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/128347
Pearson sharpened up his motocross sk ills and promptly won the overall. Series points leader Woods kept his title hopes alive with a third-place finish. next cou ple of laps Pearson, Woods and Smail contin ued to fre ight train through the Colorado valley never more than a few seconds apart. Behind t he front thre e was anot her close- battling trio, consist ing of Team Green's Abbott, previou s round winner Davis and anothe r Team Green rider, Bobby Bonds. As it wou ld turn out, Bonds proved to be the fastest of the three and managed to move up into fourth by lap five. After that, Bonds put his head down and began to charge toward the front. Li ke oth er WO RCS roun ds, motocrossers turned ou t and were doing quite we ll. Karlsen and another local motocrosser Ted Campbell came out to take a shot at the WORCS course to see where they stood . Campbell would stay consist ent all day and was securely in the top 10 , while Karlsen used his all-around skill to move from ninth on the first lap to well into the top five in the later stages of the race . Team KTM 's Case lli, however, was mou nting the biggest charge of the day. After his dismal start, the yo ung Californian put his head down and mounted an attack on the field. Ridi ng a brandnew 2005 KTM 4S0, Case lli spe nt the e ntire race picking off racers one at a time . As it wo uld turn out , in the e nd, this year's ISDE Top American and his KTM thumper could do no wrong. Before the race was over, he would be able to throw 450 roost on just about every racer on the track. Back out in front, Smail had moved past Woods and looked to be closing in on Pearson . Bonds was closing in as wel l. By lap five, it was Pearson, Smail, Woo ds and Bonds, with Abbott and Davis battling for fifth. By lap seven, however, the fast course was get ting roug h and was beginning to take its to ll on the riders . As w ith any race , bliste rs began to come into play as the laps wore on. The first race r to fe el the effects was Smail. "I was riding good and had the pace with those guys, and my hands just started to give up. I wasn't able to hold on ," Smail said. "Pearson was riding fast, and I had a pretty bigscare where the bike kind of got away from me, and I couldn't hold on. I tho ught to myself, 'You know Smail, it's not worth getti ng hurt .' I just had to back it off. I've got a few things to work on, but I'll be right up the re , I'm sure of tha t." With Smail dropping back, Woods took over seco nd, with Bonds in third. T he cur ren t series points leader, Woods, then put the fastest time of the day in right before the gas and was able to take the lead back from Pearson . Pearson, however, had gassed first and charged hard to try and catch Woods. It tu rned out that his strategy paid off. When Woods gassed two laps later, Pearson regained the lead and at that point was gone. "I pitted and he didn't," Pear son said. "He passed me in the pits, so I just pinned it. He later pitte d, and I was able to go by and had probably five to 10 seco nds on him at just over halfway [through]." Bonds, wh ile sitt ing in third, was starting to fade a bit, and on lap 12 of I5 the hard-charging Caselli railed past Bonds to take over third . Behind Case lli, motocrosser Karlsen was in tow and was able to grab fourt h, effectively moving Bo nds down fro m third to fi fth in one lap. In the closing laps of the race Caselli, now only 27 seconds down from Pearson, dug down deep and caught up to Woods. He then made a pass on Woods and began to set his sights on Pearson. Howeve r, it was too late and Pearso n was long go ne on cruise control. At the finish line it was Pearson tak ing his well-deserved first WO RCS win, with Case lli finishing just seven seconds back. Woods wo uld finish th ird, with Karlsen and Abbott rounding out the top five. KTM rider Bryce Olsen contin ued to impress with his exce llent finish as he e nded the day with a caree r- www.cyclenews.com high sixth place. Davis had an off day and came in be hind O lse n in seventh . Rounding o ut the top- 10 were Team Gre e n's David Pearso n, Ca mpbell and another Team Green rider, Brian Brown. After the race , Pearson was unde rstandabl y all smiles as he ste pped to the top of the podium . "I've been wanting for one of these fo r so lo ng," Pearson said. "I've been wo rking hard with Mike Hea ly at his motocross schools, and it has paid off. It gives me so much more confidence to know that I can beat these guys at the ir own game - if I have too . I'm so stoked to have won . It feels really good to have worke d so hard at something and have it payoff. I can't wa it to go to Glen He le n and do it again." eN V ALLEY D IRT RIDE RS CO M PLEX BERTHOUD, COLORADO RESULTS: O CTOBER 2 ·3, 2004 (AFTER II OF 14 ROUNDS) PRO : I. Russ Pearson (Yam) 2. Kurt Casell (KTM); 3. ; i Nathan Woods (Yam); 4. Man Karlsen (Hon); 5. Destry Abbott (Kaw); 6. Bryce O lse (KTM); 7. Ty Davis (Yam); 8. n David Pearson (Kaw) 9. Ted Campbell (Han); 10. Brian : Brown (Kaw); I I . Partri k Garrahan (KTM); 12. J c esse Barstow(Hon); 13. Bobby Bonds (Kaw); 14. KrisPapworth (Kaw); 15. Josh Weisenfels (Yam) 16. Lan Smail (Kaw ; ce ): 17. Be mis Fredrick (Yam) . SEMI -PRO : I . Ricky Deitrich (Kaw) ; 2. Brenden Ritzm an (Kaw); 3. Justin Soule (Kaw) ; 4. Dylan M urdock (Hon); 5. Ricky Lamontagn (Yam) 6. Guy Tow (Han); 7. e ; Erek Arnold (Yam 8. KevinMiller (Hon). ); CYCLE NEWS • O O OBER 27, 2004 37