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/128404
Iiii:iiiiI Round 9 OFF-ROAD ustin Williamson started the 200405 Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals as one of the top contenders, though the young man had no series wins to his credit. As the series progressed, ough, so did Williamson. While he once found it difficult to run at the front, he now expects it of himself, and at round nine - The Race, presented by Pirelli - the Williamsonracing.com YZ250 racer stayed in the lead for most of the 70 miles and took his second series victory. Making it even more memorable was that he outdueled defending series champ and current points leader Jimmy Jarrett to do it. Jarrett ended up crashing within Sight of the finish but picked himself up off the peat to salvage second place on his Andrews Cycles/Kenda/Moose-backed RM250. Williamson completed The Race in two hours, 41 minutes and eight seconds, while Jarrett finished in 2:42:03. Roundeight winner Shane Watts came through the pack and limped his KTMHutt.com/ Fun Mart Cycles/Moose 200 XC in for third with a time of 2:45:22. He finished with the exhaust pipe dislodged from the cylinder and the radiators emptied of coolant after hitting a tree with about 20 miles to go. Though The Race is held in the same 34 Parts Unlimited Off-road Motorcycle and ATV Nationals area as the Moose Run, it's got a completely different character. Instead of being a survival test, The Race tends to be a faster, more flOWing course, though promoter Bill Gusse can't resist throwing in a few log crossings, culverts or creeks to complement the top-gear sprints across harvested, open corn fields. This year, he laid out a 35-mile loop run twice, NOVEMBER 16, 2005 • CYCLE NEWS with a main pit area at his Bike Barn and an alternate gas stop in a corn field around mile eight. At the start, Jeremy Smith got the best jump off the line on his VZ250 and sped around the first tum in a deeply plowed corn field, leaVing the rest of the Pros covered in dark peat dust. Unfortunately for him, when he turned onto the motocross track, the transition to hardpack caught him by surprise, and he slid out. Even more unfortunate, Jarrett was right behind, and he couldn't avoid him. Smith caught Jarrett's front tire right below his armpit, putting the Yamaha racer out for the day. Jarrett also went down, taking a couple other riders with him, which gave Williamson a slight lead. "I didn't know how many people went by me; I just took off and started passing as many people as I could," Jarrett said. "I got to a point where no one was in front of me, and I thought there were three or four or five guys who'd checked out. "I was really pushing it," Jarrett added. "I caught Justin and got around him and I still had no idea what place I was in. When I came in for gas, I asked, 'What place are we in?' and they said we were first and second, so that was kind of a relief." Williamson said: "Every once in a while we'd come out in the fields and Jimmy, I think, was able to go a little faster than I was. He'd banzai across them and I'd sort of slow down and look over the knoll; I wanted to make sure there was no fence or anything or a ditch - you never know around here. Once I got in the woods, I noticed I could pull a tiny little lead on him, so when we'd get back out in the fields, I'd have enough distance to where