Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

~ e > a: C C I- :I Q r..o 00 Q') ........ ~ c<"l C\J ...... ..... .... 0.. -< Riders enter a bottleneck in the Kentucky round of the National Hare Scrambles Series thaJ AHA NatiofUll ChampionShip Hare Scrambles Series: Round 4 Ballard scores in Kentuc.~ By Jenny Scott CADr Z, KY. APR. 6 Australian G eoff Ba ll ard made up for his near miss in round three by winning round four of the National Hare Scrambles Series, The Can-Am pilot led wire-to-wire to beat Mark H yde and 250cc class winner Ed Lojak. " I had a good sta rt a nd rode ' co n sistently, a nd o n ly making 18 o ne fue l sto p th is week h el ped ," Bal lard sa id. " Ed (Loja k ) again rode well a nd had me worri ed going in to th e last lap when we were neck a nd neck . We push ed hard a nd a few miles in to the last lap he h it a tree roo t a nd cra shed .': H usq varna 's Lojak , wh o rejoined . the race to win the 250cc cl ass, sai d " T oday I had a few problems. I cras he d in the fir st tu rn p ile-up an d had to work m y way up ; o n th e last lap a root sh ot me into a tree a nd I put m y kn ee OUI. J oe (Lojak) h elped me ge t back o n th e bike a nd get goi ng a lt hough it took a bo u t five minutes." Hyde rode h is Husk y 430 AUIOma tic 10 secon d o vera ll. " It fir ed rightup th ough ittook a liule time to engage, but wi th th e first turn pileup I wa s okay because I co u ld ride arou n d it ," Hyde sa id . "Ed a nd I di ced for a good pa r t o f th e race an d I p assed h im o n th e la st lap a fter h e went do wn ." T h e Kentuck y T rail Ri ders C lu b put o n th e sho w a nd from m ost o f th e riders ' p oi nt o f view it wa s a g rea t succe ss. T he o n ly nega tive co rnmen ts ca rn e a bo u t from th e warm a nd h u m id weat her that drai ned th e rid ers' energ y and flu id levels. T he co urse, or co urses in this case, wa s what th e ri de rs a p p recia ted . T h e club h ad set up a n " A" co u rse o f 9. 1 mil es and a sh o r ter seven-mile co urse for the " B" riders . with bot h I racks coming togeth er before th e sco ring ba rr els th en separating soon after. " It wa s g rea t," Ball ard said. " T he re wa s a lo t less traffic for us an d I'm su re th e B riders enjo yed it mo re no t bei ng hassled by us." At noon th e first wa ve of 250cc and Open A riders left th e lin e with Bal lar d , Fritz Kadl ec a nd Bob Bean h itting turn o ne together. Ball ard h eld a tight inside line whi le Kadlec and Bean drifted wid e a nd lock ed together, ca using a chao tic first tu rn pi le-up th a t in cluded Loja k a nd Kawasakimounted Kevin Brown . By th e end o f la p o ne it was sti ll Ballard, who had str etche d a lead o f 20 seco nds ove r Kerry Wisdon, H yde, Mike Keen , T ony H endon an d defending cha m p io n J ohn Martin . Kad .Iec had wo~ed back up in to eigh th wi th L ojak hitting th e barrel s o ne m inute a nd 15 seco nds behind Bal lard in 14th overa ll. By lap two Loja k had wo rked up to th ird in class a nd sixth overall , bu t h e h ad d ropped a no ther 20 seconds beh ind Ballard. At th e halfway. mark Ball ard refu eled with Lojak now seco n d a n d o n ly 18 seco nds beh ind . The lead cha nged but o n ly for the di sta nce between the two p its as L ojak refu eled a nd Ballard m o to red a way from th e p its with th e lead . H yde wa s wa ~ won by Can-Am's Geoff Ballard. nex t th rough , ano th er 16 seco nds behind, follo wed by Michigan 's Keen , Wi sdon a nd the n Husky's Fred H oess a nd Martin: Kadlec was 10th, four minutes a n d 50 seco n ds behind th e lead er. Yama h a 250 rider T ony H endon had been forced 10 ch an ge a badl y cr ushed exh au st p ipe and th e ch ange cos t him six minu tes. Kevin Brown managed to wo rk hi s way up to fift h overall after hi s ba d s tar t, but th en side swiped a tr ee th at bent h is rea r di sc a nd put h im o u t o f ac tio n . Du ri n g la p fi ve, Ba ll a rd h ad stretch ed hi s lead o ver L ojak to 50 seco nds after th e fa ll tha t sa w H yde m ove p as t Loj a k a nd into seco nd . At th e end o f la p seven and startin g th e final lap wa s wh ere th e ac tio n go t ser io us. Lojak had cha rged pas t H yde 10 reg ain seco nd.a n d bo th he a nd Balla rd hi t the ba rr el s together. " I thou gh t I had a bett er lead and Ed surprised me," Ballard said . "If a nyo ne, I was expecting Mark. I did n ' t wan t a repeat o f Ten nessee so I gasse d it up ." Everyone was ten se waiti ng to see wh o wo u ld eme rge fro m th e woods with the lead. T wen ty-two minu tes la ter the Austra lia n ca me o u t of th e wo ods fir st , but th e sh ock ca me whe n H yde appea red nearl y four m in u tes la ter wi th Loja k eventu a lly co m in g in after a h ard fall anoth er tw o a n d a h alf m inu tes beh ind H yde. It was good en o ug h , h owever, for th e 250cc class win afte r a h ard fought ride fo r H yde. After a poor star t h e sho wed th at with a rid e lik e th at he co u ld be th e man to beat in 1986. FOUTlh p lace went to a co nsisten t Keen with Wisdon putti ng in a strong ride fo r fifth o vera ll an d second 25010 beat Can-Am's Martin b y .a sca nt three seco nds. Nex t an d j ust ano th er five seco n ds back wa s Fritz Kadlec on th e 400cc Husky. Scott Summer , o n - th e four-stroke H onda , p u t it all together to tak e h ome fir st in class an d eigh th o vera ll to edge o ut Tom Bu ck les. Bu ckl es, who h as tak en three wins 10 dat e, sa id , "Scan ro de a strong, hard race, a lt ho ug h th is week I haven 't been feel ing 100%. " H endon turned so me co ns istently fast laps to brin g hi m back from hi s ea rly p ipe problem to finish n imh ove ra ll a nd third in h is class. Ro und in g o u t th e to p 10 was Husk y 250 I p ilot Fr ed H oess. "At the en d of lap fiv e th e h eat go t to m e and I felt like I co u ld n' t ge t o u t of fir st gear, " he sai d. H oess ended up fourth in th e 250cc class. T he 200cc A class was a tota l Kawa sa ki dominance wi th ISDE G old Meda lis t J eff Fred ett e leadi ng h ome a troop o f Kaw a saki riders. Second an d thi rd went 10 Greg Surd yke a nd Pat . Fl ynn , respecti vely. , T he 125cc A Natio na l class wa s agai n won by Aus tra lia n Husky privat eer Jeff Daw son, who from lap two too k co m ma nd of th e lead that he event ua lly extended to three and a h alf m inu tes by th e flag . " It wa s a n o the r to ugh race," he said. " I was rea ll y happy to see Geoff co me by an d save me do ing ano the r lap ." In th e Se n ior class it was Ala bama 's T erry Meiller who topped the field ah ead o f Can-Am's Joh n Fero . " We wer e runnin g a good race wh en J ohn decided to mak e a seco nd fuel sto p o n la p six a nd I got by hi m ," Meiller said. " O n the last lap he tried 'rep assin g me an d as he was beside me he h it a tree root whi ch threw him d irectl y in fro nt o f me. I co u ld n ' t m iss h im a nd nailed h is leg ." Fero remo u nted 10 finish a minute dow n , wit h H ank Sta n kiew icz next a h ead of Ho nda ri der J im Ford. After a fifth th rough th e barrels on lap o ne, Su per Seni or rider J eff Smith pi cked o ff hi s co mpeti tors Emit Co x, Dave Coombs. and H a rry Green lee to tak e th e lead o n th e fin a l lap by a o ne min ut e marg in . . • Results OV ERA LL: 1. Geoff Bell ard (C-A); 2. M ark Hyde (Hus ); 3. Ed Laje k (Hus); 4 . M ike Keen ; 5 . Kerry W isdo n; 6. J oh n Me n i n (C·A) ; 7 . Fritz Kadl ec (Hus); 8 . Sco tt Sum mer (Han); 9. Tony Hendon; 10 . Fred Hoess . OPEN A : 1. Geoff Ball ard (C· A); 2 . Ma rk Hyde (Hu s); 3. M ike Kee n. . 250 A : 1. EdLojak (Hu s); 2. KerryWisdon ; 3. Ton y Hendon. 200 A: 1. J eff Fredette (Kaw) ; 2. Greg Surdyke (Kew ); 3 . Pal Flynn (Kew) . 12 5 A: 1. Je ff Dewson (Hu s); 2 . Tim Car mien; 3 . Philip Krey . 4 -STRK: 1. Scott Summer (Hon); 2 . Tom Buckles: 3. David Love ll. SR; 1. Terry Meiller; 2. Jo h n Fero (C· A); 3. Hank Stankiewicz. . 5 5: 1. J eff Sm it h; 2. Har ry Green lee; 3. Charles Ga ilbra ith. OPEN B: 1. M ike Forney; 2. Vic Oyer ; 3. Jes se Greer. 250 8 : 1. M ike Morris ; 2 . Marty Ritt en ber ry; 3. Kenneth J oyce . 200 B; 1. Patr ick Sm it h: 2. Fran k Sub lette : 3 . Doyl e Vi nc e Perry . • HEAVY TRA IL RIDERS; 1. Gene Th urm an ; 2. Jer ry Per ry; 3. Rod Th urley. . LIGHT TRA IL RIDERS; 1. Geard UnIe John; 2. Ph il Colgan; 3. Dave Stall ings.

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