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/128405
November 5-6, 2005 MOTOCROSS 33 years of age, Ryan Hughes isn't showing any signs of slowing down. In fact, he seems to be only etting faster. At least that's the way he looked at the 21 st annual Vet MX World Championships at Glen Helen Raceway. With a new career in off-road racing on the horizon, Hughes used the Vet Championships to get warmed up for the final round of the 200S World OffRoad Championship Series (WORCS) coming up in a couple of weeks. But when it comes to motocross, Hughes, now riding for Team Suzuki Off-Road, hasn't lost a step, as he ran away with the win in the Over 30 Expert class. "Equipmentwise, sponsorwise, everything is lined up," Hughes said after barely breaking a sweat in both 2S-minute motos. "Now, I'll hit the last WORCS race of the year and see what we have to work A Ryan Hughe. had little problem winning the Over 30 Pro cia•• an Sunday. ~ White Brothers Vet World Championships on. I'm not going in [to the 2006 WORCS Series) unprepared - more fitness and more speed - I'm taking this very serious." Perhaps too serious for his competitors in the Over 30 class. One of those riders was Doug Dubach. Riding his Dr. D/Dubach Racing Development '06 Yamaha YZ4S0F, Dubach found it impossible to keep up with the flying Hughes, though he did finish second in both motos. "I just wish someone would come out and race with him, give him a tougher run," Dubach said. "If I were just 10 years younger, with an IS-year-old set of arms, I might have been a little closer." Then, with a grin, he added, '~nd make him stop for gas, or change a tire, or something." "He [Hughes) is on a whole different level," said Gordon Ward, who provided much of the real racing action in the first moto when he lodged himself into a furious fight for third place with Terry Fowler for nearly the entire race. Dubach dropped the hammer on the field at the start of the first moto, but Hughes shoved his way by on the inside to begin his runaway trek. After a brief tussle with Fowler, Dubach took control of second, while Ward moved up and started harassing Fowler for third. The two battled all race until Ward, who turns 39 next month, finally edged by the 40-year-old Fowler. "I got a little bit on him," said Ward about their age differences, "and I wasn't fading like he was. I'll let him have that excuse. But on the last lap, he tned to suicide me at the bottom of the hill. I couldn't believe it." Fowler said: "I just squared it off and went to the inside; it wasn't necessarily a takeout move. I thought I had the line, but he was in the rut already." In the second moto, Dubach once again nailed the holeshot, ahead of Fowler and Hughes. Just like the first moto, Hughes wasted little time getting to the front and rode off to another seemingly easy win. Dubach, meanwhile, held his own in second, while another shootout developed over third place involving third-place Carter Gurnee, Austin SqUires and Fowler. Riding in his first-ever Vet MX Championship, SqUires hadn't even planned on racing until Thursday. He flew in Friday, picked up a brand-new Kawasaki KX4S0F, put 30 minutes on it, and rode to a sixth in the first race. Between motos, he promised better. "I'm happy with the way I rode but I'm disappointed that I fell in the first turn," SqUires said of the first moto. '~ top-five start and I can hang with these guys." Gurnee had a similar story. He last rode in September, at the outdoor National MX season finale, where he crashed and broke his collarbone. COMES OF ABE HUGHE A 0 DOU DUBACH HIN THE VE WORlD CHAMPION HIPS STORY AND PHOTOS BY JOHN BETHEA Doug Dubach topped Saturday's Over 40 Pro class.