popping out of gear!' So the whole last half of the race, we just kept going fifth, sixth, fifth, sixth, in and out. Besides that, it was a good race." Cooper got by Symons late in the race, then crashed and almost needed assistance from Symons. "We didn't get the bike until Monday, so getting it set up suspensionwise, basically it was just starting over, testing. The suspension wasn't dialed in, so we had to slow down our pace a little bit," Cooper reported. "I hit a couple G-outs, and the suspension just didn't take it. It kind of just tossed me over; it was a pretty good one. I couldn't get up and couldn't get the bike started. When Symons came along, I was trying to tell him I needed the bike started, but I was so out of breath, ( don't think he could understand me. But I got it going and caught back up to him, and we had a pretty good finish towards the end." The Yamaha pair beat Symons by less than 30 seconds on corrected time, 4: 12:56 to 4: 13:25. One of the best races was for the Four-Stroke Pro win, with the Bert Bradford/Rob Phillips duo leading initially on their Renthal/Galfer/Tusk Off-Road KTM 525SX. Daryl Folks and Paul Krause gave chase on their Dunlop/Sportsman Cycle/Malcolm Smith Motorsports KTM 520MXC. But Blais came from behind to win it and finish fifth overall - just five seconds slower than fellow solo entrant Symons - after being last in class off the line. "Man, everybody was either crashing or breaking," Blais said. "( thought, 'I'm going to have a sweet ride if I just keep it on two wheels.' I started last in the class and made my way up, and I was physically first for a while, then I got off the course a little bit, so Krause got around me. I knew he started up a little further, so all I had to do was keep him in sight. He pulled me a little bit in the rough stuff, and I was able to catch back up in the dust on the fast roads and make up some time, so ( was right there when we came to the alternate. ( was like, 'All right, I'll just stay in his dust and be all right.''' eN Parker 250 Parker, Arizona Results: January 4, 2003 IRound 1] O/A: 1. Destry Abbott/Shane Esposito (Kaw) 3,56,26, 2. Kurt Caselli/Joey Lanza (KTM) 4,06,03, 3. Danny Cooper/Mike Childress (Yam) 4:12:56: 4. Elmer Symons (KTM) 4: 13:25; 5. Christopher Blais (Hon) 4,13,30, 6. Daryl Folks/Paul Krause (KTM) 4: 15:29; 7. Bert Bradford/Rob Phillips (KTM) 4,16,12,6. Bryan Folks/Wade Phillips (KTM) 4:24:25: 9. Mike Mitchell/Jason Weeks (KTM) 4:38:23: 10. Robert Barnum/Jason Higgins (Han) 439,04. OPEN PRO: 1. Destry Abbott/Shane Esposito (Kaw); 2. Kurt Caselli/Joey Lanza (KTM); 3. Danny Cooper/Mike Childress (Yam); 4. Elmer Symons (KTM); 5. Brian Brown/David Pearson (Kaw). 250 PRO, 1. Bryan Folks/Wode Phillips (KTM). 125 PRO: I. Jeff Dillon/Matt Sales (Kaw). 4/STRK PRO: 1. Christopher Blais (Han); 2. Daryl Folks/Paul Krause (KTM); 3. Bert Bradford/Rob Phillips (KTM); 4. Robert Barnum/Jason Higgins (Han); 5. Chuck Dempsey/Beau Hayden (Han). 30+ PRO: 1. Mike Mitchell/Jason Weeks (KTM); 2. Corey Keysar/Richard Stidham (Han). 40. PRO: 1. Roger Russell/Ross Williams (KTM). 250 EX: 1. Toby Bryant/Jonathan Martinez/ Randy Wells (Yam): 2. Gerald Milam/Jason Licitra (G·G). 4/STRK EX: 1. Ben Hutchinson/Jason Keys (Yam); 2. Kyle Kischer/Kelly Yancey (KTM). 30. EX: 1. Brett Hoffman/Doug Imhoff (Han); 2. Earl Desiderio/Jeff Randall/Duane Schwab (Yam): 3. Steven W. Carver/Matthew Patyk (Han). 35. EX: I. Steve Pankas/Ron A. Purvinesl Donald R. Tussing (KTM); 2. Todd Colley/Mark Goelz (Hon). 40. EX: 1. Mark Davidge/Jeff Phillips/PllUl Elmer Symons soloed the event when his partner couldn't make it. The South African privateer eamed a respectable fourth overall, though he admitted he needs to get in better shape. Skeary (KTM); 2. Gene Dempsey/Doug Heil/Mike Maginn (Han); 3. Randy Blevins/Greg Landers/Kurt Sarka Jr. (Han). 50. EX: 1. Glenn A. Brown/Lou Monterone/Les Wills (Yam). IRONMAN EX: 1. Kirk Stephensen (Kaw): 2. Dan Lorenze (Yam); 3. Mike Kay (Han). OPEN AM: 1. Grant Fluegge/Ryan Spangler/ Jamie Wells (Han); 2. Eric Durr/Kenneth G. Durr Jr./Wayne Vogler (KTM). 250 A.M: 1. John Harris/Kyle Jones; 2. Mark Harris/Keith Schmidt (Han). 40. AM: 1. Nelson Hernandez/Jim Hunter/John Karell (Han); 2. Robin Busse/Guy Cox/Marty J. Smith (VOR). 4/STRK AM: 1. Tony Carona/Dale Ebberts/ Darren Ebberts (Yam); 2. Daniel Brown/Ross Hensley (Hon); 3. Brian Bradford/Keith Parsons (Hon). IRONMAN AM: I. Troy Walker (KTM). BRIEFLY••• Promoter Casey Folks barred Ty Davis and Russell Pearson from Best in the Desert races for one year after Davis ventured out to rescue his partner after their bike broke. reportedly disobey· ing a Folks directive forbidding such action. On the other hand, Steve Hengeveld. who broke about a mile from Pearson. sat out in the desert for many hours before the Honda crew picked him up. The Johnny Campbell/Steve Hengeveld Honda's DNF was a surprise. as this is thought to be the factory XR650R's first complete failure. -I'm trying to think corporately how to put what happened." Campbell laughed. when asked to explain what went wrong. "We've been experimenting with some different performance parts in the motor, and we ran the same spec as at the Las Vegas 200 last month. which was really good for Parker. for the roads and stuff. But we just had an engine failure that was totally abnormal. Ifs directly related to our testing development. There's one issue I can't talk about that occurred. so we need to remedy that and come back fighting at Adelanto." The pair will ride the CRF450R at round two at Laughlin. Ryan Miller. who competed in the 125cc Amateur class. DNFed with a seized engine in his desert-racing debut. His father. Chuck Miller. IS a former Parker 400 winner. Chuck Miller is the Manager of Motorcycle Sports at American Honda. While Miller Sr. wasn't able to attend the race due to his responsibilities at the Anaheim Supercross. he did give his son advice ahead of lime, as did Ryan's grandfather. Leroy Miller. who was on site to help support him. Young Miller also received tips from Honda's Off-Road Team Coordinator. Bruce Ogilvie. a three-time Parker 400 winner. One of the topiCS of diSCUSSion centered on the course, a substantial amount of which had been graded smooth - something you wouldn't expect in an area with so many BLM restnctions. as well as a long history of off-road racing. "This race. even as fast as it was. was enjoyable because it was something different." Shane Esposito said. -I really enjoyed it." Fourth-place finisher Elmer Symons added, -There were a couple rock sections in the beginning. rocky roads that could catch you off guard· but other than that. it was fun." Johnny Campbell never got to ride his XR650R and. thus. didn't get to debut his Arai helmet freshly painted by Jerry Bernardo to mark Campbell's newest sponsor. Red Bull. Campbell is the Austrian energy drink company's first sponsored American desert racer. Fourth-place finisher Elmer Symons won the lronman Expert class at last year's Nevada 1000. his introduction to American desert racing, and he hopes to race as much as he can in the U.S.A. this year. '"I'm going to try to do the whole season here. but it kind of depends on funds and how much I can do and that," he said. "I think I'm going to base myself in Riverside, [CaliforniaJ." When David Pearson looped the KX500 he was sharing with Brian Brown while running second overall. he avoided injury while sustaining substantial bike damage. He then limped nearly 30 miles to the alternate pit by pulling on the end of the throttle cable. since the throttle housing was a goner. as was the sub-frame and handlebar, among other items. "We got it into the pits, and we got a finish; that was the main thing we wanted to do to stay in the series." he said. cycle n e _ S • JANUARY 22. 2003 27