Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

area of Gorman, but due to problems the Cbedr.poinu were forced to m~ to the alternate site in the desert. When this occurred a few of the the pre-entered riders decided not to com· pete. Still, there were more than SOD riders who staned the event. 00 Cj') Woods rider Terry Cunnl~h.m .d.pted to the desert we"enough to teke the ove,." win. (FIle photo) AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 11 Cunningham tops Bad Mountain Enduro By Ed Regehr RED MOUNTAIN, CA, NOV. I The AMA National Championship Enduro series headed south to the desert of California for the Checkpoints' Bad Mountain/Bob Brooks Memorial Enduro. When the dust had cleared, Husky-sponsored AA rider Terry Cunningham had found the top spot, showing that woods riders can adapt quickly to the desert 12 terrain. Not only was Terry happy about winning in the desen the first time out (he was injured while practicing TWO days before the February Chaparrals Enduro and was unable to compete) but it also put him closer to a National Championship. Just missing out on the overall win and one point behind Cunningham's 18 point score was Husky-sponsored Tom Webb (AA), who tallied a 19 point score. Tom was one of the local favorites to win, as he is currently the Number One Open plate holder in the district. Current National Champion, Huskysponsored Dick Burleson (AA) was third overall, with a 20 point score, while Yamaha-sponsored Larry Roeseler (AA) dropped 21 poinu for fourth overall. The rest of the top 10 were Husky-sponsored 250cc A winner Mike Melton (22), Kawasaki-sponsored AA Jack Penton (S7.445), Can-Am-mounted 250cc A Mike Godfrey (S7.462), Kawasaki-mounted AA Mark Hyde (S9), Kawaaaki-sponsored AA Ron Ribolzi (46.611) and 250cc A Kevin Brown (46.782) aboard his Husky. In the A ranks, it was Yamahamounted Chip Howell taking the Open win at 11 th overall, with a score of 48. Ex-motocroaer Jim WiIaon, aboard Bob Brooks' Yamaha, dropped 54 poinu en route to second Open A and 12th overall, while KTM-mounted .Jeff Henning made the trip from northern California a successful one, 100ing 55 poinu for third Open A and lSth overall. The 250cc A win went to Melton, followed by Godfrey and Husky-mounted Kevin Brown (46.782). Hi-Desen Kawasaki'sponsored Tracy Walters once again captured the 200cc A class, with 57 poinu 100t, which was also good for 14th overall. Yamaha-mounted Mike Haney topped the Four-stroke A class, with a score of 66, putting him 15th overall, while Wheelsmith Maicosponsored Harry Keast (88) edged out Yamaha-mounted Ron Fry (89) and Honda-mounted Jay Tullis (90) for the Senior A win. For the B class it waa a test of survival, with only 18 riders making it to the fInish without houring out. Taking the B overall and Open win was Yamahamounted Greg Byers, with a score of 71. Dropping 75 poinu for second overall B and second Open was another Yamaha-mounted rider, Kent Perkins, followed by yet another Yamaha-mounted Open class rider, Steve Smith, with a score of 78. The Bad Mountain Enduro had originally been set to run in the mountain The course consisted of TWO loops, with a 65 mile f1I'St loop for all classea, and a 45 mile second loop for AA's, A's, and B's only. At 7:01 the fIrst row of A riders took off, with the first AA, Husky-sponsored Rick Munyon, leaving five minutes later. Rick was doing well until 100ing a transmission somewhere out on the second loop. The other AA's staned every other minute after Rick and had three A's riding with them. Rick had three A riders on his number, also. They headed up a fairly decent size hill, which was not bad for most AA's, A's, and B's, but had many C riders pushing or coming back down and trying it again. All of them finally made it over and many were soon bulldogging it down the downhill on the other side. The course cfOlled Randsburg Rd., jumped into Fiddlers Gulch for a few miles, croaed Hwy. S95 and headed for the area known to the local riders as the "sand hills," which was the site of the first s~al test. The Special test was about 10 miles long and consisted of tight, rwisry ttails in the canJOllS, with a few upbills and downhills thrown in. The speed average was 24 mph and caught all of the AA's and A's a couple minutes late. A reset after the special test allowed riders to catch back some time, then they rode acroll the valley at S6 mph to the rocky uphills, downhills, and winding sandwashes above Charlie's Place that made up the second special test. This special test was also at 24 mph and again caught the AA's and A's several minutes late. After another reset to catch up some time and the riders were on their way again at SO mph for about 14 miles, until they stopped at the alternate gas. One rider not benefiting from the alternate gas was Dick Burleson, who ran out of gas and had to borrow some from a passing rider, fonunately not losing much time_ At the fmt loop finish the best score for AA's and A's was five. Many A's and B's decided to call it a day at this point and the C's knew they had earned their fmisher pins, with the best C score somewhere about 20 poinulost. The second loop headed towards Government Peak and consisted of shale rock uphills, downhills, and many canyons with TwO to three foot . rock ledp within them. Most of the loop was riddem at 24 and SO mph. Berween the start and second check were TwO good size uphills that many 250cc riders said they had pushed. Also, there was one very steep downhill that had many AA's and A's a little bit scared, while a lot of B's bull-dogged it down, which was not very easy, either. The best score at the second check was three poinu 100t, with many A's and B's 10 to SO minutes late and several B's houring out. It was more of the same for about 14 miles as riders lost more and more time. A reset was SO miles into the loop, but many never got to use it. From the reset, the riders rode at 24 mph for about 15 miles, with one more steep downhill near the finish to keep them on their toes. At the finish, Cunningham remarked, "Now that was an enduro." Larry Roeseler finished looking a little tired and said, "That was rough." Even those who were very late and those who houred out thought that it was a very good enduro. One A rider had only one thing to say; "They • kicked our butu."

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