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/128348
By BRENDAN LUTES P HOTOS BY TONY LAM PING a ny c ha m p io ns will tell you that when it co me s t ime t o defend it, the numbe r "on e " is the heaviest number on the trac k. Montcla ir Yam aha 's Ty D avis shou ld k now th is we ll, s inc e he's th e defend ing WORCS Ch ampion and his ho pe s for a repeat title seem to be dwindling. Davis , ho wever, isn't go ing do wn w it hout a fight. The last t hree roun ds of th e se ries, he has stood atop the pod ium twi ce, and all t hro ugho ut th e season he has been on e of the most con siste nt rid- M (Rig ht) Destry Abbott has been turning in some solid finishes late ly. At Glen Helen, the Kowoski rider fin is hed up second overa ll. My 12 OWN RACE: Joey Lanza 12th KTM rider Joey Lanza had a good day. He had a few problems, but overall everything turned out good for the Californian. "Igot a bad start, I spun off the gate ," Lanza said. "I got out there, then in like the seco nd turn, Iwent inside and passed a bunch of people. I was probab ly like eighth for the first three laps and was cool. Then Iwent down in the mud and came in and got gloves and goggles. And I went back out in like 14th, and Iwo rked my way back up to like 10th. I went down again in the mud. It was the same routine allday just fighting it. I'm just glad to finish it. That's about it, you know. It was just up and dow n, up and down. It was fun, considering the bike didn't break. At least they added the ridges and stuff, so it wasn't going to be just a big moto . At least they added some off-road stuff and it made it fun." 6th The Kawasaki rider had fun out in the mud, even considering he's from Nevada, where they don't see much rain like this. "The race went all right: ' Pearson said. "Igot a really horr ible start; I was probably more than halfway through the pack, probably 20th or 25th. I just got covered with mud and I couldn't see anything. I could only see for like three-quarters of an inch of the [Roll-Off] film . 50 I was trying to charge. I pitted a little bit before the halfway mark because I couldn't see anything, and after I got new gloves and goggles, I started picking it up and started pickingoff guys. I slid out a cou ple times and that was abo ut it. I rode pretty good. I just need to get a better start and not get all mudded up in the first two corners . Normally I really do horr ible in the mud, but I seeme d to do pretty good today." 50 David Re e s 7th Rees was understandably happy with his results at Glen Helen. His seventh-place finish was easily his best performance yet. "It we nt pretty good; I had no problems," Rees said. '" got to ride a 2505X instead of that 450 I've been ridingall year and just had a perfect, clean, smooth, fun race. I enjoy the mud actually; I'm pretty good in the mud. It was pretty fun actually It was actuallypretty fun for allof us - Joey [Lanza], like all my teammates pretty . much, Revelle [Harrison] and Brent [Harden] and everybody. 50 it was fun to have a big old battle with all my buddies." Bobby Garrison 5th Garrison used to be a regular fixture on the WORCS circuit. but a few years ago he decided to concentra te more on motocross than off-road. O ut on the Glen Helen co urse his motocross skills showed, as he held his own with some of the best off-road riders in the country. For most of the race, he ran inside the top 10 and by the finish was able to work his way up to fifth. (Above) Fresh off 0 se co nd- p loc e fini sh at the previous rou nd , KTM's Kurt Case lli turned in another great rid e w it h his third-place fini sh . ers out there. If it was n't for a littl e bad luck, he m ight ac t ually be leading the points chase right now, but a first-round DNF sudde nly put him in catch- up mode. Though he st ill has a lo ng ways to go , his tit le hop es were ke pt alive - albeit barely - at the Gle n Helen ro und whe n he to o k his second w in of t he series, and po ints leade r and te am mate Nat han Wo od s finished way back in 18th. Woods, w ho has pretty m uch dominated this year's WORCS series, missed finishing o n the podi um for only the third time th is year. Although the po ints race is now tighter. Woods is st ill in th e driver's seat. W ith two rounds left, Woo ds now has 251 points to Davis' 219 . As the Pro etass lined up for t he sta rt of t he race, everyo ne knew it was go ing to be a wet o ne. No one could have imagined that a st o rm would be mak ing its way t hro ugh Ca liforn ia in O ct o ber, but there www.cyclenews.com one was , and as a res ult there was a severely damp Glen He le n racetrack waiting for everyone . When the gate dropped , it was Woods w ith the ho leshot. As the pack circulated the rain-d re nched course for t he first time , Davis fo und himself in t he top five but was forced to pull into the pits for a fres h pair of gogg les. "I got like a fourth-p lace start and I just rode a little too aggressive at t he beginning and ruined my goggles," Davis said . " I had to come in early. I was ho ping I cou ld stay out t here with Lance [Smail] and those guys." By t he ha lfway po int , Woods was out in front and loo ked to be the favo rite to win it all again, but be hind Woods there was a pack of riders t hat was de termined to prove otherwise. Motocrosser-t urnedoff-road racer Bo bby Bonds was in second , followed by a hard -charging Davis, CYCLE NEWS • NOVEMBER 3, 200 4 31