Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126824
On a KDX200, Steve Zoll t ied for the overall and won his class. Fo r the f ifth straight year, 37-year-old John DeSoto captured-the Mauna Kea 200 two-day enduro win on the Island of Hawaii. After 167.8 gruelling m iles, he lost on ly seven points. Mauna Kea 200 two,-da): enduro Five in a ro~ for John DeSoto By Kit Palmer MAUNA KEA, HI , MA Y 25-26 " Bel ieve it or no t, this is m y fifth-straight overall win , a n d th e more times I do it, th e better it gets," said 37-year-old, form er InterAm Motocross Champion an d native H awaiian , ] ohn DeSoto. After tw o da ys a n d 167.8 mi les o n th e .. -' Isla nd of H a wa ll a board a 1984 2?O\VR Husqvarna, DeSo to a nd 10 Ka wa sa ki KDX 200 ride r Steve l o ll. from Hil o, tied at seven poi nts each, but DeSo to won the ti e-break er check by less than a m in ut e 10 capture th e o veral l. " It rea lly feels good 10 win ," sa id DeSot o . " beca use th e o lder I ge t, th e harder I ha ve 10 wo r k. " T h ird overa ll a nd first in th e 25 rcc- O pe n cIass we n t to Hu sq var na rid er C ha rles J udd , who lost 13 points. l oll took th e O-200cc cla ss wi n, wh ile th e Outrigger Ca noe Clu b took ho me th e fir st -p lace troph y in th e team co m peti tio n. Rubber Ducky Racing T eam fini sh ed second a head of th e So u th Shore R iders Team. ' Not too man y people o n the mainland are fami li a r with th e Mau na Kea 200, but in H a wa ii it is o ne of th e largest a nd most prest ig io us off -road motorcycl ing events of the year. The first race took place in 19786 a nd was ca lled the Bicen ten n ia l 200 ; since th en , it has beco m e more and mo re p o pular. a t times dra wing ove r 90 riders, incl udi ng orr-road 's jack-of a ll- trades, Ma lco lm Sm ith . T h is year's ra ce wa s sligh tly do wn in rider a u en dance. beca us e. acco rding 10 th e Roc k Is land Mo torcycle Club wh o puts on th e race, th e even t had ~o be ca nce lled last yt;arwhenMountKJlauea ~rupted, coveri ng much of the course with la va, Day one wa s th e to ughest of the two . sta rring a t 7:01 in the mornin g a t th e eas tern ti p o f th e isla nd of H awa ii (T he Big Island ), a pl ace ca lled Kapoho Cinder Cones (sea level). From th ere, the tra il h eaded west a nd ended 113 m il es la ter a t the ba se o f Ma u na Kea vo lcan o where ri ders had their bikes impou nded and spe nt t he ni ght a t Mauna Kea Sta te Par k. Th e next da y, th e fir st riders left th e start at 9:0 1 a .m. and circled the volcano. a ride whi ch lasted two ho urs and 22 m inu tes, co verin g 54.6 mi les whi le reachi ng a n a ltitude o f 10,000 feet. T he fir st day had eig h t checks (two known ), a nd three th e second (two unknown. o ne kn o wn ). DeSo to , who had rece nt ly been cro wn ed T andem Surfing Champio n , left Sa turda y morning on mi nu te n ine a n d p roceed ed to zero the fi rst five chec ks , wh ile l o ll lost three a t the seco nd and th ird ch ecks. " I was headin g down Pa ra d ise Pa rk," sa id loll, "a nd there wer e so me su rveyo r' ribbons , so we sto p ped to !';O down that tr a il , but th e ac tua l trai l kept . goi ng str aight, I los t a mi n ute at th e fo llowi n g ch eck, th en I go t st uck behind slower rid ers a nd lost tw o points at th e next check." Wh en the riders ca me to l unch (a o ne ho u r break fo r food , gas, etc.) DeSot o had a th ree point adva n tag e o ver Ch arlie Dawrs, After lun ch. ri d ers headed int o ver y dense rain for ests where th e hardest section of th e tw odav even t wa ited . It was ca lled th e Log T ra il. but it wasn 't logs th at made th in gs so difficult - it was slick mud , m ud hol es a nd very narro w tr a ils tha t took its to ll. It was approxi mate ly fo ur mi les long wi th a fo ur m ph speed average, a nd most riders co u ld n' t maintain th at spee d. R iders with ear ly numbers rea lly had the adva ntage h ere. because th ey were fo rm in g deep ru ts a nd making th e mu d hol es al most im passa ble fo r riders m id -pack o n back. " Ooh man ," groa ne d DeSoto , " th at sectio n wa s really tough. bu t it was o kay . I tho ught it was a littl e un fa ir fo r the rider s in th e bac k. but that is j us t pan o f th e ride. I had to wait fo r a cou p le o f ri ders who were stuc k in thi s o ne mudd y hill ; I wa s yelli ng at Charli e (Da wr s), 'Co me o n. Charl ie , yo u ca n do i t,' w hi le he was trying to ge t u p a nd o u t o f the m ud . After abou t five minu tes I yell ed to h im , 'o ka y, Charlie, pick it u p and carry it o ut' (laugh ter ). After I go t by, I had to ri de real crazy to get back on tim e again . Wh en I got o u t of th e fo rest I was o n ti me and zeroed th e next ch eck." " L uckily I was a ble to pass a bu nch of th e slo w riders ri gh t at th e beginnin g ," said l ol l. " It was j ust a ma tter o f pushin g yo urse lf th rough the mud ; yo u ca n' t o nce yo u stop. I ca me o u tof th er e reall y ea rly. because I did n 't ge t st uc k lik e eve ry body else di d. St ill, it took a lo t o ut of me. " Event ual lv, the track ma ster rerou ted th e tra il arou nd so me o f th e im passable sectio ns . Man y riders eit he r di d n ' t mak e i t th rough th e sec tion, or pac ked it in as soon as they got ou t. The riders w ho lasted through th e Log Tra il wer e rewa rded wit h a bo ut 10 miles of as pha lt afterwards , th en were ro u ted back o n to d in trails th at sta rred cli mbi ng up Mau na Loa vol ca no where there wa s one more tough sec tio n left - th e Lava Trail. It wa s very rough a nd lasted for ma ny mil es. DeSoto lost o ne point here ; Zoll lost two . " T he Log Trail took a lot OUt of me, and wh en we hit th e last trai l I was ti red and co u ld n' t get aro und slo wer riders qui ck eno ugh," sa id Zoll. " T ha t Lava T rai l was a real h um dinger," sa id DeSoto . "That slowed down a lo t of peop le. so I ca ugh t up. Yet I got to the ch eck a minu te lat e." At th e end of da v o ne, DeSo to lost three po ints. zou ' five , Judd ei ght, Hu sq varn a rider Walt er G ui ld and Ka wasa ki rider Bra nt Ack erma n 10, a nd Da wr s a nd Ga len Mivamoro II. The seco nd da y had oi-Je 23 mph speed a ver age, ma king it a n a ll -o ut go-for-i t day for most riders. DeSo to ca rne in to the fir st check tw o minutes ea rly. and q ues tio ned the pl acem ent o f th e check. "All th e time. m v odometer was perfect a nd I was running a littl e bit behi nd tim e in th e begin n i n g . so I tri ed to ca tch up a n d pass a co u p le o f riders. I wa s loo king a t m y time and I was just going to slo w down 10 seconds befo re m y m inute th a t I shou ld a rrive, a nd I p u lled arou nd . th ere it was. I tho ugh t, 'O h man ,' i t got me. I just went , 'You g u ys in th e right place?' That' s th e firs t th ing ya as k. ' H ey. yo u g uys a re wrong! " (la ugh ter ). At the end o f th e seco nd day. DeSot o lost four poi nts, a nd Zoll two . eq uallin g a tie a t seven. Check eig h t o n day o ne wa s th e tie- brea ker - DeSot o won it bv a few seco nds . " I had 'a Jot o f close ca lls." said l oll regardin g da y two , " bu t I never fell down. O vershootin g tu rn s wa s th e p roblem . beca use t here wa s a lot of downhil ls, g ra velly sectio ns th a t were rea ll y easy to lock u p th e brakes and go do wn o ver the edge - o nce yo u do that, it's all over!" Da vid Arno ri n, ridin g a Kaw a sak i KDX200 0n m inute one and a mem ber o f th e So u th Shore R iders, h ad an encou n ter wi th a mule and crashed o n th e la st da v, Both he a nd th e m u le survi ved u n hurt, At th e tro ph y prese nta tion Sunda y. DeSot o gave h is first -pl ace class tro p h y to h is spo nsor Sandy Brodi e, a nd wh en acc epti ng hi s overa ll tro. ph y, DeSot o said, " I t's too ba d after two davs a nd 167 mi les there has to be o ne \\,(nner. Bo th Steve a nd I rode a . great race a nd tied in points. so the re a re reall y two Mauna Kea Champi ons. no t o ne," • Results OVERALL: 1. John DeSot o (Hus) 7 ; 2. Steve loll (Kaw) 7; 3 . Char les Ju dd (Hus) 13 . 0 -200: 1. St eve Zoll (Kaw) 7; 2 . Galen M iyamo to 15: 3. Brant Ac kerma n (Kaw) 16 . 201 -250 : 1. J ohn DeSot o (Hus) 7; 2 . Char li e Oawrs (Yam ) 14 ; 3 . M,ch ael Greg ory (KTM ) 30 . 2 S1-0PEN: 1. Char les J udd (Hus) 13; 2 . Wa lt er Gu ild (Hus) 16; 3 . Gerry Lopez (HusI23. TEAMS : 1. Outr igger Canoe Club; 2 . Rubber Duck V Racing Team : 3 . So ut h Shore Riders.