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/128317
Briefly... Team Green Kawasaki's Lance Smail certainly proved his fort itude and commitment to do well in the WO RCS se ries. After injuring his knee on Saturday, Smail we nt ahead and rode on Sunday and finished a remarkable fourth. Smail, who won the series open ing in Mesquite, Nevada, rounded the fi rst lap in the middle of the pack but steadi ly clawed and scratched his way to the front, putting on a str ong charge toward the end. The KX250 rider rode smoothly and cautiously the whole way, and his strategy paid off with his to p-five finish, w hich kee ps him in second place in the series standings. He trails Nathan Wood s by 15 points, 73-58, but is only two points ahead of Kurt Caselli. Meanwhil e, Robert Naughton had adopted the stealth strategy. After getting off to a horrible start , the RM250 pilot, almost without notice, sneaked his way up through the pack, and he only seemed to get stronger as the race progressed. He went from I Ith after the fi rst lap to fourth in just seven laps but was still a long way behind the leaders. He eventually closed in on the fading Bonds to take third three laps from the end, at which time he was about 40 seconds behind Pearson. The Suzuki rider managed to cut that gap in halfbefore the checkered flag came out . "Iwanted to start in last place and make it challenging, you know," joked Naughton of his start . "The guy next to me went sideways and about crashed me. I heard there were three guys behind me." But that only seemed to motivate the privateer. " I just put my head down and started going forward ," Naughton said. " I don 't have the fastest lap times, but they 're pretty consistent t he whole two hours. The course was so brutal that I knew guys would fade in the end. I got in a litThe Havasu facility is spectator-friend ly. tie race there w ith Ty then all of a sud , den he pulled 011. I think I was running around in fourth and saw Bonds stopped [when he pulled 011 for water], and then I knew I was in th ird. I guess I was closing on Pearson a little bit, but I was rea lly just trying to maintain that th ird . It's been a wh ile since I've been on the pod ium. Being a privateer again and paying for it all, it feels good to go out there and be at the riders ." eN Price Racing, the Las Vegas-based 011· road team , returned to racing again after a two-year hiatus . The team will follow the rest of the WORCS series with its primary rider, Kellon Walch. Walch, w ho has just returned from his mission for the Mormon Church, was eager to get back into racing action . Walch had a busy weekend at Havasau, whe re he finished fi rst in Saturday's 250F Pro and filth in the Op en Pro classes. In Sunday's Pro race , Walch, after a bad start, passed 2 1 riders to fi nish 17th overall. "I had a blast today," Walch said after Sunday's Pro race. "Two years is a long time, and I'm not used to this heat. But Iguess every one isn't. Yesterday, I had a lot of fun. I rode tw o races, and after t he second race, I thought there was no way I was going to do it to day. I was beat after yesterday." After a year of testing, Price Racing has decided to comp ete on CRF250R and 4S0 Hondas for the rest of the season . For the third race in a row, Kawasaki rider Ricky Dietrich topped the Semi-Pro class, wh ich runs at the same time as the Pro race, but on a seco nd row. Diet rich had no problems catching up to the Pro class, as he finished o ut the day 14th overall. CRAZT HORSE CAMPGROUND LAKE HAVASU CITT, ARIZONA RESULTS: MARCH 14, 2004 (ROUND 3 OF 12) O/A:. I. Nathan Woods (Yam); 2. Russell Pearson (Yam) ; 3. Robert Naughton ( Suz); ~ . Lance Smail (Kaw): S. Kun Case lli (KTM); 6. Ty Davis (Yam); 7. Bobby Bonds (Kaw) ; 8. Josh We isenfels (Yam); 9. Bri an Garrahan (KTM) ; 10. Bryce O lson (H on); I I . Joey Lanza (KT H) ; 11. Dest ry Abbott (Kaw ); 13. Ricky Dietric h (Kaw); I" . Mark Tilley (H on); I S. Dav;d Pearson (Kaw); 16. Kevin Roberts (Yam) ; 17. Brend en Ritzman (Yam); 18. Chris Johnson (Kaw) ; 19. Aaron Wilson ; 20. Kellon Walch (Hon) . WORLD OFF·ROAD CHAMPIONSH IP SERIES POINTS STAND INGS (After J of 13 rounds): I. Nathan Woo ds (ll/ i win); 2. lance Smail (58/1 win); 3. Kurt Caselli (56); ... Destry Abbott (S I); S. (TIE Russe ll ) Pearson/Bo bby Bonds (....' 1 win): 7. Robert Naughto n (37); B. Mark Tilley (35); 9. (TIE) T y Davis/Joe y Lanza (33); I I. David Pearso n (32); 12. Bryce Ols on (24); 13. Josh We lsenfels (20); , ... (TIE) Steve Hatch/Kevin Bailey ( 16); 16. Ben Hale ( 14); 17. (TIE) C lint Braun/Jo n See ho rn/Brian Garrahan (~ 2) ; 20. Patrick Garrahan (9). This year's WORCS race at Havasu fill ed the Crazy Horse Campgrou nd to capacity - and then some. So many riders and teams showed up over the we eke nd that tru cks and campers spilled out beyond the campground 's fences. A few riders short of 1200, including a large number of minicycle riders , turned out for the third ro und of the WORCS series. Russ Pearson's second-pl ace finish in Sunday's Pro class was even more impressive whe n you consider that he felt quite ill on Saturday. "Yesterday I got sick real bad," Pearson said after Sunday's race . " I couldn't hold anything down. Last night I went to bed early to get a little ext ra sleep and put a little extra wate r in me. I didn't want to kill myself today; I just wanted to put in a good ride . I figured if I still felt st rong at the second half, I'd push it. I'm usually really tough at these things and do n't worry abo ut getting tired , but I was a little sick, so I wanted to save it for the end ." For full-on privatee r Robert Naughton, fi nishing third and getting on the podium was lo ng in coming and a much nee ded boost fo r his confidence. "I was going to quit last year, but I thought, 'Let's see if I can win o ne of these things,' '' said Naughton, who rode a Mike Jankowski-tuned Suzuki RM250. "I'm putt ing in a rea l ellort this year, and I'm thankful for the com panies that keep sticking behind me . If it wasn't for Maxxis, Moose and GPR, I wouldn't be out here doing this." www.cyclenews.com CYCLE NEWS . MARCH 31, 2004 39