Pearson
Nationa!
Tops
Hdre
/\
fter a run ofbad luck, and faced with
elimination
Ain the chase for the AMA Natronal Hare
&
Hound Championship, Russ Pearson finally had
thanSs
go
his way at the Mking's l4C's Viryin Voyage,
as he won round five of the series at Lucerne Valley,
California, on April 23. The defendint AMr'y'FMF
RacinS
Nalional Hare & Hound Series Champion
hadn't won since round
one, also at Lucerne, and
seemed stuck in
a
rut wilh three
conseculive thirds.
That meant that if he finished
third or worse at the
Vikings
National, he'd also lose the title.
The Zip-Ty Racing/Montclair Yamaha/Moose
YZ450F-mounted rider put
in one of the hardest
effons he'd
ever
mustered
and
fought
back chal-
lente after challenge by Team
Green's
Destry
Abbott, the curent series
points
leader.
Abbott's motivation was simple: Winning the
race would clinch the 2006 championship with
two rounds remaininS. and he rode as if it were
the final round of the series on his Pro
Circuit/Dunlop/O'Neal KX450E
Alter
getting
a third-place start, behind Pearson
and Honda's Kendall Norman,
Abbot! rpent mos(
of the race swapping the lead with Pearson,
and
their battle
got
hotter as the miles wound down. A
mistake by one immediately
saw the other
jump
in
front, though it wasn't for lon8,
especially with the
amount of virtin terrain the Vikings
employed.
Lucerne
& Hound
Rusr Peorson kept his ti
e
hopes
olive
with o win d lhe Virgin Voyog. Notionol
Hore
&
Hound in Lucerne Volley
Colifornio.
{
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T
I
Grant Great At Four-Stroke World
Championships
Josh
Grant used the l9th runnint of the
Whke
Brothers Four-Stroke World
Championship to help him
prepare
for the upcomint Toyota AMA Moto
