o ut he r n California's Moja ve
Des e rt wa s swept gr ee n, as
Kawasaki's Team Green riders
Destry Abbo tt, Brian Brown
and David Pearson rode away
with the top three overall positions at
ro und four of the AMA FM F Nat ional
,
Hare & Hound Series in Lucerne Valley
California. While many of the top offroad riders rode the Best in the Desert
Terrible 's Town race the day before in
Nevada, the Kawasaki riders decided to
sit t hat one out and concentrate on the
National Hare & Hound Series, and th is
strategy defi nitely paid off. Especially for
winner Abbott .
The Vikings M.C. "Virgin Voyage"
course featu red a wide-open freewayfast fi rst loop that definitely favored
the bigger-bore bikes, while the second loo p defined the term "virgin terrain." Riders found themselves in tight rocky
sect ions and following ribbon in areas where
trails had not been burned in or did not exist at
all. After the dead-engine banner drop start,
three riders emerged from the dust , and a spectacular bar-banging pass put Brian Brown out in
front.
"I was leading at the end of the bomb but
went the wrong way, and everyone was yelling
at me," Abbott later said, shaking his head. "I
turned to the left. and three of us - Brown,
Kendall Nonman and myself - all came together.
Brown and I bumped bars going about 80 mph definitely a scary moment! "
Abbott backed the mighty KXSOO off, and
Brown shot into the lead position.
Brown maintained the lead for the remainder
of the first loop but experienced another scary
incident right before heading into the pits.
'/\bout a mile from the pits, I hit a G-out, and
my front end came up and landed in a square
edge, which is an odd combination," Brown
said. "It threw the bike completely Sideways,
and I was riding on the front wheel for awhile,
which happens. but I don't like it."
Meanwhile, 19-year-old young gun Kendall
Nonman, out of Santa Barbara, California, lost
S
Brown led all of
the first loop
but ended up
second.
www.cyclenews.com
Defending champ Russ
Pearson finished fourth .
CYCLE NEWS • MAY 12, 2004
75
