Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Husqvarna rider Ed Lojak finished almost half 'a minute behind teammate Mark Hyde for seco!,d overafl, first 250. - Can -Am's John Martin had chain derailment problems at the beginning and end of the race, finishing eighth overall. AMA National Championship.Hare Scrambles Series: Round 6 Hyde pins Big..Bear By Suzi Henry BR UCETON MILLS , WV. MAY 19 T ea m Husq varn a 's Mark H yd e rode a · 400WRX to his second overall w in 'of the series at the Big Bear 100, fi nishing 28 seconds ahead of teammate Eddie Loj ak, the 1982-83 ser ies cham p. H onda development rider Drew Sm ith , , . Can-Am s defendi n g cha m p G eoff Ball ard , and KTM -su p- 18 paned J ack Pent on rounded o u t th e top five. T he event was also th e fo un h ro u nd in th e Wis eco 100 Miler Series. . P ro mot er Dave Coom bs p rovided a cha lle nging 19.4-m ile co urse thro ug h th e rocky, rugged h ill sides su r ro u n d ing the po pu lar Big Bear Lakes Ca m plands Reso rt. Most of th e layou t cho res Iell to Coo m bs' ri g h t-hand man , Dave Saville, who sa id, " You 'd never believe it, bu t I'v e mo ved thousa nds of rocks, a nd th ere' s still th ousan ds mor e o u t there." Wh en the AT"s ra n 't he sa m e track o n Saturday , tempera t ures p lu nged to th e 40s with an a ll-d ay drizzling ra in fa ll , bu t Lad y Lu ck sm iled o n Su nd ay 's 2_ two-w h eel ~d en tra nts. 12 By. the 12:3:> p .m . sta n, br ight. balm y skies a nd lo w-70s temperatu res were th e welco me order o f th e day. H o wever, as Sen ior class winn er Ba rr y H igg ins put i t, " I g u ess i t's prett y hard for the wat er 10 run thro ug h the rocks. Il ike it bett er wh en th e co u rses a rc long like this. If th a t had been a 10-m ile co urse wi th th e sa me mud ho les, it wou ld have been a mess. We wou ld h ave mad e eig h t lap s, a nd th ose ho les wo uld ha ve been five o r six feet deep by the end ." H iggin s a nd hi s H & H KTM fi nis hed 12t h overa ll for th e da y, 14 minu tes a hea d o f Sen io r runner-u p Ron Bo h n. Th e ri ders started in th ree waves, three m inutes a part .jw it hi h e Open , 250. 200 an d 125cc A cla sses first. Next were th e Fou r-Stro ke, Sen ior A a nd Su per Seni or A riders, followed by th e four B di visions. T hey lin ed . Drew Sm ith rode a Honda CR500R for t hi rd overall, second Open bike. up for th e sta n s ide ways a lo ng th e railing o f a n unused quarter horse track , a nd at a n nou ncer Tim Caller 's sig na l, made a sweeping turn down a nd a ro u n d th e en d of th e track a nd intoth e wood s. The o n ly co m p lai n t h eard reg ardin g th e well-organized even t stem med from th e sta rrin g procedure, which assig ned numbers within eac h wave by random drawing. H yde did indeed . dr aw lucky number o ne, and g ra bbed th e h ol esh o t. ·H o wever , wh en h e clocked through the barrels a t th e en d of th e first lap - 49 m inutes, 49 seco n ds lat er - he wa s followed just o ne seco nd la ter bv Kevin H in es, wh o started a t th e tail ~nd o f th e first ro w. Ball ard was eig h t seco nds behi nd H in es, wit h Lojak a nd Drew Smi th .ch ec k i n g i n to geth er , 43 seco nds beh ind H vde. It took 'H yde and Hines o ver fo ur minu tes longer to co m p lete th e seco nd lap , an d aga in th ey a rrived a t th e sco ri n g barrel s alm os t sim u lta n eo usly. Sm ith wa s 23 seco nds back, with both Ball a rd a nd Lojak in ho t p ursu it. By th e time they loo ped back near th e hor se track afte r a two-m ile woods sect io n , Loja k had passed Balla rd an d had Sm ith in h is sig h ts. L ojak sa id , " I do n ' t thin k he (Ballard ) went down or a n yth i ng . l 'j ust got ti red o f ri ding wi th him, so I passed h im ." In lap th ree th e pi cture cha nged d ram a ti ca ll y wh en lea d er H yd e clocked th rou gh th e barrel s with Hi nes nowh ere in sig h t. L oja k was in second, two m in u tes back, an d sa id, " I was just snoozin g, Th e first pa n o f th e race I j ust didn 't fed like racing. I did n 't kn ow th at H yde wa s so far ----- - - - - - - - - - - ahead . My pit cre w said he was 15 seconds ahead of me , and I figured I cou ld make that up pretty easi ly. Then I pitted and they said the margin was two minutes, an d it was 100 late."The Husky/Bel-Ray/Meue1er/ Smith /Hi-Point/Rocky Cycle/ AutoIite-supported rid er lit the afterburners on th e fourth an d fin al lap, but H yde won by 28 seco nds. This m arked Lajak.'s third seco nd o vera ll finish o f th e sen es. , H yd e, w hose spo nso rs include Husky, Bel-R ay, Smi th, Metzeler , HiPo int, Au to li te, AXO , Bell a nd Pit SlOP Raci n g, had a nat ti re a bo u t halfwa y th rough th e last la p . " It slo wed me u p a lilli e bit ," sa id H yde, " bu t I was-rid ing ca u tio u sly an yway, · because th ey tol d me I had two mi nu tes o n Eddi e th en. I kn ew he was co m ing, beca use in a race like th is, he's usua lly th e m an yo u ha ve to bea t. " It was a good, tough race agai n. just like it has been every o the r year. Th is year I h ad different peo p le push · me th e who le time. so I really enjoyed it ," co n tin ue d H yde. " After Kevin (H i nes) passed me, I wa s able to follow for a while and pi ck up som e things th at I was doing wrong, so it made m e ride fast er for th e rest o f the da y. Dr ew (Smi th ) really helped me out too, because I started out sort of sluggi sh. H e pas sed rne..p icked the pace up a nd carried me th e first lap. " Third overall fini sh er Smith was riding a H onda CR500 a nd said his MX-type mount definitel y gav e him " m uch exciteme nt . The biggest p roblem 10 dat e has been gell in g th e suspen sion setti ng accep ta ble for end urotyp e rid ing, because we have m ore of a vari et y o f speeds a nd track co nditions than in mot ocro ss. Th e first tim e I rode it , it nearly d id me in , but since th en I' ve ga lie n u sed to it. " O f th e race, Sm it h said," ;'It was g rea C I was so happy 10 be right up the re wh ere a ll th e actio n was hap penin g for a wh ile, a nd th en a bo u t five m iles out o n th e seco nd lap I go t a rea r n at a nd had 10 run a ll the way arou nd on it. I cha n ged it, but from then o n I was by m yself so a ll th e heat · o f th e bail ie was gone. It was rea lly fun wh en I was wit h those ot her ·g u ys." Smi th a lso had 10 mak e th ree gas sto p s, co m pa red to j ust o ne for most o f th e ot h er riders. T he race was nearl y o ver befor e \ ord filtered back 10 the pii ts tha t H in es was un hu n bu t stranded in the woods with wha t he ca lle d " interna l mo tor pro blems. Mark an d I were righ t together when it hap pen ed," sai d H ines. " T he bike sta rte d run ning fu n n y, a nd I p ull ed of f." H ines went undiscovered fo r so long beca use he had h idd en h is Husky in the woods. " I d id n 't want to pu m p up . - (Co n ti nued to page 39)

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