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/128316
By PHIL LAWRENCE PHOTOS BY EVENT PHOTOGRAPHY AND MIKE PARKER y Davis re-enforced his clalm of "King of Adelanto" by winning every race he entered at this year's Desert Vipers' Adelanto Grand Prix, which agaJn lured hundreds of off-road racers to the high desert of Southern California. Davis chose not to ride the first race on Saturday, the Unclassified race, and no one seemed to mind. After all, it gave someone else a chance to win. Nick Uribe took advantage of Davis' absence to take the morning win, while Rex McGuire and Ryan Shoults followed in second and third , respectively. The next race was the Kids and Pee Wee race. The Kids ran on part of the MX section of the main track, while the Pee Wees used a special track created just for them. There were nearly 300 of the "little" ones out there doing battle . The next race was the 125cc Expert/Amateur and 40 + Expert/Amateur race , and T Bobby Bonds gave Davis a chase in the Pro class. all of the Four-Strokes. The top three finishers were all Four-Stroke Experts. Nathan Woods won it, followed by Ross Garcia and Scott Myers. Garcia put on quite a show for the throngs of spectators around the MX section. He aired it out a few times over the trac k's big table-top jump. Ryan Mcintyre took the 125cc Expert win, while Lance Schoonmaker took the 40+ Expert class at ninth overall. The 40+ Novice/Beginner class carne next with over 230 entries , and they put on a good show, with Mitch Griffin edging out Juan Lopez by only one second at the finish. Davis started his day with the Over 30 Expert race. He jumped out to the front right from the start and lengthened his lead throughout the race on his Montclair Yamaha,lZip-Ty Racing-backed yz to win with nearly a three-minute cushion over second-place Scott Myers. There was a San Bernardino County Sheriff out in the fastest back section, and he clocked Davis at 109 MPH with his radar gun . Davis's next victory was the Pro race, the last race of the day on Saturday. Again, the Yamaha rider got a good start and led all of the fast guys out to the back section. "I knew Bobby Bonds was going to be tough," Davis said. "So I wanted to try to get a lead out back , where I knew my bike could outrun his 250F." Davis had a small lead on Bonds coming into the MX section just before the finish line on the first lap. They both cleared the 65-foot table top with ease then sailed over the famous Adelanto "mud hole " jump without missing a beat. There were only seconds separating them at the end of the first lap. Bonds was, no doubt, feeling pretty good about just coming off his win 40th Anniversary at the WORCS race in Texas the previous weekend. And he really looked fast. Bonds was riding well, but Davis was able to pull out a little on each lap to win eventually by a comfortable margin. With the win , he took home the lion's share of the $15,000 Pro Purse, pocketing $6000 for first overall. Bonds held on for second overall and first 250cc ahead of Woods, who garnered third overall and second 25Occ. David Rees and Mark Tilley finished sec ond and third in the Open class. KTM's Kurt Caselli put in a very good ride to finish sixth overall and first I25cc . To finishsixth overall on a I 25cc , on a wide open, fast course such as this, was nothing short of impressive. Kris Keefer and Mcintyre rounded out the top three in the 125s. Fortunately, the heavy rains that hit Adelanto on Wednesday night made for near dust-free conditions for almost the whole weekend. Many of the riders really liked the lack of dust, but that didn't make the course any smoother out in the back sections. It got pretty rough back there toward the end of the weekend. But any course is bound to take a beating with just under 2700 riders competing in 13 races over the two days. According to Davis, "It went from great to miserable as the weekend progressed." But that didn't seem to slow him down much , as his lap times in the 250cc Expert race on Sunday morning were comparable to his times in the Vet Expert race on Saturday. He jumped out to the lead on the first lap of the 250cc Expert race and never looked back . He was followed across the line by Mathew Henderson and Matt Eddy. Henderson trailed Davis by over 2 'f, minutes. The last race of the weekend was the Team Race, with the Pros looking to share a $3000 purse. The Vipers tried a different start for the Team Race this year. They had a live-engine, Le Mans-type start, with the