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Normal sandwashes became rivers as Mother Nature made a quagmire of the event. and high speed averages added
more to the cause.
.
A helpful hand was never turned
down in Tecate.
.
A star-studded starting line holds winner Jack Johnson 19b), second place Scot Harden 1
9c1. fourth overall Max Switzer 19d) and ninth overall Casey Folks.
300 start, 19.finish Tecate SOO 'Enduro
By Larry Langley
T ECA T E, BAJA , MEX ., APR. 1·2
'T hree hundred started, 19 finished. The
Tecate 500 Enduro is famous for its challenging
ride but Mother Nature sorta went overboard
this year, turning Saturday's cours~ into a,quagmire. Most of the rid ers who
DNF ho ured out before the lunc h
,
d"
h
stop. Heavy rams. p rece mg ~ e
run, com bined With heavy rams
18
Saturday, was too much for the -vast
majority ·of the riders ' to cope ·with ,' .
Very fast speed averages contributed
to houring o ut also . No.rmal
sandwashes were hub deep rivers.
Goggles were useless as the rain kept
coming down. c drenching the riders
and making life miserable. Deep rain
ruts were formidable obstacles.
This year's enduro, like last , ra n
south of Tecate in the mo untains,
never dropping down GIlO the desert as ,
in some p revious years.
The Los A ncia nos MC . does
advertising to fill their 300 rider limit.
They send ou t fl yers to ,. previo us
contestants and within three weeks
have the lim it ' filled with eager ride rs
payi ng the $55 entry fee . So und
expensive? Not when you consider the
club provides gas, oi l and lunch bot h
days. And the scenery of a Baja that
most riders have never seen and that's
saying a lot for some.
.
A Who's Who of the motorcycle
scene shows up to r id e Tacate,
Malcol m Smith, the Dempsey
"'"
brothers, Ron BIShop, etc. The m ost
im pressive ride again belonged t.o
minu te #9 . Casey Folks, J r . (H us), j ack
J ohnson (H us), Scot Harden (H us) and
Max Switzer (Yam) were the onlyfour
man team to finish, winning tfie
coveted team t r o p h y for the
u m p teenth time in a row . One of th,;
four or A.C . Bakk en will probab ly
win the enduro. A .C . was the on ly one
with a speedo so the edge might go to
him. J ohnson and Harden were a litt le
faster in a couple of sections though .
Malcolm Smith looked like an early
favorite to repea t last yea r's win but he
lost second gear Saturday and third,
fourth and fifth early Sunday. He rede
back in in sixth, slighrly disgusted .
