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/128307
Roma Leads The Dakar w: th stages 10 and I I of the Dakar Rally being canceled by race organizers for security reasons, racing actually reverted back to the last day of action on January 9, which saw Repsol KTM's Nani Roma holding down the position of overall leade r. Rama was leading the rally by three minutes and 33 seconds over Gauloises KTM's Richard Sainct, despite finishing seventh in stage nine, a stage that went to Cyril Despres. Sainct ended stage nine third behind Despres and Alfie Co x. The leade r of the Dakar Rallyfor most of its first week was Isidre Esteve , but the KTM rider had a disast rous stage eight that dropped him well off the pace . It was only a fourth-place finish in stage nine that got Esteve back up to 17th overall, but he 's still well off the pace of Roma and Co . Red Bull KTM's Larry Roeseler is 16th overa ll after ending stage nine in 12th place, the off-road racing legend ahead of his teammate Paul Krause . Krause fin- ished 2Sth in stage nine and is 22nd overall. Unfortunately, the third membe r of the American trio, Scot Harden, had to call it quits after suffering a bro ken ankle in stage nine . The accide nt came just a day after Harden's best day in the rally, a day that saw him finish stage eight in sixth place and an impressive ninth overall.Jean Brucy joined Harden on the injured list, the Fre nchman having pulled ou t after suffering a broken shoulde r in stage nine . Racing was expected to get back under way on Tuesd ay, January I3. Sturgis - A Parker 250 To Demuth Does Des Moines fi rst when Lange th Tw o-time defending ational Abbott And Brown Josh Demuth rode hisAre nacros s Nthree ofChampio n class.timemuth, howeve r,did the deed insecoend12Scc Must See! De still ende d up with Yamahasto four main Destry Abbott and Brian Brown combined efforts to win the opening ro und of the Best event wins at Veteran's Memorial Auditorium in D es Moines, Iowa, round five of the NationalArenacross Hofmas te r th ird. In the 2S0cc class, De muth returned to his winning ways and beat Dowd and in the D esert Silver State Series in Parker, Series , January 9-10. O n Friday night, Demuth topped Ka wasaki's Darcy Lange and Shawn Clark in the 12Scc dass and then beat the Y amaha of Tom my Hofmaster and Suzuki's John Dowd to win the 2SOcc main event. The following night saw Demuth beate n for the Ho fmaster. Arizona, o n January 10. T he Kawasaki KXSO O-moun ted ride rs co mpeted as privateers, since Kawasaki Team Green haschosen not to compete in the series this year, but that didn't preven t Abbott and Brown fro m finishing ahead of Team Ho nda's Jo hnny Cam pbe ll and Steve Hengeve ld. Cam pbell and Hengeveld were the earl y leade rs aboard the factory-back ed XR6S0R, with Hengevel d at the co ntrols. On the final loo p, howev er, Campbell nearly cras hed and lost valuable time , which ultimately cost him the lead to Abbott, who held on to the finish. Chuc k Dempsey and Andy Gride r teamed up to win the Four-Stroke Pro class, finishing third overall on an XR6S0R. Fourt h place we nt to KTM 525 EXC -mo unted Elmer Symon s, w hile de fend ing class champ C hris Blais rebounded from an ea rly crash Abbo" 6 on his XR6S0R to finish fifth overall. Mark Kariya JANUARY 21,2004 • Demuth 's performance extended his lead in the combined I 25/2SOcc championship to S6 points over Lange, 382-326. Hofmaster is third with 306 points, well dear of Dowd's 249 points . KTM Announces '04 Off-Road Teams KTM will, on ce again, hit the off-roa d sce ne pretty hard fo r the 2004 season. O ne of its top priorities will be defending its numbe r-on e plate in the AMA National Enduro Series, and it will leave tha t jo b up to six-time e nduro champ Mike Lafferty. Lafferty, how ever, will switch back to the twostrokes, co ncen trating on the KTM 2S0 MXC. Laff rty, who is spen ding e much of the w inte r living and training I in Cal iforn ia, will also follow the Grand National Cross Co untry Series , w hich begins this year in Gilme r, Texas, on February 5. Australian Shane Watts has again signed with KTM and will join Lafferty in the GNCC Series and will also follow the AMA National Hare Scrambles Serie s. Wat ts is also expected to compete in CYCLE NE WS selected Wo rld Off-Road C hampio nship Series events, as well as the Parts Unlimited Off-Road Se ries. Watts will ride both the 200 EXC and 450 EXC throughout the year. Kurt Case lli willcontinue his re lationship wi th the Austrian team and will focus most of his atten tion in the West, as will Joey Lanza. Case lli will follow the WO RCS and th e D-37 Big 6 GP se ries and will also co mpete in selecte d AMA Nat ional Hare & Hound and "spec ial" West off-road races . Lanza w ill also focus on th e WO RC S, Nat ional Hare & Hound Series and Big 6 GP Se rie s, as well as o ther highe r-p rofile events. KTM will also offer significant support to many off-ro ad racers, such as Brian Garrahan, Kelly Yancey, Paul Krause, David Rees, Elmer Symmo ns and Brent Hard en , who have already signed. 40 t h Anniversary When ed itors at Arthur Fromme r 's Budget Travel Magazine comp iled their list of " 10 Places To See Befo re You Die ," only o ne was in the United States - the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The rally which dates back to , 1938, fills the entire Black Hills region ea rly each August, with an estimated attendance of 502,000 at the 2003 rally. Sturgis's population is just 6400. T he m agazine's edito rs ack nowledged Patr icia Schultz 's pop ular 1000 Places T See Before o You Die boo k and noted that they "narrowed it down to the 10 that really got our motors running." The full list is in th e Decemb er 2oo3/January 2004 issue of Budget Travel Magazine. For more infonn ation on the Black Hills area or the rally visit , www. TravelBlackHills.com or call 866/788-7447. Rally details are at www.stu rgismotorcycle rally.com. The dates for this year' s event are August 9-15.