Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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My OWN RACE P214 Ty Davis Jrd Ty Davis rode a YZ250, which proved to be a good choice for the tighter-than-normal hare and hound. "Russ [Pearson] and I lined up next to each other. and I holeshotted him big time out of the hole." Davis said. "I knew he was going to catch me, but it was (un because he'd prepped his line and everything. I was just sitting there in the dirt and got him. I said, 'I'm gOing to see how long I can make it last.' then David and Russ went by. And Abe Baumann, man, he just flew by us~ .. 4 Brian Brown 5th Former champ Brian Brown rode well but was hampered by a flat tire. "I came down here and rode for three days [before the race}." Brown said. "I was off for three months before that. I didn't know what to expect. I got a three-kick start. but I ended up being third at the end of the bomb. behind Destry - for some reason I can do that. I hung with him for maybe five miles. and then they started pulling on me. Then my [front] mousse started going away... it wasn't even halfway around the loop. It started washing out, so I think Ilet David [Pearson] go by fIrst. I nursed it In to the pits: I think I came In fifth and left. like. around 12th or 11th. I gOt back up IntO fifth before the alternate. and on a fast road. I guess I hI! a rock just right and got a nat.-' P187 Matt Gosnell 10th "I missed the banner on the start. so I got kind of a bad start." said Matt Gosnell. who enjoyed his best finish In a National Hare & Hound. "I think I was 25th at the end of the bomb. I started passing people after the bomb and had a good ride. I was beat: It was hot. I was tired by the end of it. but I managed to work my way up to 15th when I came into the pit, and I was I Oth when 1came into the finish." Briefly••. There seemed to be universal praise from the top riders reganding the Desert M.e.'s course layout, especially the more demanding second loop. "It's nice when a club down here will put forth the effort to put us into some virgin stuff," Russell Pearson, who lives in Nevada, said. "Even if it's not virgin, juS! use some nice single-track trail instead of just fast valleys. They did a good job, I thought." Destry Abbott said, "I wish we'd do more longer races, because I think that's what starts separating everybody. I remember the old days, we'd do 120 miles. It was awesome. The club did a great job." Ty Davis added, "It was a really good course. I loved it. It was fun." Motorsports/FMF/O'Neal KTM and Johnny Campbell's Precision Concepts/Acerbis/Red Bull CRF450R. Malcolm Smith Motorsports/Race Tech/MSR KTM 450 MXC rider Paul Krause just beat Brian Brown out of the pits, the Team Green racer having had an extended pit stop to replace the nat front tire on his Acme Suspension/FMF/Fly Racing KX500 this after he'd come back from a threekick start. Loop two promised to be a gnarly one, and the Desert M.e. delivered with a 59-mile test of both riding ability and endurance. Due to the loop's length, an alternate gas stop was placed near the end of Bessemer Mine Road at mile 35. Although there were a few and inevitable high-speed runs across valleys, for the most part, the loop proved to be tough and technical without being excessive. And it was on this loop that most of the position swapping took place. While Russell Pearson and Abbott maintained their spots to the finish, Davis finally got around David Pearson when David's Kawasaki sputtered to a While Team Honda's Steve Hengeveld used his trusty XR650R to score fourth place, teammate Johnny Campbell was on a CRF450R. "We were testing for Laughlin [the next round of Best in the Desert's Silver State Series] on the CRF," Campbell said. "The new 4S0 has a new chassis and new suspension and stuff, so we've been trying to dial it in for off-road racing, getting ready for Laughlin. So I thought I'd take the opportunity at this race to do a race test on what we had done so far. Everything in that department's good." However, a hand crash late in the race left him pretty beat up, and after limping to the finish, he left the race with an ice pack on his left shoulder. "I hurt from my toes to my shoulder," he said. Red Bull KTM Dakar team racers Chris Blais and Kellon Walch both rode, iUS! a week after they finished the Dakar Rally. Scot Harden showed up as well but chose to spectate. "Today was a real eye-opener JUS! trying to learn how to ride again," Blais said. "I mean, we've been riding a 450-pound bike for a few weeks, and you get on this little bike [a KTM 52S MXq and.... Iwas just fighting it too much today. The sprint was definitely tough today. It seems like it should be a lot safer, but there sure seems like a lot more rocks! There's more sand there [Dakar], but there's more rocks here, that's for sure!" stop after running out of fuel. After finding an old beer can and bumming gas from a spectator, he putted to the finish for eighth. Hengeveld suffered from arm pump on the first loop and slowed, but he then used Childress as his personal early warning system to detect ditches and other obstacles. He passed Childress out of the main pit and ran alone in fifth for a long time before he also rode past the out-of-gas Pearson. Hengeveld's Honda teammate Campbell crashed hard in some rocks a few miles from the finish, laid there for a while to regroup, and then he got back on his bike and limped to the finish for I Bth. Cody and Lanza dueled the entire time. "We probably passed each other back and forth eight times," Cody said. "It was brutal!" Cody came out on top for a hardfought sixth. eN BESSEMER MINE ROAD LUCERNE VAWY, CAUFORNIA RESUtTS: JANUARY 23, 2005 (ROUND 1 OF 8) O/A: I. Russell Pearson (Yam); 2. Oestry Abbott (Kdw); 3. Ty Davis (Yam): 4. Steve Hengeveld (Hon); S. Brian Brown (Kaw); 6. Q"M Cody (KTM); 7. Joey Lanza (KTM); 8. D,vid Pearson (Kdw); 9. Kellon Walch (KTM); 10. Matt Gosnell (KTM); II.David Kame (Kdw); 12. Nicholas Blais (Hen); 13. Luke Dodsen (Suz): '-4_ Paul Krause (KTM); 15. Mike Childress (Hon); 16. Elmer Symons (KTM); 17. Justin Soule (Kaw); 18. Johnny Campbell (Hen); 19. Ryan Abbatoye (Kaw): 20. Mike D. Concur (Yam). CYCLE NEWS • FEBRUARY 9,2005 43