Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

z w ~ ~ ..... - ... en w Z ... ::> ~ > en '" ~ 0 X Q. ~ 00 0') ~ 0 ~ 0.. ~ Team Husqvarna's Ed Loj ak (right) pits; he led unt il a loose sil encerforced a stop f or repairs. (Below) The C class start. Can -Am 's John Martin finish ed fo urth overall . th ird 250cc A , at t he Olympia N ational Hare Scrambles. Teammate Geoff Ballard w on. AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: R ound 2 Ballard scrambles to another win By Paul Nielsen OLYMPIA, WA, MAR. 17 T eam Can-Am 's G eo ff Ballard scored his second victo ry in a row as h e too k the checkered flag just seven seconds ahead of Team H u sk y's Ed Loj ak in the secon d ro und of the AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Seri es at Olym p ia ORV Sports Park . Ballard ove rlook Loj ak on lap five a n d 18 never looked back whe n th e Husky rider encou ntered m in or mechan ica l p robl em s. T h ird ove ra ll was Husk y's Mark H yde; fourth went to Ca n-Am's Joh n Martin , w ho pl aced seco nd to Ballard a t th e series opene r in Florida. T h is round of th e series was hosted by th e Sea Fair City M.C. , whi ch took advantage of th e park 's m ot ocro ss tra ck a nd ope n tra il la yout to crea te a cha llenging 12-m ile-lo ng race course. As 'race tim e drew near, co m pe tito rs were a ll wa rme d- up a nd ready to go . A g u n wou ld be used to sig na l th e dead-engi ne sta rt . Wh en th e gun went o ff, H yde screa med into the lead o n th e motocro ss portion o f th e co urse , wit h Lojak o n his rear fender. Back in th e d us t by several bikelengths were Bal la rd a nd Martin , whi le Rand v H awkins ( H us) and T eam H usky's Kevin , Hines were in fifth and sixth. H yde a nd Lojak spent the rest of th e first lap swa p pi ng th e lead between th em selves, but at th e h om e chec kpoi nt, it was Lojak in front by 10 seco nds . On la p two , H ines broke a shock and lost tim e pi tti ng as it was repl aced. An o th er T eam H usk y rider, Da ve Bertram , also had bad luc k whe n he fell a nd injured hi s h a nd , forcin g him to retire from th e race . Ballard was bus y working h is wa y up as he pa ssed H yde th en set hi s sig h ts o n Lojak . Lo cal fan s had rea son to be excited during la p three of th e 10-lap race three Wa shin gt on rider s were in th e top 10. Open A rid ers Kevin Bethards (H us) a nd J ohn Ni elsen (H us ) were sevent h a nd n inth overa ll, respectivel y, a nd 17-year -old 250cc A rider David Rhodes (H us) was 10th . As h e flew in th e lead posit io n, Lojak 's H us ky sou nd ed crisp , but th a t a ll changed o n lap five whe n h is si lencer ca me loose, Lojak had to pit and lost 40 seco nds befo re he was able to ge t going agai n . Bu t th e lead cha nged for good as Ballard went by. T he re wa s no rest for th e Can-Am riders as th e rest of th e pack was in hot pursuit, among th em Lojak, who wa s quick ly making up for lost time. At the fin ish line, Ba llard raced to th e flag wi th a seven -seco nd lead over Lojak for the overall win . Third went to H yde while Martin made a last ditch effo rt to overtake him to place fourth. Hawkins grabbed fifth overall while Stan Lojak (Hus) moved up to six th. Seventh overall went to Guy Perrett (H o n), who managed to get a head of Nielsen tow ards the end. Duke Dowell (KT M) scored ninth for th e da v, a nd Bethards was 10th . Ala'; Bark er o f Gainesville. Florida, leadin g the four-str ok e cla ss o n h is 560cc Can -Am until hi s fuel su p p ly wa s used up; Matthew Cullins th en took over o n his H onda. Mik e McCa rren ca me from Butler , Pennsylvania , to rid e h is Yam aha for a first p lace in th e 200cc A class, wh ile c.J. P ittman won the over-Sfis. B and C cla ss riders race d for two ho ur s o n a shorte ned six-m ile course, wh ich used mo st o f th e motocro ss co u rse. includ ing a sma ll bit o f fir e road with th e rest trails. At th e riders meeting th e start signal was not disclosed , bu riders were ass u red th ey would hear it. As th e sta rte r wa s tr ying to ge t th e B class to sh u t o ff th eir motors, so mebod y's bike backfired a nd th e cla ss ro ared into acti on ! The sta rt grid gen erated a lot of dust and , th ose not in front had to slow up a nd wait, th en pla y ca tch up . Leadi ng th e pa ck to th e first chec k was Rud y Sm ith (Ka w 125); in close seco nd wa s J im G asseen (H on 500) . with Rick Sparks (KT 1\I 250) in third a nd Cr ai g Albert (Ya m 250) fourth, an d J ay Gibbons fifth . Smith and Gasseen hit the ch eck th e same minute a nd G asseen was leading after la p two . On lap four, Smi th took th e lead as Gasseen pitted , Spar ks was third a nd bein g pursued by Gibbons and Albert. Gasseen finished fir st, taki ng Overa ll B honors, followed by 125cc B class winner Smith, 250cc B winner Sparks. OverThe Hill cla ss winner Gibbons, followed Albert, seco nd in th e 250cc B class , made up th e fifth rider to make seven laps. - Results OVERALL: t . Geoff Bellerd (C·AI. OPEN A; t . Mert

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