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Jeff Fredette scored 17 for third
overall in the standings.
Kevin Hines took his second National of the year, winning by one point.
(Inset) To the victor go the spoils.
California's Dave Bertram was
fourth. two points behind Fredette.
A.A National Chamll.ionshill. Enduro
Series: Round 2
ready both physically and mentally
fOrlhe last long sl'Ction (26 miles). I'm
hoping to keep my momentum up
through the rest of the season."
Cunningham matched the scores
of Hines through every woods section except one - he lost three points
10 Hines' two in section three, and
that's where the overall win was
decided. ''I'm still riding a bit conservatively:' Cunningham explained.
"since I'm still on the mend after the
accident in Wales last year (where he
sustained a severely broken leg and
other injuries the day before the ISDE).
But other than tbat. I can't see where
I could've gone any faster in anyone
of the sections:'
Cunningham, who has competed
on Husky Automatics for the pasr
three seasons, has switched back to a
six-speed machine. "WhatI've got is
basically the water-cooled 250CR set
up with wide ratio gears for the first
three speeds, with the stock CR gearing in the top three. It·s taken me a
while to get used to shifting again.
but the bike is quick between the
trees. I'm hurting a bit when it comes
to the open sections, but the bike is
lighter than the Automatic. If I could
only get back to winning .. :'
For reigning National Champion
Mike Mehan, the day could be termed
a disaster. His troubles began on the
starting line at precisely 9:51 a.m.
"Wbm my number came UP> I went
Hines slashes to
Sandlapper win
By Tom Kolnowski
PELION, SC. APR. I
Team Husqvarna's Kevin Hines blasted
through 100 miles of serpentine South Carolina woods trails to lay claim to the overall
win at the Sandlapper National Championship Enduro. Mounted on a
liquid-cooled 400WR Hines
.
.
.'
d
tallied 15 pomts.on his scorecar
en route to the victory overtearnmate Terry Cunningham, who finished second overall with a score of
16. jeff Fredette, riding a Kawasakisupported KDX2oo, carded the only
I7-point score for thir$ioverall honors,
while Team Husky's Dave Bertram
finished fourth with 19.
toward
the goal of, winning National, Enduros ,~nd Il s .starllng to finally pay
off, saId HlIles, who also won the
opening round ofLhe series. "IL was a
good test out there today-I liked
how they checked you in and out of
the woods every time, and didn't try
10 play games with you likechanging
the speed averages or trying to catch
you running hot. And they definitely
made you work for the win - it was a
long run. I knew what I was in for by
lookin at the route sheet, and I was
to kick over my (Husky) 4ooWR, but
sometl!ing gave out inside the kick
start mechanism," Melton explained,
"so I pulled the bike aside and started
working on it." Upon removing the
side cover Melton found a broken
kick starter shaft, and tbe decision
was made to have Melton ride Husky
team manager Dick Burleson's5OOAE.
Number plates were switched Melton
jumped and on the bike and started a
full 12 minutes late.
"I made itto the first woods section
only a minute late," Melton said,
"bu t I ran out of ga later on and had
a few other problems. Since l.would've
probably been disqualified for switching bikes after the start, and I wasn't
having the best of times out there, we
loaded the bike on to the truck. IL's
one of those days where I should've
stayed in bed - this will be a throwaway ride for me. We've still got 10
runs left."
Another name missing from the
results list was that of Can-Am's john
Martin, who had the misfortune of
arriving at check seven a full seven
minutes early. "After the first gas
SlOp, they had a mileage reset." Martin said. "and then only four-tenths
of a mile later they had another reset.
I misread my route sheetallhe second
reset, and advanced my odometer a
single tenth instead of 3.1 miles. I
rode down the dirt road to the next
corner and there was a check. With
the incorrect mileage, it put me off,
and I backed down the hill and away
from the check. I rode back down the
dirt road and waited for my minute to
come up, and then went through the
check. I rode the rest of the run not
knowing if they would give me the
hot points or not. They did."
Withouttbe penally, Martin would
have had a score of 15 - the same as
Hines - and would have been the
overall winner by virtue of besting
Hines by 20 sl'conds on the tie-breaker
checks.
Organizers of the event. the Columbia Enduro Riders Association. laid
oul a run that most riders called
"miles and miles of very tight, sandy
trails." The finish was 131.8 miles
down I he trail from the starting line,
hUI along the way Skip Wyman laced
in nine mileage reselS to give the 300
riders much needed breaks from the
rigors of twisting trees. The competitors slill covered clo e 10 100 miles,
auempling to maintain a 24 mph