Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jack Johnaon bomb. down a aanclwa.h in pursuit of the I..de,.. He and Baker finished second overall. 1 0:> Dan AahCl1lft and partner Dan Smith were on the ga. both day. to ...ily score the 0V8I1I11 win. h wu their first Baja 1000 win. SCORE International Off-Road series: Round 4 SmithlAshcraft flawless in Baja 1000 By Dele Brown ENSENADA, B.C., MEXICO, NOV. 4-5 Team Husqvarna members Dan Smith and Dan Ashcraft put together a combination of impeccable luck and unbeatable speed to take the overall win in the two-day Baja 1000. The pair teamed up on an XC500 to cover the 480 miles of the first day and the 360 miles of the second for a combined 12 elapsed time of 14 hours, 48 minutes and 10.0~ seconds, the only emry to break 15 hours flat. Only one team challenged the Husky duo, and that was the Honda R&D of Japan/Mugen USA-backed XR500 of Jack Johnson and Al Baker. They led at times during the first day before Baker suffered some minor setbacks. At 15:07:41.81, they wound up second overall. Third overall wem to the Team Honda XR500 entry of Bob Ruuen and Tom Kelly, followed by the Team HuskyXC500piloted by Larry Roeseler and Brem Wallingsford. The lOp four were the only vehicles to finish in under 16 hours. All were riding in Class 22, for mOlOrcyc1es over 25Occ. When the pre-race favorites in the 250cc Class 21, Kem and Kurt Pfeiffer, were beset by ignition troubles, Larry Fife Duane and Craig Adams were there to turn in a steady ride and take the viclOry by a four-hour margin. Their CR250 was backed by American Honda. Another American Honda entry, that of Pete Postel and Donnie Morrison, had an easy win in the 125cc Class 20. Their margin of victory was two hours. It was much tighter in the ranks for riders over ~O, with the Honda of Gardena/A&B Floors/O'Neal-sponsored XR500 of Bob Prickeu and Todd Marlel1a taking the win by 10 minutes over another Honda, ridden by Steve Skinner and Jim Sones. Ye.t another Honda thumper, this one in the hands of John Etchart and Dave Woods and bearing the banners of Hemet Cycle Center and 29 Palms MOlOrcycles, prevailed in Class ~8. They finished five minutes up on the Charlie Conway/Chuck Koistra Honda. Only three miles from the stan, this race was marred by tragedy. On the pavemem section leading out of Ensenada, veteran desen/off-road competilOr Bil1 Friant, 41, crashed in a corner. How he lost control is not clear at this time, but Friant ended up skidding off the road. He hit a concrete pillar with his chest, and although' a passing ambulance was there in minutes to take him lo a hospital, he died of internal injuries. Friant was well-known among the competilOrs, and news of his death left most shaken. This race was run on a two-day format, new for SCORE. On the first day riders faced' familiar trail through Nuevo Junction, over the dreaded Summit, up to Tres Posos and south to San Felipe. Once at San Felipe, the route headed up to San Matais and ran the loop up lo Mike's Sky Ranch before hitting Nuevo again and rejoininK the course back to San Felipe. Cia.. 22 Although Honda's off-road team manager Bruce Ogilvie staned first, mechanical troubles caused him to drop 20 minutes on the leaders in the first section. Al Baker was the first one through EI Rayo, with Dan Smith two !Dinutes behind him, but only one minute in arrears on elapsed time. Baker, Smith, Tom Kelly, Brent WallingsfordandJim Fishback (who was teamed with Team Honda molOcross mechanic Chris Haines on an XR500) all were within three minutes of each other on elapsed time. Out in from the Husky had overtaken the Honda by the time they reached Nuevo, although both clocked through the check at the same time. From Nuevo up to the Summitand well past San Felipe, in fact-the two teams diced it out, with neither able to gain more than a minute or ... two on the other. "It was great," sallf Ashcraft later, "We'd pit and they pass us; then they had lo pit and w r get 'em back." I Behind them, Ruuen and Kel1 q had dropped lo about 10 minutes of the pace. Roeseler and Wallingsfor ) were fanher back, having ridden aJ-j most 200 miles with a slipping c1UlCO before taking the time lo replace it at San Matais. Wal1ingsford said later that he figured the team lost six mina utes in time lost on the trail. "There) were times when I didn't think I wa going to make it up the mountain, said Wallingsford. il On the route through Mike's to Valle de Trinidad, the exciting baule' for the lead ended. Baker crash twice, both the result of course m~ cation by spectalOrs. "The first time hit something that they built on the trail, the second time they pull down the course arrows just before '" tight corner and I missed it," said' Baker. At Trinidad they were. fiv minutes behind the leading Husky and the lJlargin grew lo nine minute by the time they elJded tpe first day San Felipe. Ogilvie and Hopkins, who ha been making up time on the leaders were out of the race past Trinida when the cam chain snapped.. .rl Another effort came to a halt In the same area. The BMW of North Arne ica entry (their first venture into American racing in over two years) was a modified version of the 10000c machine used lo win this year's Paris to Dakar rally. Frenchman Hubert Aurial, who won lhatevemas well as one other Paris to Dakar, was teamed with former National motocross star Rich Eierstedl. They were running wel1, about fifth in class, when the pinion gear broke on their drive train and put an end to their race. The Saturday course was much shorter, eliminating the SummitlTres Posos section out of the loop that had to be traversed before riders headed .west and back to Ensenada. 1 Smith and Ashcraft wasted no tim in building their lead in the earl going and were five minutes up on Johnson at San Maws. Ruuen was running third, but his pipe was coming apan. He stopped at the Honda pits at Matais, but they had no pipe ready. So Rutten rode lo the road crossing several miles down the trail, while a Team Honda truck drove down the road to meet him, taking the pipe off a spare XR as they drove. Running fifth bike in the physical order was the Haines/Fishback Honda, with Fishback givinK it to 1 I j) _ .I. 1 I i " : I ~ ," I

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