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/128243
Elsinore Grand Prix Lance Smail takes the arvey Mushman 100 His most high ly anticipat ed op ponent, Scott Sheak , a forme r winner of t he ev en t who has appeared o n th e p o d i u m four c ons ecutive years (including last year's third p lac e w hil e h am p er e d w ith a broke n foot) appeared out of c o nt ent io n early as an unsched uled p it sto p had p la ced him we ll back in the pack. On ly a f ew r i de r s see me d t o be able t o k eep pac e as th e eve nt began to unfold, with Bobby Bonds m oving into sec ond pla ce, and Lanc e Sma il , a lat e -en t r y pi e -plater, thi rd o n h is Yamah a. H o w e v er , l u ck a lmost a lways c omes i n t o effect in ra ces of t his lengt h , and Abbott's ra n o ut o n lap six . He ro un ded a bl ind c o rn er and STORY A N D PH OT O S B Y J OHN BETH EA LAKE ELSINORE, CA, NOV. 8-9 o r m e r National Hare s H o u n d Champio n Des try A bbott was havin g a good time in La ke El sin ore, Ca liforn ia . A lready a w inn er in both the 12 5 and 250c c Exp ert clas ses over the weekend , Abbott was a lso the defending champ of the Har v ey Mu shman Memorial 100 at th e El si nore Grand Prix , and he appeared to F be well on his way to repeating as the field of 88 circulated near the beg in ning of the 150-m inute eve nt. Abbo tt p ushed his Kawasak i to t he ea rly l ead a nd was l e av in g a ll t he dr am a behin d. It see med it was hi s weekend . (Above) Scott Sheak came from way behind after an early unscheduled pit stop to finish a strong second. He hasn't finished on the podium for five consecutive years in the Mushman. (Above left) Lance Smail rode a pieplate VZ450F to the win in the big ra ce of the weekend, the Harvey Mushman Memorial 100. (Left) Bobby Bonds led the Mushman for a while, but poor race shape, soft hands and falls held him back. He still f inished th ird, though. fl ew ove r a jump wh en a downed rid er sud de nl y st ood up in his path. The co ll is io n was unavoid able , and he left Elsinore with an inj ur ed left shoulder a n d arm - no t se ve r e enoug h to r equi r e a trip t o th e hospi tal , but ha rsh enough . It was then that Bonds t oo k over, and he, too , appeared to be able to han dl e things. W hen he pitted fo r fue l 24 DECEMBER 3, 2003' lC U lC I EO n e vv s o n l ap 10 , Smail sped by t o t a k e ove r , b ut Bo nd s believed he wo uld soo n get the lead back w he n Sma il p itted . Smail d id not p it - at l east f or a whi le - and by t he tim e he did, just pas t th e halfway ma rk, he had buil t a la rge enoug h lead t ha t his short st int to gas up di dn 't co st h im any posi tions . " When Smail pi tted on ly o nce and t he rest of us had t o pi t t w ic e , t hat gave him a huge advantage, " Bonds sa id . Bond s was at a b it of a disad v antage a nyw a y. " 1 hav en 't h ad a bike fo r two mont hs and hav en't been ra cing muc h ." Fatigue a nd bl isters soon began to t ake th eir to ll. Smai l had bu ilt a gap of more than two minu tes, a n d soo n Sh eak was making a comeback . " The br u sh - bu st e r was com i ng l o o se ea rly, " Tea m Gre en ' s She ak said . It was c a usi ng m ore pro ble ms