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Adelonro, CA FebJt'ory 25-26, 2l)06 OFF.ROAD 26th Annual Adelanto Grand Prix - so much, but now I look at him as a com- petitor." The Pro race on Saturday aftemoon offered a $ I 5,0@ purse and a few of the off-road heavy hitters showed up to see if they could take a swing at Davis and the $6000 that would go the overall winner. No one was surprised to see Davis' YZ450F railing down the start straigtt before diving into the first left trrn in the lead position. He was followed by American Honda rider Steve Hengeveld and Davis Pearson on the KTM. Pearson, however, was forced to retire after the fir51 lap, which allowed Mike Childress to move up into third place on the XR650R followed by BJ. Bums. With Davis starting to E+ out in the race, which saw speeds pushing the triple digits in the fast sections and averaging 60 mph each lap, the race for second and third positions between the two Honda ride6 began to heat up. "l made a mistake in the back section. where I got really squirreled out in some square edges, and Mikey [Childress] just had a befter drive on me," Hengeveld said. "l slowed down to gather myself, and he gapped me a little bit. I put on a charge the last two laps, but just needed one more l+!" tMth Davis leading by over a minute, Childress seemed content to settle in and ride iust hard enough to keep Hengeveld at bay, but not make a charge on the disap- pearing Davis. "l shadowed 'Henge' for a while to find out his weak areas and made sure I was right on him on the next lap to take advan- tage," Childress said. "Ty was gone, and I just didn't have anything for him." Davis finished first, followed by Childress and Hengweld. Kawasaki-mounted Shane Esposito fln- ished first in the 250cc Pro nce followed by loey lanza. Russ Garcia was running in the top three before DNFing. YarrEha pilots Kris Keefer and lared Minor linished first and sec- ond, respectndy, in the l25cc Pro Race. The Team Race on Sunday aftemoon fea- tured a $3000 purse and once again it was blue vs. red, as the Zip-\ Racing Team of DaMs and Bobby Garrison baftled it out with the Honda team of Hengewld and Childress. "Mikey staned," Hengeveld said, "pulled the holeshot, and swung out wide and lost the comer. Ross Garcia" on the KTM, snuck in and iumped in front of Mikey, who was now runninS in second and Davis was rn rhird. Both Mikey and Ty got around Garcia on the llrst lap, and that's where it just began! ''We swapped the lead probably six times over the course of an hour with Ty and Garrison," Hengeveld said. "lt was a very exciting race. We went seven lap6, but at needed to be eight, because we finished about a foot behind Davis and Garrison at the flnish line! We raced our hearB ouq we didnt iust give it to ? that's for sure!" Davis and Garrison were stoked to win such a hard-fought battle against the American Honda riders. The fiM Team of Garcia and IYax Eddy dkl not finish, because of undisclosed bike problems, Davis also won top honors in the Vet (Over 30) Expert Open division to the delight of his huge contingent of fans, "l could hear everyone yelling in the grandstands and alon8 the course,' Davis said. "lt's a good feeling." Hengeveld finished second on his American Honda,/Precision Concepts/ ScotdArai-backed XR650R, followed by Tony Bienert on the Suzuki. Zip-Ty Racing rider Andy Jefferson put t ether his own pri\rate race on the course when he found himself running way out in front of the competition. "l have known Tony Bienert forevei and going out on the third lap, I saw him not too far out in front of me, and I knew I had to catch him!" Jefferson said. ''We went throu8h some rough sections, and I was able to 8et by him. lt's always fun to pass a friend!" Jefferson finished third over- atl and first in the Over 40 Expert division on his Zp- Tyl M oose/S u n lin e/P ire lli Yamaha. Mike Skberry finished first in the Over 50 Expert clasi. Childress also won the Four- Stroke Exprt Race, Dual Sport Expert and Unclassified Race. Matt Henderson finished sec- ond in the Unclassified Event on his Victorville lYotorcycle Center/Earl Shuler Racing/Flyi Sidi/One West Kawasaki and found Childress on the XR650R quite the combination to follow. "l Eot off the start right behind l4ikey, and he was roosiing me for quite some time on that 550," Henderson laughed. "We got on the nraight and he pulled me pretty good. I think he was going I l0 mph on that XR550. On the KX250, I ,ust couldn't keep up on this rou8h course." Cll 1 I Steve Hengeveld tumed 30 in September, 2005, and entered his first Vet (Over 30) race at this year's Ade- lanto Grand Prix. Hengeveld's dad, Gary just shook his head and said there was no way he was old enough to have a J0-year-old-son. Speaking of Steve HenSeveld, he claimed the XR650R would remain his weapon of choice as long as he can keep racing the mighty red beast. "l am a stront believer in the XR650R," Hengeveld said. 'lt suits my riding style for this type of event. lt's a bit of a handful in the MX sections, but it really tears up the back sections!" Ricky Dietrlch finished fourth in the Pro race and immediately loaded up his pickup and made the loht trek to Hollister, California, for the AMA National Hare Scrambles- Vipers spokesman Phil Lawrence said that future races may be run elsewhere in Adelanto. The race's start and finish lines are located near the corners of Bellllower Srreet and Bardett Avenue. "The city says we may not be able ro be here again because of encroaching developments," Lawrence said, 'We may have to move furrher wesr or nor(h." Despite the possi- ble move, the Desert Vipers have stated that rhere will be a 27th Annual Adelanto Grand Prix in 2007. The Desert Vipers went old school this year with their scorinS sritem, returninS to handwritten lap sheets instead of tmnrponders or scanners/ba. codes. They were also utilizint a video camera to verl- fy all results. lt is estimated lhat the results will take approximateiy thre€ weeks to score every class. Results wlll be posted at wwuDesertvipercNc.com as they become av"ailable. A I t Hengeveld ond trode off during II I I Briefly... 42 MARCH rs, 2006 . CYCLE NEWS I *r,. E E I Whot would the Adelqnto GP be without its wqterhole? 't,, /$, hia*l l' a,^& ../ Ricky Dictri.h it for o while. L. E T - t I i 'lt ' tl L,," L '.I.: I I I a >:z- C. .. Dovir (OOl ,) 3J -/ i,,m t t l'l ond ol ) ) the Teqm Roce. ,', \ ) w;#_ 7 \ e EN