Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

KTM 's Kevin Hines captured t he overall w in after passing Can-Am 's Geoff Ballard on the f irst lap. From then o n , it was all Hines' . Daytona Dirt Riders Sportsman HS Hines hauls at Daytona Sportsman HS By Tom Mueller FLAGLER BEACH , FL, l\IAR . i Desp i te running out of gas on the whoopstrewn course, K'TM 's Kevin Hines main tained a lead to take th e overall win at the Da ytona Sportsman Hare Scrambles. Over 250 riders turn ed o u t for th e Daytona Dirt Rid ers-sponsored even t, a nd this year th e race attracted a premi er cro wd of 38 o ff-road co m pe tito rs . " A good perce ntage o f thl' Alligator Endu ro was ra nrt- Ih-d in 1986 due to land rights problems, and th e hure scr ambl es today gave a lot of th ose folks a pl ace to go a nd ran'." T h e Daytona Din Riders provided a six-m ilt' loop whic h offered numero us switchbac ks and hundreds o f sandy whoops. A few wa ter crossings were included, and the club's mor o cross co u rse was incorporat ed into th e last pan of ea ch lap. Two sepa ra te heats ShOWGISl-U th e da y' s co m pe t it io n . Senior, Super Seni or, C cl a ss es, Mini and th e \\'o men's class ra n th e fir st o ne-ho u r, 20-mi n u te heat. J:h t;, c.:s.l .of th e field th en diced throughou t a two -h ou r, 20-m in u te scrambles la ter in the day. Balla rd led tilt' field a t t he suut i,f the AA , A a nd B class race. H iu cs didn 't wavu-a shi ft a nd rook the fro nt spot by th e end of la p o ne o n his KT ;\I :l00 ;\IX C. H e wa s tr ailed hv Ball ard and H usq vurn a r iders l\Iark H vde. All en Gravi t: and l\I ike ;\Id toll . 'By la I' I wo Hines had a :l8-second lead 0 11 Balla rd . Hvdr a nd G raviu we ll ' st ill i n th e Ihree-fo u r slot s. H on da CR 125 ri der Bru ce Buerk a nd Suzu ki -m ounted Kevin Fol ev well' using the ir /\IX ba ck g rounds t;, m ove up through the pack . Him's kept m otoring while the o the r top riders p iu ed for gas o n lap fOUL By rh e tim e H in es pitt ed o n lap five, a su rp rise was in store. " W ha t? H e's ca tc h ing me?" sai d Hines as he bl a sted back in to th e co u rse , Bunk was in s tr ikirig' ra nge, a nd Him's wan ted a sa fety c ushion . Mark Hyde and his Husky f ini shed one m inute and 14-seconds behind Hines for second overall , wh ile Bruce Buerk f inished third . La p fin" p roved to be th e a u rn io n point. Ballard cu lled it quits with a seiled engine. wh i k- G I~I vitt a nd Bu erk both had to p it with sh eared sp rockets, At th e o ne -ho ur . ,j5-m in u te poi n t in th e ran', H im's was hold in g a IWo minu te. 18-senm d lead . T he track was ge ltin g l'O ug her every mi n u te. a nd Ih e race was ta ki ng its to ll o n Ihe Iic l d . 1\ l o st of the com pet itors rel al ed tha t in th e lau- stages of Ihe hare scra m bit's the co u rse seemed 10 be nothing more tha n endle-ss swi lchbacks of whoops. H ines made it past the scorer s a rea only o ne minut e shy of the tw o -hour cu t-off mark , so he was wa ved through for a no ther lap. T he ex tra d isrunr« maul' th e difference. beca use H in es Io und himself along the side of th e tra il a short whi k- later. " I sa w him si tting there a nd ma ul' my way to the nearest tr uck ," said Ba rr y H iggin s, w ho was co mpet ing in th e race. " I d on ' t kn o w if I gOI h im X R gas (w ithou t oi l) o r not , bu t w ha tever it was 1 kn ew it wou ld ge t Ke vin to th e fin ish ." Him's d id make it to th e fini sh wi III the win a fter a tw o -h ou r. 15m inut e rid e, which took him a ro u nd th e lo op n ine tim es. One-minut e a nd l -l-serond s behind Hines wa s Hvde, and in third was Buerk , 12 sen ;nus luu-r. Bu erk» third ov era ll finish included a five-minute pit sto p to replace the front sp roc ke t he sh ea red . Fi\T seconds off Bucrks pace (o n co rre cte d tim e) was 2!iOcc A rider Alan Andrew , and fifth o vera ll was 250cc BrideI' Yves Du charme. The m ix o f cl asses in the overall column was unique; th e ro ug h Flo rida course had taken it s toll o n Expert s a nd Novice» a li ke . " T he long er the bett er ," sa id H in es a fter th e race. " I do mv best wh en the g o ing g et s tough , a nd 1001a y's co urse go t tough er throughout th e da y. I d on 't know till' bik es that well vet (H im 's sw itc he d from I Iusk y to K'f'1\I in 1986) but I'm ge tl ing th e hang of it. " Of n ote was th e da y·l onp; pl ight of " Iro n ma n " Bany H ip;p;in s, who o p ted 10 rid e both h eats. I Ie gra bbed first in the Se nior class o n a 500cc KTI\I in the fir st lu -ar . f hen j umped o n a l 25cc KTI\I for th e second race, wh ere he p laced th ird in the I 25c(' A class. "Si nce la st Sur urdav 1 ro de seve n even ts, a nd I' ve won seve n trophi es," sa id Hi g g'in s, " I g uess I'm rea dy logo back to th e morel a nd co llapse in a h eap. " • Results OVERALL : 1. Kevin Hines (KTM ); 2 _M ar k Hyde (Hus); 3. Bruce Buerk (Han) ; 4 . Al a n An drew; 5 . Yves Ducharme. AA : 1. Kevi n H ines (KTM); 2. M ark Hyde (Hus); 3 . All en Gra yoUIHus); 4 . Geoff Ball ard (C· AI; 5 _M Ike M elton (HusJ. 12 5 A : 1. Bruc e Bue rk (Hon !; 2. Chr is Marl in (Ka w ); 3 . Barr y Higgins (KTM) . ~ 125 8 : 1. Mark Pedr er o; 2. Todd Dave npon; 3 . Andrew Fau st . 25 0 A : 1. Al an Andrew ; 2. Blair Sharpl ess; 3 . Tony Hend on. 2508: 1. Yves Ducha rm e; 2 . Claude Leonard; 3. J oh n Curwick. I OPEN A: 1. Bob Bean; 2. Dean Kronenwetter ; 3. J erry M orga n. . OPEN B: 1. Joh n Harr im an ; 2. Lendon Smith. Jr .; 3 . G ill es Guerard. VINT: 1. Jame s Hi ter ; 2. Bene Rodi; 3 . Earl Hungerford. WOMEN : 1. Beth Rewis; 2. Vicki Wi lcox ; 3. Jyll Pivn ick . M INI: 1. Chad Lough; 2. Ch uck Coates; 3. Chris Povall. SR : ~ 1. Barry Higgins (KTM) : 2 . Dick Burleson (Hus] : 3 . Jerry Harris. SUP SA; 1. George Singler; 2_Ken Keylon, Sr.; 3 _ Don Thr asher. 125 C: 1. St eve Joh n son; 2 . Lance Manfredi; 3. Chri s Luoma . 250 C: 1. Mike Pickard ; 2 . Arlie Cecil; 3 . Kar l Sieberl ing . OPEN : 1. Greg Ce lic ; 2. Jon Cone ; 3. Craig Borders.

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