Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Husqvarna took 1·2·3 in t he Whiskey Pete's race, with Carlos Serrano (left) t hird, Garth Sweetland (cent er) second and Da n Smit h (ri ght) f irst. Whiskey Pete's World Championship Hare & Hound III Smith cruises to Whiskey Pete win D an Sm it h raced t o an easy win at Whiskey Pet e's W orld Champions hip Hare and Hound III , held January 11 near State Lin e. Nevada, By Farren W illiams STATE L1l'\ E. 1'\V. JA1'\ II Wh iskey Pete's 1984 Champion, Dan Smith , turned in an almost flaw less p erforma nce to win the casino's Third Annual World Championship H are & Hound, h eld in the Mojave Desert. near th e Ca li fo rn ial Nevada border. Sm ith, a topranked , Husqvarna-sp onsored desert racer from Visal ia, Ca li- a hard " Iro n t-w hee l-wh eelie. o verthe-ba rs" ge t-o ff wh en h e hi t a roc k late in th e race, a n d he wat ched h elplessly a t th e fina l pit stop as Sweet la n d pa ssed h im wh ile he was reforni a, took th e to p payoff a t Wh ispl acin g a broken car bur etor cla m p. key Pete 's just six weeks a fter claimSerra no fin all v remou nte d to ta ke in g vict o ry a t th e 1985, A MA/ D-3 i ov er th ird , but'he co u ld n' t ca tch th e Barstow-to-Vegas H are a nd H ound. h ard- ch argin g S wee t la nd , e ve n He led H usqvarna-mourued Garth tho ug h th e seco nd-place rider p icked Sweetland o f Phoen ix, Arizona a nd up a flat front ti re nea r th e begi n ni ng Ca rlos Serra no (H us) of T ucson, -o f the fi nal loo p . Ari zon a to a Swedish mo torcycle " I tho ugh t Ca rlos was goin g to sweep of th e to p th ree positio ns , a nd ca tch me," Swee tla nd said. "About wa s cha lle n ged fo r th e lead o n ly two m iles in to th e fourth loop th e once, by Serrano, du ring th e early front tire went fla t. I decided 10 ride going o f th e gruel ing, fo ur -loop , 159it. I figured I wo uld lose more tim e mile even t. going back a nd cha nging it. It pa id Ap proxima tely 260 rid ers com peted off, lu ck ily." in the race. a nd $25,000 in prize Fo llo wing Husqvarn a 's desert trio mo ney was awarded in seven cham across th e fin ish lin e were 19-year-old p io ns h ip d ivisions. In addi tio n to Shawn G erber (KT M) o f Leh i, U ta h; 125, 250cc a nd O pe n cla sses, compeMike Baker (Ya m) , a 24-yea r-old rider tit ion in cluded an Over 30 class, a n fro m Orange, Cal ifornia; a nd HusOver 38 d ivis ion, a Women 's class qvarna-mounted Fri tz Kadl ec o f Co loa nd an ATV d ivision . T wen ty-two rad o' Springs, Colorad o . Filling o u t sta tes were represented by riders, a nd th e top 10 were Kevin Hines (KTl\I), com pe titors in cluded 4i holders o f of Westland Massachusett s; Scot Harn umber o ne p lat es from all ove r th e den (H us ), o f Escondid o , California; Un ited Sta tes. Warren Reid (AT K), o f Mid wa y Ci ty, Overa ll-wi nn er Smith powered h is Ca lifornia; an d J eff Irwin (H us), o f 1986 500 Cross Country into a n ea rly Ra ncho Cordova, Ca liforn ia , lead a t th e smoke bomb, and held th e " I thi n k I'm ready to go tak e a adva n tage un til a bo u t 20 m iles into nap," Smith said a fter th e race , " T he the firs t loop, wh en Serr a no slip ped co u rse was rea lly rough ; it was tight by. Smi th retook the lead by pa ssing an d technica l; it rea lly didn ' t give you a ny p lace to rest, It kept you o n Serran o going into th e first p it sto p 2 1 mil es lat er. Even th ough 118 mi les yo ur toes a n d th a t wea rs you o u t af ter remained in th e ra ce, Sm ith n ever a while. I wasn ' t expec ting to win it , agai n wa s challenged. " I j ust kind o f but I wa s expecting to be o ne o f th e rod e o n , an d let everyo ne else have top five (riders) who co u ld win it. " th e problems ," h e said. " T h e co urse definitel y mad e yo u Serran o didn 't expe rience maj or ear n it," agreed Sweetla nd . " It was a n "problems," but minor h ead ach es exce lle n t co urse - ro ugh - they threw in a bou t every th ing yo u cou ld com bin ed to drop him to thi rd pl ace bv th e end o f th e third loop. He wa s thin k o f. I kn ew I co u ld finish in the forced 10 ride the"race wi th an ontop 10, ,? u t I didn 't expect to fin ish aga in , off -agai n rea r brake, thanks to second. • .a ma lfl!n ct}on in g C'~bl e_ H u{f ~ ., • ' ._J}t;,ap,t P,alen ke (N- j.).q L' guna Duane Sum m ers is the only ri der to w in at Whiskey Pete's three straight times. topping t he 12 5 cc cla ss every year since t he inau gu ral rac e. Vegas, Nevada. Fifth p lace went to Ca lifornia n Ken ny Perry (Ya m) of Lancaster. Pal en ske, A MA / D -37's top 250cc Enduro ride r, was right a t home on th e tw ist y, rock y race co urse. " We end u ro riders do p retty good o n a tig ht co u rse like thi s, I went down o nce o n th e first loop, abou t 30 miles o u t, I was going th rough a wa sh an d the bike kind of went up a nd over. Other tha n tha t, every th ing went Bea ch, Ca lifornia, took th e win in the 250cc class wh en leader Kurt P feiffer (H us) of Cos ta Mesa , Ca li fornia ra n out o f gas less th an o ne mi le fro m th e fin ish line. Pa len sk i, w ho had tra iled P feiffer for most of th e race, cru ised bv in th e fin al mome nts to ta ke not o n ly the to p 250cc spot. bu t a lso 12th o vera ll. Pfei ffer pushed h is bike to th e line to claim second 250cc a nd 15th o vera ll. . SCOll Morr is (H us ) fini shed third in th e class , a nd Dar yl Folks (H us ) took l ~Q ljrth .-. W th riqer~ ,a r Irorrr .Las , ~ . . 15

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