Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

• ~ m CN 00 ~ ...... ...... CN ...... • .-4 l-. 0- ~ Chip Howell works his bike along a trail en route to the overall win. Ho well hauls at 1. Oth annual Tecate 500 Enduro - Jon Miller splashes to second overall. five points behind Howell's . 1 . 1 club decided that the winners would triumph regardless and set up the event with the majority of riders in mind. As in 1981, this change in attitude is reflected in part by the 24 mph average, with resets . The club used to run varying averages. There were some memorable years, like the 1978 event when only 20 riders out of 271 starters finished the event! Chip Howell's first Tecate 500 was that difficult 1978 run. He finished. In fact Howell has finished all five Tecate 500s he has entered and trophied every year as well. " I finished 18th with 600 plus points in 1978, moved to 10th overall in 1979 (114 finishers ), took third behind Popiel and Malcolm Smith in 1980 (32 finishers) and was second overall last year ," said Howell. "I was ready for this to be my year." "I had a clean, trouble-free, ride until just before lunch on Sunday," stated Howell. "Then, I guess a rock knocked the front axle nut loose and it fell off. I couldn't locate one at lunch and since the front wheel was in no danger of coming off I went on. Then just before the last gas check my odometer went. I was the one keeping time, so we (teammate Rick Finger and Howell) pulled the odometer from Finger's bike during the 15 minute gas break but didn't get the head secured. It was flopping around and we ended up two minutes late at the next check. All together we dropped five in the last section before the pavement, in the tight stuff. Then the odometer fell off on the fast fire road but we zeroed the final check. It is really satisfying to finally win this event and I feel the course was more challenging than last year's." The Tecate 500 is the only enduro Malcolm Smith still competes in and he has missed just one of the 10 runs. Last year a four wheel event in Africa conflicted with the Tecate. This year Smith was back and in contention for t h~- overall but a broken brake backing plate ca used some problems. The Malcolm Smith Racing Products team was still in contention for the team trophy which would have been their third win, when Kent Richardson's ignition went 30 miles from the finish on Sunday. "We'd better find it was something hard to fix," said Smith. Off-road racing, go fast riders Bob Balentine and AI Baker entered their first Tecate 500 this year. The duo teamed with quick Jeff Kaplan and current American Honda Parts employee Jon Stillman. Since Stillman was the most experienced Tecate rider of the group he ~~s _~~~~ 1."~a.~ By Suzie Mann TECATE. BAJA CALIFORi';IA, MEX .. APR. 3-4 Fast and consistent Chip Howell, former motocross racer turned ISDE and enduro rider, topped this year's 210-rider field to win the challenging l Oth Annual Tecate 500 Enduro. Howell rode his 490 Yamaha to the overall and Open class victory over Jon Miller (Hus) while desert ace and 1982 so ..... . SCORE off-road double winner Bob Balentine (Hon), grabbed third overall in his first Tecate ride. Morris Norman won the Senior class and picked up fourth overall, via the tie-breaker check, over 250cc class leader, Rick Finger (Yam IT). Second place class finishers Jeff Kaplan (250 Hon) and Lars Larsson (Senior, Hus) also tied on points with 23 apiece. The 125cc class win was taken by Paul Eddy over Bill Postel; both were Yamaha-mounted. Jim Halford, Mark Miller, John Imbraile, and Bob Shepard scooped up the prestigious team trophy and carried it off to Arizona for the first time. Halford's Southwest Motorcycles team is from Glendale, Husqvarna mounted, and rode on lucky number seven. Chip Howell's team rode on minute number seven last year to take the top team award. Howell 's team gave up any chance of a repeat victory just over 10 miles out on Saturday when Randy Hollenbeck and Scott Atchison remained on the trail with Husqvarna West's technical rep, Sherman Schneller. Schneller, riding fastto catch up after a small delay near the start, hit a rut on the fast road and was unconscicous. Howell and teammate Rick Finger, went on to notify the club at the checkpoint. Atchison stayed with Schneller till Hollenbeck garnered a truck, then drove Schneller to Sharp's Hospital in San Diego where his injuries were found to be, ~ ,bro ken back, punctured lung, and internal bleeding. "Randy's fast action literally saved Sherman's life" said Howell several days later. The Los Ancianos also refunded Hollenbeck's $120 entry fee. The accident cast a pall in the Husqvarna camp at the end of the day and several Husky riders withdrew from the event. Bob Popiel, double Tecate winner( 1980and 1981), Scot Harden and Scott Atchison dropped out. Amazingly, Popiel lost only one point Saturday and that was at the first check after stopping to check on Schneller. The Tecate 500 Two Day Enduro is a Classic in the best sense of the word. It is arduous, sometimes technicall y very difficult and al ways challenging. A rider must prove to the club he is experienced and qualified before his en try is even accepted. Each year the Los Ancianos takes the accepted group, test them thoroughly then rewards those who pass. Some win trophies while all garner the prestigious finisher pins and an invite to the finishers ' picnic. The picnic can also be a fun and challenging two day event. Good dirt riding skills are the pre-requisite but lots of mental determination (especially when pulling on cold wet boots at five in the morning on the second day) and physical endurance are necessary qualities for Tecate 500 finishers. Los Ancianos means "Ancient Ones" in Spanish and the club motto, posted at the start this year, is "Old age and treachery will overcome youth and skill." There hasn't been as much treachery the past two years since jhe •• ~ .. .. ~ . . . •• • I ", ' • Captain. His helpful tips must have inspired the team as Balentine finished third overall, Kaplan took second in the 250cc class and Baker said it was the best ride he has ever been on in his riding career. Vnfortunately Stillman struck problems when he went diving and swimming with his helmet on Saturday morning. Then to add insult to injury he fell on a huge off camber boulder and was pinned down by his bike until Balentine lifted the bike and Stillman slipped off the rock head first. What a way to treat a team captain. Grant Palenske (Open Maico) was also in contention for the overall till he ran out of gas late Sunday afternoon. Brent Wallingsford (Hus) was also in the running, dropping only eight points until chain problems cost him an additional 19 big ones just over 40 miles from the finish line. Senior rider Richard Gehring gets the "My That Was Close" award this year. His KTM seized a couple of miles from the finish and Gehring pushed it at a dead run into the finish, crossing the line one minute before houring out! The hard luck award of the year unfortunately goes to Ron Bishop (C-A). Bishop is the only rider to trophy in all nine previous Tecate 500 events. The Los Ancianos were pulling for him to "do it again" this year and even had a special trophy planned for him. The ignition on his Can-Am quit Sunday morning and he DNF. It was truly difficult to say who was the more disappointed: R.B. or the Los Ancianos club members. It take six months of hard work by the Los Ancianos to put on this famousenduro. Riders return year after year knowing they will always be challenged by the event. There are few, if any, places remaining in the northern hemisphere where you can ride a cou pie hundred miles of almost virgin trail interspersed with fast two track roads, through breathtakingly beautiful scenery. Mag Seven's lunch alone is certainly worth a good chunk of the entry fee. The club really sets up the event to be a challenge, a true test of a very good dirt rider's ability. . They use imagination and just a bit of treachery from time to time. • Results OPEN: 1. Chip Ho_lI. 11 (Yam);2. Jon Miller, 16 (Hua'; 3. Bob Bolentl"". 19(Hon~ 4. Mart

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