Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Round 8 OFF-ROAD .... Rocky M ount a in AlV-MClWorld Off-Road Championship Series Iy bad ," Bonds said . " I don't know what really happened; I was going really fast, and all I remember was doing the biggest endo ever. I crashed myself stupid; I wasn't all there. But I found my bike and still had about 15 seconds [on Davis] . That was scary. I actually fell six times in the And that's exactly what he did . Bonds went into the lead when Davis pitted and then steadily pulled away over the remaining four laps to take the win. But little did anyone know how close Bo nd s came from throwing everything away. With three laps still to go, "I crashed real- race, mostly in the wooded section." For Davis, who is still seeking his first win of the series, the defending champ was frust rated w ith his third secondplace finish in a row but admitted that Bonds was the man today. " I felt good, but Bonds was riding really good," Davis said . "There was nothing I could do." Caselli was fast all day, too, running in second for the first four laps and then third the rest of the way. He actually closed up on Davis during the second half of the race even though his bike wasn't ru nning as well as it could have. So when Davis stepped it up on the last lap, Caselli cou ldn't co unt er and was forced t o scale back his attack. "I pushed a little at the end, but the bike wasn't runn ing that great," Caselli said . "I thought the crank was about to let go, but it turned out that the stator came loose. "Overall, it went pretty good," Caselli David Pearson Robert Naughton 10t h Russell Pearson 12th Russ Pearson , David Pearson's cousin. also had knee issues. "I did it [injure the knee] practic ing on a motocross track during the week," Pearson said. "I just took it easy today. LuckilyI got through it [the race] without making it worse." Pearson did not ride at all Saturday and pretty much went into Sunday's Pro race "blind." Pearson went from 16th to I Ith in the race but got passed by Honda rider Jesse Barstow, who hails from Washington, on the last lap. down . From there on it went from bad to worse . Every time Igot into the ruts , Igot tight and then started lalling more . Wherever I tried not to go is where I went. I was down and off the track more times than I can count . So basically, to sum it up, I just couldn't find my groove - or rut - got frustrated, and that was it." DN F 1 Brian Brown 9th BrianBrown had a fairly uneventful but okay day.The former National H&Hchamp started off in ninth and finished there. He did hold down eighth for a while but got passed on the last lap. "I had fun," Brown said . "I just didn't reallyget going today, but I rocIe allright." Missed Opportunity: Perhaps the most frustrated rider at the end of the day was KTMIGoat Eyewear-backed Joey Lanza. The day could've been an exceptionally good one for Lanza had things gone even a little right for him, but ... Lanza was hoping to move up the points ladder since the four riders directly in front of him in the standings either DNF'd or didn't start. Unfortunately, Lanza also DNF'd. "The [topend] seized on the fourth lap," Lanza said. "I can't believe it!" Lanzawas running as high as seventh , and had he finished there, he would have climbed from 12th to ninth in points. JUNE 30, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS DNF David Pearson, fresh off his win at the Idaho City 100 2-Day Qualifier, only got two laps in at the Longview race. "I hurt my knee," Pearson said. "I twisted it once and then hurt it again, and that was it." He added that he didn't think it was a serious injury and will let the knee heal during the summer break, since there is no major race for the WORCS and the National H&H riders until September. Robert Naughton, who has been going back and forth between his Honda CRF450R lour-stroke and his Suzuki RM250 two-stroke throughout the year, went back to his RM for the Longview race and nearly pulled off the holeshot. But things only went from good to worse lor the privateer racer. "I had a great start - third - and then Nathan [Woods] fell, and that put me into second lor three-quarters of a lap. I lelt great riding behind Ty, and then towards the end of the first lap, I got cross-rutted and went 40 added. " I got a good start like I usually do but decided not to go backwards this time, just finish." Woods, the series points leader, just wasn't comfortable all weekend. He had a rough t ime in Saturday 's Open Pro "warm -up" race , and things d idn't go much better in Sunday's Pro race, but he d id get off to a good start. He passed Davis through the first turn and jumped into the lead, only to go down just as the course veered off into the woods. He qu ickly remounted, settled into second but got into trouble again later that lap when he got hung up on a wet log, tipped over and stalled his bike. That cost him another position to Caselli , who was right there to pounce . Shortly thereafter, Bonds was knocki ng at Woods' back door, and the Kawasaki rider soon got around him as well, as did KTM rider Pat Garrahan, but Woods wou ld get Garrahan back the nex t lap and then hold down fourth the rest o f the way. "Th ings just didn 't go as planned," Woods said . " I crashed three times and kept stalling the bike - fo ur times! I think the 250 had the advantage here, mainly because you knew you were going to crash and could start it easier. I should've brought my 250. But all in all, I can 't complain. I got fourth , and that's good." After crashing just a few turns into the race, Kawasaki Team Green's Abbott 40th Anniversary 8th Price Racing Kellon 's Walch, on a CRF450R, spent most 01 his day working his way up through the pack after a bad start. Walch, on one of only two four-strokes to finish in the top 10, got up to ninth and had Brian Brown in his sights going into the last lap. Walch, whose lap times got better as the race progressed. hunted down Brown and passed him for a hardearned eighth.

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