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/1542345
Abhott/Woods Take ' Laughlin Hare Scrambles T a It took half the race for them to work I past rheir Honda-mounted ri\rals, but the last half of the Kawasaki Team Green Laughlin U.S. Hare Scrambles - round two of Best ln The Desert's Silver State Series - belonged endrely to Team Green's Destry Abbott and Natha, Woods. The pair finished the 120-mile race in four hou6, one hinute and 40 seconds, unofli- cially, on their Pro Circuit/Med Parts Unlimited/Dunlop-backed KX450E "The last couple weeks have been real- ly great," Woods said. "The couple week before that were horrible. k s Sreat to have a comeback like we have," lndeed, both Abbott and Woods expe- rienced less-than-hoped-for race debuts of th€ now KX450F in various off-road con- figurations at rhe beginnrn8 of the year, but the past few weeks have seen them - and th€ bike - on a tear. Abbott won round tlvo of the Af'lly'FMF Racing National Hare & Hound Series three weeks ago, and Woods followed up last week by win- ning round wvo ofthe AMA National Hare Scrambles Series (with Riclv Dietrich win- ning round one on a KX450F as well). The Laughlin Hare Scrambles triumph marked the first for both at what is probably the most popular event on the BITD calenda-r, as it's lhe sole motorcycle-only rece and is marked by ti8hter, more techniaal trails. Howevei the first half of t}le race saw a pair of Honda CRF250RS in front, with the Robby Bell/Nick Pearson team leadint the way and the team of Steve Hengeveld & Kendall Norman giving chase. The Precrsion Concepts/Dunlop/Honda Pro Oils-sponsored teams weren't able to hold back the Team Green machine when Teom Green's Destry the taughlin Hore Sc Abbofr & Nolhon Woodr won rqmbler, it went into the lead near the halfuay mar{<, and Abbott took off from the pits with Hengeveld in hot pursuit and with Bell a short way ba.k. As Abbott & Woodr padded their lead, Heng- eveld & Norman kept their hold on sec- ond, evenlually finishing in 4:07: l7 - unof- licially. But there would be no Honda two- rhree, as KTM's Mike Corder & l'latt Gosnellran them down - or at least erased enough of the gap between them to beat Bell & Pearson on corrected trme. The Michelin/lMS/Tag 525 Xc-mounted pair ended up clocking an unoflicial 4:08:04 to bea( lhe Honda duo by 16 seconds on adlusted time. KTM's Brent Harden and K€llon Walch rounded out the top frve overall and won the Four-Stroke Pro class in an unofficial 4: l9:35 on their Hichelin/lt'ls/Tat 525 XC. Mdrk tGtva Gadson Debuts Z.X-,4, Lands AMA/Prostar Win I Kawasaki suits couldn't have dreamed up a b€tter introduc- tion for its new ZX-14 Ninia during the opening round of the AMy'y'Prostar drag-r.cing season at South Georgia Motorsports Park in valdost4 GeorSia, March 4-5. Superstar rider Rickey Gadson - back in the Team Green fold - won Super Street on a Coby Adams-prepped and -tuned, nitrous-huffint ln other news, 47-yearold Top Fuel leSend Larry "Spiderman" McBride spectacularly r€tumed from the stroke that sidelined the ori8inal live-sec- ond motorcycle pilot hidway through last season. PlcBride qualified number one, with a 5.96, and hit an unheard-of 248-66-mph top speed. He nailed a huge holeshot advantate on teammale Jimmy Brantley, the defendinS class champion, in the final and ran low ET of tie meet (5.926) to rake thewin. "l don't like having that number three on my bike," laughed a 2o-pound-lighter McBride, who seems as determined as ever to replace that three with another one. Since Honda hasn't sold Blackbirds in the United States for years, Honda Riders Club of America rider Kent SroE decided to retire his Mickey Thompson Pro Street version ofthe model. But his new CBR|000 won't be ready until the second Prostar round in Atlanta in April, so Stotz raced the Blackbird at Valdosta and set both ends of the class record with a 7.275 ET and 201-82-mph top speed. "The price on the Blackbird just went up," grinned Stotz, who in Valdosta and at the last iace of 2005 in Gainesville lound the consistency that he'd missed since his championship years. Ashley Owens beat his chamPion C&W Cycleworks teammate Char'lie Farrar in the Fast- By-Gast Pro Mod final. PaulGast himselftickled but never crossed the six-second milestone on his way to the Accel Pro Stock win. over Dean FmnE. Roben Giard beat Steve Dawson in Funnybike, champion Rick Mcwaters beat teammate leremy English in an all-Fetrick Ra.ing Hot Rod Cruiser presented by Star Motorcycles flnal, and Vince worka beat lohn Hall in l0@ Superspon. ln Spor6man action, Mark Coulson (Iop Gas and Super Gas) and "Fearsome" Andy Baumbach (Super Comp and Pro ET) both scored double wins, and Chad Winters beat young Brandon Teasley in Street ET The next AMA/Prostar round is the MTc Elmer Trett Nationals, April l-2 at Atlanta Dra8way in Commerce, Georgia. fim Holley ZX- 14. wlrat made the win so impressive was how quickly this race bike was put together and the quality of the well-dialed-in 'Busas that it b€at. Gadson beat last year's class-dominatinS nitrous 'Busa of Darren Burnen and Todd Schnitz's race- winning turbo'Busa. ''lt's amazing what Coby has done with this bike in such a short time, and it shows what a Sreat bike the new ZX- 14 is." Gadson said. Everts Takes Hawkstone MX Rinaldi Yamaha rider Stefan Everts claimed his third victory in four weeks after winnin8 both I'lX I heab of (he Hawkstone Park lnternational in Shropshire, EnSland, on March 5. The nine-time World Champion dominated the first of two heats in bright and sunny but cold conditions. Evens escaped the clutches of fellow BelSian Kevin Striibos in the opening sprint and was iust as masterlul in the second heat as he tlided past Striibos and his Suzuki tearnmate Steve Ramon. Everts, however, couldn't complete the hat trick in the Grand Final, a moto that mixed the best finishers from the HXI and MX2 classes, as that race was won by Striibos. Evens ended up second. "l will miss this place," Everts said. "lt is the sixth year in a row I have come to Hawkstone. I've had iome Sreat moments here, and unfortunately I never 8ot the chance to ride in the Grand Prix. I think it is a great track with a lot of potential. I enioyed the races today, and it was difficult to make the lap of honor for the last time." Raga Wins lndoor Trials Title Gas Gas factory star Adam RaBa clinched his fourth World lndoor Trial Championship in a row with his victory in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the lfth round of the l2-round series. The sao Paulo .ound marked the first time that World Trials had visited the South American country, and it wat a ruccess on all fronts. The final consisted of Rata vs. Takahashi Fujinami, but it wa5 Raga coming out on top. Though the battle for the title is ovei second place is still up for trab6 with two rounds remaininS, as AJbert Cabestany tries to hold on to the runner-up spot. Morio Condelonc ! t -fi C t t / r 1,0(r Adom Rogo " World lndoor Triqls Chompion. CYCLE NEWS . MARCH 15, 2006 I I L i- ar.. .&'ri 'f' I t Rickey Godson govc rho Koworoki Ninio zx-I4 o win in its A iAlPlorllr comFeti- tion debut ot Georgio Iltoto6ports Pork. Godron woo lhe Super strcet clqlt. , = r , tr r- \ I t vov. @=