THE DESTRY REPORT

AMA H&H Round 1
Lucerne, Ca.
Jan. 23, 2011

Race Day:

It’s been super dusty here and I was really hoping for a good breeze before the race started, unfortunately that didn’t happen. The start was going to be huge otherwise it was going to be tough to pass. When the banner dropped I got a great jump, but still had a tough time getting to the end of the banner first. I was around 7th, or so, and had to start slowly picking guys off. Close to the 5-mile marker I was able to put a good pass on Kendall Norman to get myself into the top 5, but not long after that I went down going up a hill. I hurried up and got going again before he could get back by me. When I got to the bottom I looked back and he was nowhere to be seen. I guess he crashed on the same hill and hit the ground pretty hard (I don’t believe he finished). The first loop was pretty uneventful and I was in 4th, behind Justin Morrow, and really wasn’t able to do much. After the first 40-miles was over I was still in 4th and was told Kurt Caselli and David Pearson were already way ahead of us. This last loop was around 50+ miles and I heard the last part was going to be really tough. I knew this was going to be my opportunity, and once we started to get into the really technical stuff I was able to get right on Justin and then later make the pass. I had to stop at the alternate (38-miles into this loop) and they told me the top 2-guys were a ways ahead so I knew there was no reason to hang it out. After the alternate gas it was like I was riding some trails at Erzburg. They put us in some awesome stuff and I was totally surprised that we were racing through it, but pumped they actually put it in the race. I had a great time and just kept plugging away and trying to ride smart through it. Then there was a long valley into the finish and I figured I had a good solid 3rd, but with less than a mile to go I saw Kurt pushing his bike to the finish so I ended up finishing 2nd.

Overall Summary:
My goal coming into the opening round was to get on the podium, and since I pulled off a second I really wasn’t too disappointed. It’s a long series stacked with a ton of great riders, and I know if I stay on the podium I’ll be right there for my main goal (championship). I’m feeling good and fit so I just need to keep plugging away!

Overall Results (top 15):
1st David Pearson
2nd Destry Abbott
3rd Jacob Argubright
4th Justin Morrow
5th Kurt Caselli
6th Ryan Kudla
7th Brad Pace
8th Coltan Udall
9th Carl Maassberg
10th Ivan Ramirez
11th Jordan Brandt
12th Brett Saunders
13th Levi Hutchings
14th Morgan Crawford
15th Dan Capparelli

Other Notes:
I was super pumped to see DMC (the club that put this race on) put on a great national last loop! I’m sure they’re going to get a lot of people complaining, but it’s a national and that’s the stuff that separates the top guys! Great job on the last loop! It was like a tough national Enduro!

The H&H series is so stacked with great riders this year (as I was saying before). I can’t remember the last time there were so many great riders. A few of them started the year off on a bad foot. Kendal crashed out. Kamo had a stick go through his radiator, and Kurt who was going to pull off the win until he had bike issues right before the finish. Finishing consistently is going to be the key!

If you haven’t made it out to a National H&H you really should. This round had a huge turnout and they’re usually great races to do (and it doesn’t cost that much) or to watch.

Here’s a video Beau did from the race (pretty cool)! It shows how many people were starting at once and it has some awesome footage with a GoPro. https://promoto.tv/

Here’s a really cool video Kawasaki posted on their site of our off road race team (before our first WORCS race). https://www.kawasaki.com/Racing_news/Article.aspx?id=1515

I had a lot of people ask why I was running #14. Since it’s my number for WORCS and the Endurocross series I figured I would just use the same number everywhere. It’s also my 14th year with Kawasaki, so I figured it was meant to be!

I started a Twitter page and if you want to check it out. https://twitter.com/#!/destryabbott450.

My next race is this weekend for the opening WORCS round in Taft, Ca.

I attached some photos from Kawasaki (taken by Mark Kariya)
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