Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Woods down again, he became hampered by a bike that suddenly started to run poorly, possibly due to a broken silencer on his FMF/Michelin/Moose-backed 450 MXC. With less than half a mile to go, Caselli's bike ran out of fuel, and he literally pushed it across the finish line, still secure in second place, Wiegand, another leader at one point in the race, came through next and appeared to have third sewn up on his HMS Capital/Hahm Motorsports CRF2S0R. However, WORCS officials took him aside and explained that he'd been disqualified for cuning the course and gaining an unfair advantage after his early run-in with Caselli. That moved Russell Pearson, Woods' teammate, into third. The first few turns saw lots of carnage, with a number of racers crashing on the muddy motocross track before heading out onto the off-road portion of the course. Among those who went down were round-one winner Mike Kiedrowski; the Team Suzuki off-road racer reportedly suffered a dislocated elbow and immediately left the venue for medical treatment. Recent storms made the entire area very wet and helped create extremely rough conditions in the off-road areas, which consisted largely of the sandy banks of the Virgin River. With water still running across some sections, bike-swallowing mud holes also popped up and played a part in things. If nothing else, it probably led to more racers sharing time at the front than normal. Besides Woods and Caselli, others that took turns at leading, included Wiegand, Ty Davis and last year's winner, Lance Smail. OffiCially, though, it was Woods who controlled the majority of laps, leading IS of the 18 circuits, though usually by only a slim margin. Team Green's Smail rolled to a stop in the off-road section on lap 10 with a drive train problem on his Tuning by Travis/Maxxis/Moose KX250, thus eliminating him from the mix. Davis, on his Montclair Yamaha/Zip-Ty Racing! Moose YZ2S0, did well the first seven laps but then dropped off the pace a bit due to fatigue, eventually placing fifth after getting passed by the FMF/Acme Suspension/THOR KX250 of Team Green's Destry Abbon on the final lap. Caselli, on the other hand, marched steadily forward after his first-lap crash, and it was no surprise to see him pass Woods for first a few laps from the end. The question of whether he'd hold it was quickly answered when the KTM racer flipped in a mudhole. "I made one mistake," Caselli said. "I got the lead, and we had like three laps left, and I just kind of went a different way than where I was going, which was stupid; I should've just kept doing what I was doing. I ended up gening in a hole, stuck in the mud, and went over the bars and landed in the mud." Asked to compare the difference between the first round and this one, Woods answered, "I trained a lot when I went home, and I think that was a huge part of it. Race Tech and I did a lot of suspension testing, and we really got my bike working a lot better. Before, we just didn't have much time to get stuff situated. Right now it's great, and I can't wait for the next race just because [my bike] works so good." eN My OWN 9 Lance Smail RAce DNF "At the beginning I went maybe a little too fast; a lot of guys were banling. I took the lead for about half a lap, and then the Yamis [Yamahas) got me back. I said, 'You know, if I keep that up, I'm not going to finish, so I'd bener slow down and treat this more like a Lake Havasu race, more an endurance-type event.' I felt good, I felt strong. I like sand. I'm just real bummed I wasn't able to get points today." 7 David Pearson 7th "I got arm pump early on. Two laps before the finish, I saw Ty maybe IS seconds ahead of me. I had basically caught up to him - I was maybe fM! seconds back - then the second-tolast loop, my bike drowned oul- I just sal there kicking and kicking and kicking for probably three minutes. Destry got by me and Ryan Dudek got by me. Finally, I'd almost given up, then I kicked it one more time and briiiing! It fired up." 5 Destry Abbott 4th "The first <4S minutes were going absolutely horrible - nothing with the bike, I wasn't real tight. I just was having a tough time riding and picking lines. 1here were SO many lines. 1he only reason I was staying up there was because people would crash. At the hour mark, just before the second pit, I really just started pushing hard and started riding a lot bener. My last few lap times, I think, were a lot better." MESQUITE MOTOX PARK MESQUITE, ARIZONA RESULTS: FEBRUARY 13, 2005 (ROUND 2 OF 12) PRO: I. Nathan Woods (Yam): 2. Kurt Caselli (KTM); 3. Russell f'eM>on (Yam); 4. [)e,uy Abbott (Kaw); 5. Ty Da,,;, (Yam); 6. Ryan Dudek (Yam); 7. David Peanon (Kaw); 8. Bobby Bonds (KTM); 9. M;cky Griffin (Yam); 10. Kellon Wakh (KTM). SEMI· PRO; I. Justin Soule (Kaw); 2. David Kamo (Suz); 3. Chris Johnson (Kaw); 4. Brendan Rittman (Kaw); 5. Ryan Reina (Hon). ROCKY MOUNTAIN ATV/MC WORLD OFF·ROAD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES POINTS STANDINGS (After 2 of 11 rounds): I. Nathan Woods (51): 2. Kurt Ca>elli (l7); 3. (TlE) Rus..U Peanon (34)/Oeon (28); 7. Lance Smail (26); 8. lY l>.M, (19); 9. TIm Woegand (18); 10. Matt Karl,"" (17). Russell Pearson came away with third, the benefactor of Wiegand's DQ, but he wasn't that satisfied: "I'm happy with the outcome, but it was a little frustrating out there. I got some arm pump [and] stuff that I never get before. I haven't been riding as much because I've had a few injuries. I had a good start; I just don't have the strength." But he did enjoy the race, saying, "It was funner than heck. We had some water crossings back there, and if you hit 'em right - one or two times I didn't hit it right - you'd hydroplane the whole thing! You wouldn't get splashed at all. Sometimes, you'd kind of be on a corner, and you'd be drifting. The front end, you could turn it and nothing would happen, so it was fun." Tim Wiegand rode well (though he fell victim to one mud hole and went over the bars, forcing him to ride the last five laps sans gloves), finishing third before being informed by race officials that he'd been disqualified. As WORCS founder Dave Hamel said, "The circumstances are unfortunate, but after review of video covering the incident along with two race officials' accounts, it was determined that after tangling with Kurt Caselli while dicing for the lead, Wiegand and Caselli tangled and went off the track. Wiegand then cut straight across the track, missing two jumps and a rum, and in doing so passed numerous riders, while Caselli reentered the track in around 15th position at the point where he left the track. In an effort to keep things fair for all the riders, we have zero tolerance for course-cutting and disqualify any rider doing so, whether they gain positions or time." Wiegand said, "On the start, Kurt Caselli had the holeshot, and I was in second. The track dropped into a little ravine, then we came back up the hill a little bit and made a sharp left. I was outside, and he was on the inside. He kind of swapped and ran into me. We went flying off the track down in the middle of the [MX] track. His bike was stuck in my wheel, so we sat there... waiting to get his bike out. I got back on my bike and instead of doing a U-turn and trying to negotiate through the mud - because we were off the track, I didn't really know how it was - I just went straight across and missed a turn and got back on the track on the other side. I probably missed maybe 100 yards of the track and got back on about mid pack, like 15th or so. Then, you would make a left and you go up the hill, and there was a bunch of riders down right there. Because I was midpack, I missed that whole pileup, and I came out pretty good going up the hill, so everyone thought that when I cut the track, I was near the front, which wasn't the case. I went across slow, I took my time. I didn't do it to make up time. I didn't do it to gain position. I did it like I would do in an AMA motocross - the safest place to re-enter." Understandably upset at the disqualification, Wiegand now says he's changed his original plans to race as many WORCS events as possible and now only intends to compete at round four next month at Lake Havasu, Arizona. CYCLE NEWS • MARCH 2, 2005 Sl

• Cover