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
Davis Masters Glen Helen WOReS o ntclair Yamaha's Ty Davis won his second World Off-Road Championship Series race of the season at Glen Helen Raceway on October 17. As Sunday approached. rain was in the forecast. but no one imagined just how much rain the course would get by the time the Pro class left the start line. The race . you might say. was a mudder. Davis' teammate and ser ies po ints leader Nathan Woods led off the start. but aro und the halfway mar k. Woods dropped back with problems. and Davis inhe rited M the lead w ith previous -round winner Russ Pearson right on his tail. Close behind Pearson was Kawasaki's Destry Abbot and KTM's Kurt Caselli. The foursome circulated the course together. battling for positions in the sloppy mess. Then. on the last lap. Pearson made his move on Davis and took the lead. But with only a straightaway left in the race. Pearson's bike sputtered to a stop with an empty fuel tank . Davis rode past Pearson and took the win. followed by Abbott and Caselli. Pearson pushed his bike to a sixth-place finish. Ty Davis collected his second WORes win of the year in a muddy one at Glen Helen. Hengeveld Solos to Las Vegas 200 Win Steve Hengeveld blazed in alone across the Nevada desert to win the Las Vegas 200. finish win at the very rough and dusty Las Vegas 200 o n October 16. Hengeveld was forced to ride alone when teammate Johnny Campbell came down with an eye infection just before the race. forc ing Hengeveld to ride all three of the 71-mile laps solo . But that did n't seem to faze the Honda XR650R pilot. who finished the race in four hours. 36 minutes and 35 seconds. The win was the team 's second in the Best in the Dese rt 's Silver State Series. wh ich practically locks up the O pe n Pro-class Championship with only o ne round left on the calendar. Hengeveld is no stranger to going it alone at this even t. "It was one of those races that I wanted to do solo," Hengeveld said. "because I've done it [solo] in the past so many times and almost won. so I thought. ·We ll. we might as well give it a shot this year."· Second overall and first in the Four-stroke Pro class went to Mike Childress and Chuck Dempsey. also aboard an XR650R, stopping the clock at 4:54:32 . They were the only other team to dip below the five-hour mark. as various problems seemed to plague the rest of the field. Clint Braun and Matt Gosnell overcame three setbacks en route to third overall and first 250cc Pro on their KTM 250 5X with an unofficial time 01 5:26:34. Mark Kariya Tire Limitations for MotoGP? A prop osal by all three tire com panies in the MotoGP class - a proposal limiting the numbe r and costs 01 tires and effectively banning qualifying tires - was given short attention by the teams involved. but aspects of the confidential proposal are still being considered by the GP Commission. The document - signed by Michelin. Bridgestone and Dunlop - was considered at a teams' meeting at the Malaysian GP and rejected as being out 01 hand. mainly. as one team manager said, because it put even more power into the hands 01 the tire companies. They already wield a lot. In the case of Michelin. it is almost enough to give them the last word in deciding which teams and riders will be capable 01 winning. and wh ich will not. As well as restricted allocation. set at "about hall" 01 current tire usage . the two-page proposal sugges ted that from 2006 . all three companies sho uld be prepared to commit to supplying one-third of the number 01 teams. Tarrifs would be set for each company - and any teams beyond that natural share would be liable to charges ..that more realistically reflect the actual cost 01 the tires and the service ." At present. top teams are supplied free of charge. while some lesser teams have to pay. This section of the proposal (containing other clauses concerning the possible arrival of other companies) and tying down details of the ir formal commitments was rejected by both teams and the GP commission in favor of the current system of free negotiation . The second part defines and limits the number of tires to be supp lied. cutting the total by about 50 percent compared with 10 OCTOBER 27, 2004 • CYCLE NEWS current usage. The re strictions app ly only to slicks - wet tires will be supplied free ly as requ ired . This also was re jecte d by the teams. but is under consideration by the GP Commission. The companies propose a maximum of 18 front tires per rider for each event, and 24 rear tires . For the fronts . there can be two or three different specifications, but the numbers must be split evenly - in other words. nine each of two different tire types or six each of three. For the rears, a rider can have six each of four different specification of tire or eight each of three specifications. These tires must be selected before the meeting and marked as assigned to a particular rider. The technical director (race official) will choose at random from the selection tires that may be used in the race . which will be marked and reserved unt il Sunday. The only substitutions allowed will 40th Anniversary be if a tire is damaged. The tire companies reserved the right to sup ply different types of tires to differen t teams, to "adjust .0 tire . tuning to each of its partners' needs." This restriction does not rule out the use of qualifying tires . but there would have to be at least six rears. and devoting this allocation to qualifiers would then restrict the overall choice. Qualifying tires are regarded as an unwelcome necessity at present, but objections came on several grounds. not least that overall development will be hampered by the restrictions. This latest sugges ~ tion by the tire companies is a refinement of previous suggestions, aimed at curbing run- away tire-development costs. Michelin was largely responsible for the introduction of a limit to winter testing. which is to be extended this year. Mi chael Scott