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/128327
Rocky Mountain ATV-MC/World Off-Road Championship Series ,B L UE'J BrotliE'rJ Yamaha teammates Nathan Woods and Ty Davis baffle to the end By MIKE DEMAREE PHOTOS BY TYlER MADDOX Kurt Caselli (66) grabbed the holeshot at the start of the Pro race, but he had problems later on in the two'hour·long event. day on his third and fourth laps. "I saw him coming, and I was like, 'Okay, pick it up,' but he just kept getting closer and closer," Woods said, Then on the fifth lap, Davis actually passed Woods for the lead. "I normally try and get behind Davis and stay with him when we tra in," Woods said. '" had to see where Davis was makhe streak is still alive for Montclair Yamaha's Nat han Woods. Woods was able to hold off the relentless attacks by teammate Ty Davis to reco rd his fourth win o f t he Roc ky Moun tain ATV-MC/Wor ld Off-Ro ad Championship Series at Honey Lake MX Park, and as a result, Wood s has taken a firm grip on the '04 series, but defending cham p Davis hasn't even thought about throwing in th e towe l. Davis kept his teammate honest t hroug hout the race, chasing Woo ds across the finish line in second place . For Woods, the Honey Lake race wasn't all that much differe nt from his previous three wins: The YZ4S0F pilot got a good start, got out in front early and controlled the tempo of the race. When the gate dro pped at the picturesque Honey Lake facility, KTM's Kurt Caselli jumped out front with the holeshot but was hounded immed iately by Woods, who quickly went to work on the up-and-co ming off-road star. Woods T got by Caselli on the first lap and, by the halfway point of the race, had opened up a good IO-seco nd cushion over the rest of the field, which was no easy task considering that former and current WO RCS champs were in that field. The former champ was Team Suzuki's Mike Kiedrowski. Kied rowski still has the speed to run with the WORCS racers; howeve r, he had a bit of bad luck early on. "I got a good start, but then I crashed, and everyone got by me ," Kiedrowski said. "I had my work cut out for me for the rest of the day. I was about 14th on the first lap and just put my head down and started my charge to the front ." With Woods sitting in the lead, Davis put his head down and tried his hardest to catch him. "Nathan [Woods) has been a streak killerfor me," Davissaid. "He took my win streak away at Lake Havasu and at Price, Utah. I wanted to win really bad here , at Honey Lake, so Igave him all I had." Davis put on an incredible charge to the front , turning the fastest times of the 50 JUNE 9,2004 • CYCLE NEWS after passing motocross star Rusty Holland. Behind Holland , two-time WORCS Champion Kiedrowski was quickly moving to the front, setting his sights on the Honda rider on lap 10. Once Kiedrowski got by Holland, he locked on to Bonds and moved into third on lap I I. It was as far as Kiedrowski could get . The Suzuki ace was matching the times of "Today was rad; my race was rad, rad and rad. I had a rad time." - Nathan Kanney ing up time, so when he passed me, I tried my best to follow him and see w here he was going." As the two Mont clair Yamaha team mates locked themselves in battle , the rest of the pack was doing their best to keep up. Bonds, on the Team Green Kawasaki KX2S0, was doing everything he could to catch the two guys up front but wasn't having any luck. "I just couldn't get a good flow all day," Bonds said. "I would start to get it going and then make a mistake. I wanted to beat Wood s really bad this weekend . He has a humongous points lead, and I need to chip away at it. I just couldn't keep going forward today." Bonds would work his way up to third 40th Anniversary Woods and Davis but wasn't able to gain any ground on the Yamaha duo . The race for the win heated up, as Woods was able to follow Davis and pick up on his lines before making his final move for the lead, O nce Woods got by Davis, he opened up a 25-second lead with only a few laps remaining. With the huge lead Woods began to cruise, and Davis began charging again. Davis chipped away at Wood s' lead and passed him again with only three laps remaining, setting the stage for an epic battle. Woods and Davis circuited the course neck and neck in a game of cat and mouse . The batt le brewed to the very end whe n Wood s finally was able to shake