Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Australian Geoff Ballard won the 500cc A class on the final lap in Gainesville after passing Kevin Hines. .. AMA/Wiseco National Hare Scramble Series: Round 2 L.ojak battles Martin to win Gainesville By Mike and Anne Adair GAINESVILLE. FL. MAR. 2 Husqvarna'sEdLojakdueled wi th Can-Am 's John Martin for two and a half hours before winning the second National Hare Scramble of the season at Gainesville's Gatorback Cycle Park, "We were having a good time," expla ined Mart in , after the compe ti tio n, "bu t I think Loj ak might have been p laying 34 wit h me ." Lojak, who took the 250cc A win . rep lied, " I wa sn 't really playing. but I knew I had to save some energy for the las t la p ." H o n da mounted Steve Genter topped the 125cc A field and Kawasaki rider Larry Bergquist ear ned th e 200cc overall A a wa rd. Martin praised promoter David Coom bs' cha lle ngi n g co urse. " T his was th e be event th at I'v e ever ridst den in Florida ," said th e Minnesot a rider. " T h is course was fairly short ( n in e mil es ). but well laid OUl. Though we sta rted lapp ing g uys prett y ea r lv o n , I d idn ' t run in to a ny bo ttleneck s OUt there toda y. I would ha ve preferred . however. if th ey'd included more tigh t wood secti ons. The ci rc u it was fast; more lik e a mot oc ross track. " Seve ra l di sappointed riders a rr ived at th e event midmorning. ex pect ing a I :00 sta rt . and missed th e early sta rt . " We changed the starting time to 8:00 a. m, some time ago to g ive riders a cha nc e to finish up and wat ch the G ainesville N ational Motocross." explained Coombs. " We're sorry for th e m ixup. An yone who wrote or ca lled us. for information receiv ed th e co rrected time:' "My literature sa id 8:00 a .m.,' co m mented Lojak, " I g uess some guys saw th e listi ng in th e AMA maga zin e and showed up too lat e to co m pete." Most got the starting time right. as 293 riders enjoyed a cool, but sunny day of intense hare scrambles com \?fit'lion. In th e A sta rt . h alf of the pa ck backed up in the seco nd tu rn after one u nfortunate rider ca ug h t a loose piece of fenci ng and started a gian t ja m . After clearing turn two. the co urse snaked wi ldly through a n abandoned ca ttle pen before breaking ou t int o a la rge open field. The route arrows co n tin ued to direct riders up and over man y of Gain esville's ba ld hills and around its fam ous lime rock quarries. Earl y leader Marcus R icketts explained his loss of th e lead, " I wa s a he ad of Lojak a nd reall y go in g gr eat, " he said. " T he n I tho ugh t I p as sed double a rrows a nd turn ed a ro u n d . I reall y felt like a n idiot whe n I carne back a nd sa w tha t I was mi stak en: ' As rhe race co rn in ue d tWO d istinc t races developed. Martin a nd L ojak battled a t th e point of th e 250cc di visi on with Steve McSwai n and Fred H oe ss tra il in g . while H ondaII I ' su p por t I ...J R I' Ck escd H u s kv ' s F r rtz 'y Kad lec a n d Mike Keen for th e 500cc honors. Husky's Mark H yde. wh o won th e sea so n o pe ne r in Louisiana . su ffered . II d bi ke pro> ems on th e p ard e lap and started th e co m pe titio n o n a quickl y b d hi " Tl I ' k . orrowe ma c m e. Ie > e Just 1 wa sn 't set up for me a nd after o ne lap I pull ed of f." he sa id . Martin and Loja k we re close througho ut th e race. as bo th p it crews worked feverishl y to mak e th eir sto ps brief as possib le. " I had two rea l tralIi bl I C pro ems durin g th e mel'," Martin sa id. " I locked elbo ws w ith a guy .J.. on a Honda and he went down sprawling. I hope he's okay. Then another uy o th un u inm -bike aud d ru g &: •• ~ ••• ~. it 20 feet before I co u ld chase him . down. I lost my brake in that one." Martin recovered from bath accidents and held a 20 second edge o n Loj ak wi th tWO laps to go. On th e fina l loop, L ojak closed th e gap a nd mad e hi s mov e fo r th e win . " My Husk y wo rked well for me today, " sa id th e smooth P ennsvl van ia rider. " And it 's p retty much tile way it ca rn e out of th e box." Loja k's 1986 spon SOl'S arc H us q va rn a , H i-P o inr . Smir h. :\let7 .cler, Bel-Ra v, Aut oli u-and Tt 'I1 Y Cables. ' . H oes set tled for thi rd, finish in g wit h ha nds th at looked like hamburger. " T h e weather hasn 't a llowed us to ride in N ew Jersey yet," he exp lai ned, " a n d m y han d s reall y ca ug h t it toda y." KTM 's Kevin Hines a nd Austra lia n G eoff Ballard (Ca n Am ) stormed th rough th e pack to eve nt ua llv tak e o ver th e duel for 500cc su prem acy . " My bik e seized o n th e first lap, " said Ballard , " I took it easy fo r a whil e a nd th en began 10 pi ck up th e p ace, I fina lly ca u g h t up and got by Kevin , bu t be passed me back . T hen I 'la id the bike do wn in a grave l pit and it wouldn 't resta rt.I did a bump start and took off, JUSt when I thought I wa s done for th e day, I saw Kevin stopped a lo ngside th e trail." " I ran o u t o f ga s on th e la st lap ," sa id Hines. " A super ni ce g uy o n a H onda sto p ped a nd gave me enough gas to fini sh an d sa ve seco nd pl ace." Kadl ec topped R icke tts for thi rd . The Husky-sponsored Kadlec sa id " My a rms pumped up a nd I still had blisters from la st week . 'I had to back o ff th e pa ce JUSt to hang o n ." Meridian H onda-sponso red G enter sa id. a fte r h is 125cc A win, " W ith a ll th e A bikes start ing a t once I didn't kn ow that I had the lead until a gu y o n a Husk y (J eff Daw son ) pas sed me. We had a great race and congra tulated eac h o the r a t th e finish ." The Fa yencville, North Carolina ga rage owner sa id . " My wife a nd daughter made a fin e support erew for me today and I really appreciated their help." Dawso n commented in his pit aft er the race, "Geoff Balla rd a n d I rode together for Austra lia in the Six Da ys and he told me how good th e racing was in America . I do like i t here and I' m enjoy ing the travel wit h Mark Hyde and th e Huskv team." Team Husky's Four-Stroke A winner, Tom Buckles , explained, "We had a co n tro versy in the class. T he . promoters announced th at a ll A riders would start on th e front row. David Crane (the second-pl ace finish er ) and I started in the fir st row. but SCOll Summers a nd so me of th e others in th e class started later. The o ffic ia ls awarded th e late sta rte rs th e time dif: Ierence, but we were still wa y ahead of th em , with a lot o f riders in between. It wa s an unfortunate sit ua tio n , but not rea lly o ur fault: ' • Results 200 A : 1. Larry Bergquist (Kaw); 2. Ke nt Stanley (Kaw ); 3. Ben Hamrick (Hon); 4. Pat Flynn (Yam). SR A : 1. Barry Higg ins (KTM); 2. Scott Wol fe rs berger (KTM) ; 3. Henry Stankiewiez (Hus ); 4 . Terry Mealer IHus ); 5. Mike McGee (Hus). 125 A : 1. Steve Genter (Hon); 2. Je ff Dawson (Hus); 3 . Edwin Lowerre (Cag); 4. Charl ie Harmes (Kaw) . 250 A : 1. Ed LoJak (Hus); 2. John Martin (C-A l; 3. Fred Hoess IHus); 4 . Ton y Hendon (Yam ); 5 . Eddie Reen (Hus ). OPEN A: 1. Geoff Ballard (C-A t; 2. Kevin Hine s (KTMI ; 3 , Fritz Kadlec (Hus); 4 . M arcus Rick ens (Yam); 5 , Mike Kee n (Hus ). FOUR-STRK: 1. Tom Buc kles (Hus); 2.· David Crai n (Hus); 3. Scon Summers (Hon): 4 . Kirk Hayes (Hon); 5. W ill Knox (Hon) . 200 B: 1. Kell y A rgellethe (Suz); 2. Shawn Lev sane (Su z); 3. W oodson Crumm (Suz); 4. Ken Mat wa y (Kaw); 5. Sam Bright (Yam ), 250 B: 1. Larr y Hill {Vam}; 2. Chr is Bry nildsen (Kaw); 3. Ja ck Hazelw ood IKTM); 4. Glenn Warren (Kaw): 5. Doug Groff (CoAl. OPEN B: 1. Kevin Mat hew s (KTM ): 2. 7; 3 . IIkka Jacaskart (C-A); 4. Paul Michels (M -S); 5 , Joseph Light (KTM ). SR B: 1. Ralph Siebe (KTM); 2. Steve Mc Sw aine (Hon ); 3 . Fred Lasseter (Suz); 4 . W illiam Holloway (Hon ); 5. Rob McCla in (Hon), ss: 1. Harry Greenlee (Hon); 2. Jeff Sm ith {CoAl ; ~~h~~~:hG(~~~~th(HUS);4. DonThaSher{HOn);5 . P ••••••• . • •• •••.••• __ •. ••• _. _ John Lowman won the Yamaha RZ Challange in the Expert class. Sprint Series (Con tin ued from page 20) zcll , H a re. a nd Ra fael Ferrer the Iro nt runners . Kell y stayed in front uru il lap five, wh en Ferrer got aro und and took th e ch ecke rs first . Fo llowing Ferrer were Chin , Kell y, Rentzel l and Hare. Ben Beasley. riding a FJ600 Yamaha. topped Jim Groves. wh o was a board a FZ750 Yamaha , for the Novice H eavyweight Superbike win. The Formula T wo race saw G arv Griffith pUI his T 7.250R Yamaha in front a t th e start a nd pu ll aw ay from th e field . Ra cin g for seco n d were G reg Tysor. Greg Esser and Mike Lak in . By lap three J ohn Long and hi s TZ250 Yam aha moved into seco nd w ith Esser third. L ong began to close o n Griffith each lap and by lap six was pressuring Griffith for th e lead. At th e ch eckered £lag. Long just ni p p ed Griffith for th e win . but was penalized o ne lap for lin i ng up in the wrong grid position a nd was dropped to 19th p lace. giving Griffit h the m u ch-d eserved win . Esser LOo k second , T ysor third. Tom Fra ncis fourth on a FJ600 Yama ha, and Laki n fifth. Roby H ead jumped out in fro n t in th e U nlimited Superbike Expert race o n the H ead Racing FJ 1100 Yama ha wit h Kell y in seco nd. Mark C hi n , Kevin Re ut ze l] and John Ashmead were a ll close and soon had Head a nd Kell y in sig h t. Ashmead. on the Gary Med ley-tuned Honda In tercep to r, was cha rg ing a nd held third by lap four . On the n ext go -a ro u nd - Ashmead moved in front and held off Head for the win. Behind H ead carne Ren tzell, Chin. and Kell y. James Groves was th e N ov ice winn er in U n l im ited Superbike. • Results SUPTWNS EX: 1. J immy Adamo (Duct 2. St uart Cooper (Cag); 3 . Jerr y Wood (Duc ). SUPTWNS NOV: 1. Pete Johnson (Cog); 2. Jerry Demon (M-GJ; 3. Bob Roncheno (H-D). LT WT SUPB K NOV : 1. Bob Hanbury (Hon ); 2. Mike Reed (Sul); 3 . Neil Donovan (Ducl. VAM RZ CHAL EX: 1. Jo hn Lowman (Vam); 2. Pat Curran (Vam ); 3. Bill Kelly (Vam). VAM R2 CHAL NOV : r . Bob Wi llis (Yam); 2. Colin Fraser (Vam); 3 . Tom Kipp (Vam). F-l EX: I , John Kocinski (Vam); 2. Roby Head (Vamt 3. Mark Chin (Yam). MID WT SUPBK EX: 1. J immy Adamo (Cag); 2. Kevin Rentzell (Yam); 3. M ike Lakin (yam). F-TWNS EX: 1. Greg Smrz 1M-G): 2. J immy Adamo (Duc ): 3 , Randy Renfrow (Duc ). F-TW NS NOV : 1. Pete Johnson (Duc); 2. Jerry Demon (M -G): 3. Bob Richetto (H· D). LT WT SUPBK 1 EX: 1. Per ry Bruce (Vam); 2. ' Frnak Sla ughter ISuz); 3 . Dave Savward (Hon) , HVY WT SUPBK NOV: 1. Ben Beasley (Vam ): 2. J ames Groves (Yam); 3. Doug Whe lan {Yam l. HVY WT SUPBK EX: 1. Rafael Ferr er (Yam ); 2. Mark Chin (Vam): 3 . Bill Kelly (Vam). F·2 NOV: 1. Pete Madiga n (Vam): 2. Joe Maher (Kaw) : 3. Pete Joh nson (Duc). F-2 EX: 1. Gary Gr iffith (Vam); 2. Greg Esser (Vam); 3. Greg Tysor (Vam). UNLMT SUPBK NOV : 1. James Gr oves (Vam); 2. Ben Beasley (Yam); 3 . Gus Christensen (Yam). UNLMT SUPBK EX: 1. John Ashmead (Hon); 2. Rob y Head (Yam ); 3 . Kevin Rentzell (Suz). LT WT SUPBK EX: 1. Chuck Quenzler (Vam); 2. All an Mueller (Hon ); 3. Nor m Meyer (Hon). LTWT SUPBK NOV: 1. Pete Klee (Hon); 2. Randy Ak ins (yam); 3. Bob Willis (Vam). In J ,

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