Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126615
M ike Melton got the nod in a three-way tie for first at the Rattlesnake. Mark Hyde launched himself to • tie for second overall with Jack Penton. AMA National Championship earned the lower score at the second tiebreaker to win the 250cc A class. Ka wasaki support rider Steve Church beat Yamaha o f Petaluma rider Matt Cullins by 10 seconds to take the 200cc A class trophy, and in the 250cc B class, Mike Ro sser gained firs t pl ace over j im and j im 's Yamahasponsored j im Bowman by seven seconds. Despite the relatively easy course, th e ca use for so many tie scores, a few riders di d ma nage to earn their trophies with some room to spare over second place. Honda support rider jeff Irwin lost on ly eigh t eme rgency points to win the A overall and Open A clases. Irwin's score also earned him fourth overall and was the leading score of the top A team consisting of Irwin, Dave Bertram and jerry Kramer. B rider Kirk Ra tzel needed only one more trophy to advance to the A class, and he did so in style here. Ra tzel's score of.two points not onl y won the 200cc B class, but the B overall as well. Kirk was also captain of the winning B team, earning the honors with Tom Moody and jim Bowman. Since winning the B overall at a National enduro automatically advances a rider to the A class, Ra tzel's win is about as solid as can be. Although the course was well marked and scenic, none of the A and AA riders really wanted to comment about today's event. jack Pen to n summed up the overwhelming opinion: "[The co urse layou t] was not to ug h enoug h for a Nationa l enduro; better check p lacement cou ld have caught more riders la te." T he Redwood Scramblers kne w the co u rse would be easy , but co u ld n 't do much to cha nge the circumstances. It seems that th ey were victims of those two big storms that hit northern Cal ifo rnia th is year. These storms have already altered one District 36 grand prix. postponed ano ther enduro Enduro Series: Round four Melton edges R~de and Penton at Rattlesnake National tim e ke e per By Jim Bowman CRESCENT CITY, CA, MAY 2 Team H usqvarna rider Mike Melton took the nod in a three-way tie for first overall at the R attlesnake National Enduro. This AMA Dis trict 36 event, hos ted by the Redwood Scramblers Motorcycle Club, proved to be an excellent enduro for the nov ice ri der, bu t ended u p testing only the timekeep- 14 ing ski lls of the 10 AA riders that came to compete for National Enduro Championship points. Melton, his teammate Mark Hyde and Team Kawasaki p ilot jack Penton each lost one emergency point (one second) during the day's fivehour ride. Melton was dec lared the overall winner because he received the best score at the second tiebreaker check. The tie for second place could not be broken as Hy de and Penton eac h received their only emergency point at th e same check. Tie scores were not unusual today. Emergency points were used to rank the to p seven riders, as a ll of them had scores o f zero . As wit h first overall, KTM/ Hi-Point-sponsored jeff He nni ng matched scores wit h Yama ha- mounted Wayne Smith but