OK
miles,
much
of
which had
to
do with
extreme
dusty conditions.
''The
club
did
the rrght
lhing
by cufting
shon
day two,"
said
Abbott,
who
rode in
the
E2 class
aboard
a Kawasaki
KX450E
"l'm
from
Arizona
and this
kind
of heat
usually
doesn't bother
me, but
here it
just
wore away
at
you."
Thomas,
who
hails from
Wales and
has
been
competin8
in the
United
States
this
year
in
preparation
for next
year's British
Enduro
and Cross
Country
series,
was
surprised
to
finish second.
"l
was surprised
my
test times
were
this
good," Thomas
said,
"Back home we
have
tighter
terrain
tests
and our
grass tracks
are
more
technical.
We also use
tighter
time schedules
between
check,
and route
points
often determine
the outcome.
"Here,
the tests
were
more open
but
the heat
and
dust were
incredible,"
Thomas
said,
"l'm
usually
not
that
Sood
of a hord-pocker,
so lwas
surPrised
I
did
this
well."
Cooper
was also sr"rrprjsed
with his
linish.
"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
fChuck
Cooper]
wanted
to
ride
it. lmpound
closed
at
I o'clock
Friday
tlvo-day
qualifier tests.
Abboft,
who fln-
ished
second
fastest
in the remaining
tlvo
special
tests,
carded
a score
oI 1744.05,
which was
over
32 seconds
ahead
of sec-
ond-place
linisher
Jason
Thornas,
Thomas'
score of
1776.17
narrowlY
edged
out KTM
rider
GuY CooPer'
who
scored
a
1776.37.
Suzuki
rider
Jimmy
Jarrett
and
KTM
pilot
Cole
Kirkpatrick
rounded
out the
top
five with scores
of
1794.48
and
1800. I 3, resPectivelY.
"l
came
here
wanting to
iust PUt
toSether
some solid
test
scores,"
Abbott
said.
"The
tests
were all
shorter,
so
you
just
had to keep
it on
two wheels.
'After
day
one,
I had a
good
lead,
something
like
l9
seconds, so
on day
two,
I actually
rode on the
cautious
side,
I
iust
wanted to
stay
up and stay
consistent
That
was
probably the
smartest
thinS
I
did. Sometimes
when
you slow
it down
a
little,
you go faster"
Record
weekend
temPeratures
of
100-plus
degrees
forced
race organizers
to
shoften day
two
from 90 miles
to
50
lSD€ Qualifier
Senies
times
in eight of
the
l0
awasaki's
Destry
Abboft easiry
won
the
first round
of
the
AMAs four-round
ISDE
Quali-
fler
Series by settinS
the
hstest
dr
27-2',,
2006
Dcsrrv Abboft
dominded
thc Siillwol€r
IOO
T\.vo'DoY
ln
Oklohomo.
ffi
$wl
b
f"
?
tu
\
I
r
Ron Schmelzle
toPPed the
El cldst,
*
#s
a
E
E
\
a
3
.-
)
E
t
(
a
.J
Abbott
Topt
OKTwo-Day
I
\
I
tb
t
Destry
Abbott
opens
ISDE
season
with Stillwater
100 win
4
4
7
1
q
2
f
k-
--l
IMA
'\
N
/
_.t-
t
\t
-l
I
,
',/
kl
-r{
4
I
r
\
_:)
i-
\
!
tt
f
TJ
\
b_,
t
/.
r
I
\
I
U
t
1
t
J
OFF.ROAD
50 JUNE
14,2006
CYCLE
NEWS
