Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

Ahbott Wins Oklahoma Two-Day l./awasakis Destry Abbott won the first two-day |SDE I\qualifier of the ylar in Stillwater oklahoma, May 28-29. Abbon won borh days of the Stillwarer 100 to take rhe overall victory over Honda rider Jason Thomas and KTM pilot Guy Coop€r, who llnished iust a tenth of a second behind the rider from Wales. Record weekend temperatures of more than 100 de8rees forced race ortanizers to shoften day two from 90 miles to 60 miles, much of which had to do with extremely dusty conditions. Abbott, who rode in the E2 class aboard a KX450E said: "l came here wanting to just pr.rt to8ether some good, solid test scores. The tests were all shorter, and you just couldn't afford to make any mistakes. I just rode smooth and tried to stay out of rrouble. "The orSanizers did the right rhing by cuttinS short day two," Abbott added. "l'm from Arizona, and this kind of heat usually doesni bother me. but here i! iusr wore away at you,' "l\das surprised my test times were this good," Thomas said. "Back home, we have tighter te.rain lests, and the grass-track are mostly on side hills. The heat here was incredible." Thomas has been competing in the United States this year in prepamtion for next year's British Enduro and Cross Country series, Cooper was also surprised with his finirh. "l guess I didn't expect to do this well," Cooper said. "l only decided to ride the event Friday, and that was mostly because my brother [Chuck Cooper] wanted to ride it." The Stillwater 100 is the first offour two-day ISDE qual- ifiers used to determine who gets to go to this year's ISDE in New Zealand. St€ve 8€rkner o Deslry Abbofi ignored dre intense heqt ond humidity ro win rhr srillwqtGr l0O lsDE quolifier in Oklqhomo. fenks Wins Funky Chicken q o ? o Hare Scrambles KTI'1's RobbieJenks rode offwith the win at the Funky Chicken National Hare Scrambles in Elkton, Oreton, on May 28. Yarnaha's Nathan Kanney flnished second, and KTM rider Patrick Garrahan finished third. Rain left the treck wet and muddy, but that was fine with fiM rider Shane Watts, who tot out in front early. Unfonunately for Watts, he hit a tree on the firsr lap and had some more problems laler on and evenrually flnished out the race in flfth. Kanney soon found himself in the lead, where he would stay for a couple of laps before Jenks finally got him. Once into the lead, Jenks gradually pulled away and scored the win over Kanney and Garrahan. who had staned off abour loth. Jon Devorok Poovey lniured ln Springfield Mile As of Tr.resday, May 30, 47-year-old veteran dirt tracke. Terry Poovey was in a coma at the Springfield Memorial Hospital in Sprindeld, lllinois, followint his crash in the Springfield Mib on Sunday, Hay 28. ''He's pretty much the same as )/esterday," said Poovey s brother, Ted, on May 30. "They are going to start tq/in8 to take him out of the coma soon. We won't know until they start to reduce the medicine, but his CAT scan shows there's no more fluid or swellin8 of the brain and there's no paralysis." ln addition to his head injuries, Poovey also suffered nine broken ribs and a broken shoulder on his ritht side. He also broke the sixth and seventh vertebrae in his back. Ierry Poovey in o.lion ot re Springfield l{ile prior ro his occident. Flt I il a |. I KTM'5 Robbie Jenks survived lhe wet conditioni to win lhe Funky Chicken Notionol Hore 5

• Cover