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/128315
Though sa tisfied w ith a Kawasaki 1·2 finish, Destry Abbott (shown) a nd Brian Brown were fru strated that a Laughlin victory eluded them ye t again. his town on the Colorado River should also be known as Pe ar so nville , if on ly because anyone named Pearson see ms to go fast here . As pr oof, just loo k at t he winners of the Kawasaki Team Green Laughlin U.S. Hare Scram bles, roun d two of Be st In The De se rt' s Silver State Series. Cousins David and Nick Pearson teamed up on their Team Green/Chevy Trucks/Moosebacked KX250 and scored a decisive win over defe nd ing series champs De st ry Abbott and Brian Brown on the ir Team Green/FMF/Du nlop -spon so red KX250. Their t imes fo r t he slx-loop/th ree-lap I38-mile race: 4: 12.10 to 4:14.47. And those two teams had their hands full with Montclair Yamaha/Pro Circu it/Moose YZ45 0F ironman Russell Pearson for most of the race, until he finally got a little tired, eventuallyfinis hing third overall, third Open Pro, in 4:21:27. The race started at 7:30 a.m. at its traditional area a few miles we st of town on the south side of Highway 163 - an area full of canyons, sandwashes , lots of rolling hills, cholla cactus and the occasional two track . Promoter Casey Folks designed a pair of 23-mile loops in a sort of figure. eight layo ut , with the start/finish/pit area at the figure-eight's intersection. Most T teams elected to have one member ride the first loo p, pit and give the bike to the other rider fo r the second loo p, then repeating with rider number one always doing loop one, etc. Two loops equaled one lap. Those in the Ironman classes would do two laps, while those in the team classes were required to do three. Kurt Case lli, having drawn the first starting spot , held the early lead on the FMF/IMS /Michelin KTM 250 SX he and Joey Lanza shared . "Most of the trails on the first loo p that I did were pretty virgin • well, not so much virgin, but you could tell they hadn't been ridden on for a while," Caselli said. "I had no problem following them , which was a surprise to me because I thought I'd blow a few corners or get lost. It was good : [Folks] did a good job of marking the course and everything." David Pearson, Abbott and Russell Pearson quickly lined up behind Caselli, who handed the bike to Lanza with other teams following suit - at least those teams w ho had two riders, Russell Pearso n being the glaring exception , of course. Midway through the race , however, the KTM effort ended with a broken exhaust manifold, the result of Caselli's hitting a rock. Pea rso n/Pearson had the lead by that point, followed by the third Pearson 74 MARCH 17, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS the and Abbott/ Bro wn, though Abbott/Brow n duo would pass the solo Pearson later, sealing a Kawasaki 1-2. "We were leading on adjusted time after the first lap, but only by five or 10 seconds or something like that, " David Pearso n reported. "Nick went out and rode we ll. He we nt out and caught Lanza, and he came back and gave me the bike with a 30- or 40-second lead. "I took off on my last section with a minute, 20-second lead and just cruised. Destry maybe put five seco nds on me. I 40t h Anniversary was just trying to be smooth and not make any mistakes. Destry said he was charging. O f course , you always charge when you're in second, and you always try to ride smooth when you're in first." Nick Pearson was ecstatic. "I had a blast out there!" he exclaimed. "I don't think either one of us tipped it over or crashed ; the bike's still straight. It's a little easier [riding] with someone who rides half the race." (Last year, he ended up second overall on a YZ250F that he shared with his boss, Jeff Fegert,