Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Jeff Irwin rode a Husqvarna 400WR to the overall w in at the Prospectors M.e. District 37 enduro. w ith j ust under four po ints. Prosp-eefors »-37 enduro Irwin leads Hus.~sweep By Larry Langley TO KIW AS, CA. FE B. 3 Northern Californ ia en duro riders dominated th e 30th Annual P rosp ectors M.C. Gold Rush Endu ro as H usky riders J eff Irwin and Dave Bertram drop ped just three points for their 1·2 fini sh . Third overa ll was another Husky rider, Ch ip H owell , who also dropped three poin ts but go t tio n . One of th e riders with a six poi nt loss was B rider Steve Will ia m s (H o n) . W ill ia ms was right up there wit h D-3T s fines t A riders. so he can expect a tra nsfer soon if he keeps up bea t o n seco nds lost a t the three tieth e good scores. break er checks. Irw in was riding a 400W R wh ile T he en d uro was la id o ut in an a rea Bert ra m was o nboard h is 500 Autoth at had not seen competitio n in o ver 10 years u nti l the Pro specto rs rev ived ma tic. Fo urth overa ll went to Vetera n ride r. Yamaha-mounted Mark th e use o f th e area last vea r. T he terCook . D istrict 37 just in stituted th e ra in is just so u th o f J awbone Canyon a nd includes mountain ter ra in w ith Vet class, an d Cook loo ks lik e a n trees and sn ow . S now 'seem s to be th e ea rly favo rite to ea rn th e first number Prosp ectors' nem esis; three times since o ne in th e d ivi s ion . Four rid er s d ro p p ed six points, a nd Mike H an ey 1979 th eir end uro ha s been hit by powered h is Yamaha TT600 to th e heav y snow. A lat e snowstorm last fou r-st ro ke A victory . Anothe r sixweek forced th em to re-ro ut e port ions poi nt loss pu t Du ralube-sponso red of the seco nd loop as th e trai ls became SCOll Sa m pson (Hon) into th e 250cc im passa ble. While th e February dat e A class win. Sa m pson mi ght have of th e en d u ro is "traditional ." so me had a chance a t th e overall win but a members are th inking a bo u t possibly • P!1! l) t ftJ~~1s P!1.t -,"!.i~ P.u.t_qf.12QT!l!!1:.• _. ~~":.i!lp.tJl!.~!~ !>~~~ !!_e:,~ ~'!.r.t? try Husky rider Dave Bertram took his 500AE automatic to second overall. 13 seconds off the winning pace. and avoid the wea the r p roblems. Rider reception to the co urse was ge nerally favorabl e. The Prospe ctors a lmost a lways lay ou t a good co u rse . At times th ey have bee n techni cally lacking but this year's race was well ru n . The only cr iticism th a t co u ld be directed at th em was the in consistent marki ng. A lo t of the turn arrows wer e ri gh t o n th e turn; for cing th e ride rs to reall y look a head - not a lways p ossib le. A better choice o f a rrows would a lso have h elped. So me of the donat ed arrows were hard to di scern un til you we re righ t on to p of th em . Th e 100-m i le , two- loop eve nt wo u n d its way th rough th e area like a gia nt m aze. Portions o f each loo p were use d in bo th . One o f the h ighlights of th e seco nd loo p was a section ni cknamed the " Hole-in-theWal l." Aptly n am ed , as it was a o ne -bi ke-wide trai l u p a ca nyon th a t di dn 't appear to be rideable. Turned ou t it was , but definitel y challengi ng a nd made the riders work gelli ng up the rock stair-steps. T hey had p lenty of time as the P ro spectors set a very sedate five mph speed average through the section to avoid bo ttl en eck p roblems. H onda rider Ra ndy Kemp h ad a Iitt le bit of a prob lem gelli ng through, he had lost his seatl H is buu was very sore at the finis h bu t h e sti ll finished 13th overa ll. Th e P rospectors had so me very well-though t-ou t checks. One check in a fo u r m p h section cau g h t bo th last year's en duro stewa rd J err y Bailey a nd this years' steward Art Moore ea rly . Ba iley h it it four minu tes ea rly whi le Moo re man aged to burn it by on ly th ree. Wh at is p articu larly em barr assin g to Ba iley is tha t h e p ut th e rules in th e rulebook a bo u t where checks co u ld . be locat ed in sections with ver y low spe ed averages. O ops. Sen io r rider H a r r y Kea st was mo unted o n his new ride, a 250 Ca n Am . Despite break in g a front brake lever o n th e first loo p which co st him a cou Ie of ~i nts, K.e st won th e .... .. .. Senior class with a ni ne -poi nt loss. Number-one Woman ri der Dana Bell (H us) we nt over the handlebars a nd injured h er knee, forcin g h er out of th e race. The inj ury m ust have bee n q ui te pa inf u l: Dana usu ally won ' t qu it for any thi ng. Ca ndy H and (Yam ) looked like th e Women 's class victor. Team H usk y's Charl ie H a lcomb had p ret ty good ride goi ng unti l h is co il wire shorted o u t. H a lcolm made a tra ilside repa ir a nd got goi ng but dropped 10 m in u tes at th e next check. By the end o f th e first loo p he was bac k on tim e but the dam age wa s do ne . An other sneaky check in a slo w sec tion a fte r a 60 mph (Yeah, yo u rea d righ t) stre tch ca ugh t a bunch o f riders early. After fall ing behi nd in th e fas t 60 mp h speed zone, they we re lulled into n ot wa tch ing th eir clocks when th e speed a verage dropped, a n d zap... lots of points early on . Bill Fullmer Jr. had a rea lly good ride until his rea r tire we nt fla t on the seco nd loop. H e sti ll put togeth er a top-If finish. Class C riders o n ly h ad to ride o ne loop, and were rou ted arou nd a challengi ng section tha t th e A a nd B ri d ers had to dea l w ith . Th e C riders were headed up by Veteran Curt " Do n't Ca ll Me W ildman " Cl ark (Yam) . Clark dropped just six point to earn the not ice of certai n o fficia ls, who wi ll no dou bt soo n upgrade Clark in skill level. The n ext Crider wa s a nothe r Veteran class rid er. J o h n McArthur (Ya m) who p u t toget her an eig h t-poin t loss for second overa ll . a • Results UNOFFICIAL RESULTS OVERALL: 1. Jeff Irwin (Hus) 3.81 pts: 2. Dave Bertrem (HusI3.B4 pt s: 3. Chip Howe ll (Hus) 3.136 pts; 5.(TIE) Mike Haney (Vam)6: Scott Teggart (Hus) 6; Scott Sampson (Honl 6: Steve Wi lli ams (Han ) 6; 9. (TIE) J aff Hanning (KTM) 7; Garner Palenska (KawI7; Bill Full mer Jr. (KTMI 7: Kent Perkins (Husl 7. OPEN B: 1. Steve W ill iams (Han). 250 B: 1. John Ferro (Han). 200 B: 1. Randy Nisw ander. SR A: 1. Harry Keast (C-A). FOUR· STROKE A: 1. M ike Haney (Yam). VET C: 1. Curt Clark (Yam): 2. John McArthur (Vam). 'w~Y't~¥SN.: l ·~sa~~~~~~TJ. ". ). . , &

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