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/128377
Round 4 OFF-ROAD _11m. Greed. !)(,my Abboft notdled his II8ClM1CI CCIllSlICUtIYe v1ttory at round four of the AMAlfMF Raeln. National Hare Hound a SerIes at the North Anderson Dry Lake OHV Area on his FMF/Acme SuspensiorVTHOR-backed 10<500. That ~ the defendin& series ~ Into a tie in points with race runner-up and former series champ Russell Pearson, 110-110. The two have notched Identical records In the series so far: two wins and two seconds. Honda's Kendall Norman finIshed third overall, his best-to-date National flnish. The VIrgin Voyap, put on by the VIkIngs Motorcycle Oub, was marred by mass confusion late on the second loop 01 the .-Jt. As competitors reached one point, they found no course marking - and plenty of possible ways to 80. "That's when It was d'l~ vu all over again," Abbott said, referring to round two, where he lost the race after getting lost almost within si&ht of the fll1ish. "I thought I was going to get lost. I couldn't believe I was going to lose a race again because of chis." ~ TIle MIlt 1hI,. I know. it julie didn't lit. I just stII'UId IdcIcinI ~ flnaIy, ~ fclut or lMt kicks Iatw. it finally stIIrtS.· Somehow, the Wily 2003 series champ skirted the dust and pessed a majorky of rtdera en route to the bomb. Pe8l'sot1 dropped Into a ~ an ~ 12th place. but he was stlIIlilClvinI up qulddy. -. just pushed a little bit too hard and went down," Pearson said. "Just dipped a rock... After qulddy getting up from the mlscue, In the same position, Pearson apin gave chase, lMIIl though he got another scare when the wind moved his broken visor down In front of his gogIes. Pearson changed helmets in the pits. At. the end of the rather fast 11m loop, which took Abbott about an hour to compIebt. Abbott had an unolIidaI lead of nearly a minute and a half over Pearson, with Norman more than a minute back in third. Abbott was prepared entering the second loop. "I knew the club would be putting us on some dghter trails for the second loop, and I was rtaht,.. Abbott said. "They had some fun downhIIs and some good oIf-camber singIe-track trails. Halfway Into this loop, I De try Abbott and Russ Pearson tied for first in points chase The race started out in cold, windy conditions near the northern end of Camp Rock Road with competitors facing a pair of 4O-mlle loops. As the banner dropped, XR's 0nly(1ernecu1a MotorsportslO'NeaJ XR6SOR racer Mike Childress appeared to get the best start, but shordy after the end of the bomb run, Steve Hengeveld snuck by on his Precision ConceptslDunlop/MSR XR6S0R. Abbott tucked in behind them, followed by Montclair Yamaha/One Industries/Moose VZ2SD-mounted Brett Saunders and Norman's Precislon Concepts/ Pro Honda Oil$/O'NeaJ XR6S0R. "I led for like 10 miles," Hengeveld said. "Then it just got into some crossgrain, rocky, nasty crap, and Descry just ate me up in it." Pearson had a horrible start aboard his Montclair Yamaha/Pro Circuit/Moose VZ4S0F. "I practiced my start and practiced my start, and it was all good until the stupid banner dropped," Pearson said. '" don't know if I just got a little bit of the whiskey throttle with it and throttle-happy or... 50 MAY 11, 2005 • felt like my day was going really well. Besides a couple small mistakes, the club's markings had been good all day - until I was about eight miles from the finish." That's where the course ribbons vanished, and with the multitude of trails in Lucerne, it was a guessing game. Frantically, Abbott tried one trail then another, as his healthy lead slowly dwindled. Pearson didn't have any better luck. In fact, when he arrived at the scene, Abbott was coming back from one of his wrongway trips, and they both began searching for the course farther down a valley. "Me and Descry, we were looking at each other like, 'What do we do? What do we do?'" Pearson said. After awhile, Norman joined them In the search. Things then began to look up when Abbott spotted some vehicles and course ribbon. He rode up, ascertained it was indeed loop two and blazed away to the finish with Norman right behind. Pearson jumped in behind after checking out a different possibility. It turned into a race again, with Abbott CYCLI NEWS STORY AND PHOTOS BY MARK KARIYA