Pearson and Kamo Win Vegas to Reno
5:45am marked the start time on Thursday morning. The riders typically start early and finish around noon in order to beat the strong desert heat. Pearson jumped on the bike first. He was second off the line one minute behind the first Honda team.
Pearson went to work closing the gap on the lead team, riding in dust the entire time. “The dust was pretty bad since I was close to the front team,” commented Pearson. As Pearson rode past check one he realized he had a slight rear brake problem but didn’t think much of it at first. “I thought the brakes would last through the next check so I just ran with it – but soon they gave out completely and I struggled trying to close in on the front team.” Pearson came in to check two, had the brakes fixed, and passed the bike to his teammate. Kamo charged hard and was able to make the pass for the lead before the third check point. The Shock Doctor/KTM team held the lead for the remainder of the day, finishing the afternoon with an approximate 6 minute lead over the second place team.
An early start was in order again on day two. Both riders rode well and had strong results throughout the day. By the end of day two, the KTM team had doubled their lead and had over 12 minutes on the field. “The second day went well. We only encountered one problem at the end of the day. I was finishing the last check when the mousse tube disintegrated from the heat. Luckily, I was close enough to the pits to just slow down and ride the bike in easy,” remarked Kamo. “Fortunately, we had a strong enough lead it did not affect the overall result too significantly.”
It looked like it would be an easy win for the KTM riders as they started the third and final day of the haul. Pearson had a good ride in the beginning of the day and then passed the bike to Kamo who continued to pull out front. As Kamo quickly approached a long stretch in the desert, he hit an unexpected bump that threw him from his bike, knocking him out. A few minutes after, the 2nd place team came charging through, hit the same bump and went to the ground next to Kamo. Both riders helped each other up and continued the race. Kamo had to slow his pace in order to regroup and make it back to the pits on the now mangled bike.
Kamo rode into pit number 7, and luckily, his teammate was there to take over. Pearson had to wait approximately 9 minutes while the Shock Doctor/KTM mechanics scrambled to put the bike back in working order. He remounted, and in a blaze of glory, made up 4 minutes in the last stretch of the race. His comeback was enough to recover lost time and move the KTM team into the lead once more. The Shock Doctor/KTM team took the win over the Honda Team of Ricky Brabec and Robert Underwood.
Overall Results –
- David Pearson and David Kamo – KTM
- Robert Underwood and Ricky Brabec – Honda
- Sean Berryman and Cory Vannoy – KTM
- Tim Fitzpatrick and Irving Powers – Yamaha
- Rex Cameron and Michael Johnson – Honda
