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Best in the Desert Silver State Series Round 2: Kawasaki Team Green Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA !A(JGHUN, NV, JAN. 18 n aughlin hasn't been very kind to ~ Honda's factory-backed off-road team. The tight, technical nature of the course doesn't quite suit the team's big XR race bike as well as it does the high-speed courses. But the Kawasaki Team Green Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles, round two of Best in the Desert's Silver State Series, is the anomaly in the desert circuit, and it's the solitary race where smaller is often better. So, armed with a Precision Concepts/Dunlop/VP Racing Fuels-sponsored CRF450R, Johnny Campbell and Steven Hengeveld finally broke the jinx and won Laughlin, completing the race in three hours, 54 minutes, 37 seconds. Honda's previous best finish was a fifth overall. Jeff Fegert and Nick Pearson also espoused the smaller-is-better concept, and it paid off. Riding a Heavy Duty/Montclair Yamaha/Smith YZ250F, Pearson riding five of the six loops himself, the duo easily smoked the 250cc Pro class and ended up second overall in 3:59:25. Team Green's Brian Brown and David Pearson rounded out the top three on their Chevy Trucks/IMS/ Maxima KX250 in 3:59:48, good for second Open Pro. At one point in the race, they made a run for the lead, only to be thwarted by a flat rear tire about halfway through the race. Campbell and Hengeveld actually survived a number of challengers en route to victory, calmly sticking to their pre-race strategy. "Fortunately, we had a good draw; we were on the first row," Campbell said. "So I knew we just had to keep them behind us, even if they came up on us in the dust. We wanted to just try to keep ()ampbell and Henge"eld nab first min at the famed race (Top) Honda's Johnny Campbell, who teamed up with Steven Hengeveld, won the Laughlin Hare Scrambles for the first time. (Left) The win was also Hengeveld's first at Laughlin. (Right) Nick Pearson returned to action after breaking his jaw and finished second overall with partner Jeff Fegert. 44 FEBRURY 5, 2003' eye • ... nevvs them in the dust, because it was just going to wear them out and then make mistakes." And the bike they were riding helped, too. "The CRF was just working awesome out there," Campbell added. Most of the teams split riding chores evenly, with one rider taking the first 20-mile loop to the east and the other taking the 18-mile to the west. As usual, the trail zig-zagged its way through numerous washes, up and down gullies, across ridges and around sidehills, with only the occasional straightaways to rest. Two bikes started every 30 seconds. One lap would encompass two loops, and the race distance would be three laps or six loops total. Campbell took the lead right away, with Elmer Symons tucking in behind on his Malcolm Smith Motorsports/ MSR/IMS KTM 525M XC (though he'd eventually finish seventh in class and 20th overall after, once again, soloing the event). After the first loop, Campbell handed the bike to Hengeveld while in the physical lead. "The first loop, just like with everybody, you're all anxious, and the arms pumped up a little bit, but 1 didn't really make any mistakes and just kept a nice, good pace going," Campbell said. Likewise, Hengeveld maintained the lead and handed the bike back to Campbell at the end of his first ride with nothing but clean air ahead. "I went, 'Okay, we can keep this going,'" Hengeveld said. And they did their jobs, staying in front with a trouble-free ride while nearly all would-be challengers encountered various problems that left them coming up short. Kurt Caselli charged from the back of the Open Pro field and into second