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/126914
Close to 30 minutes after the start "The Hill" started to haunt a lot of riders including Experts; broken bikes littered the section all day. Gary Dircks' Sunnyslope HOlldal Young Cycle Supply-sponsored CR250 turned in a time of 3: 18:42 for a threelap average of 31.71 mph, while Drey . Dircks' CRl25' was close behind at 3:19:53, averaging 31.52 mph. According to the new ADRA computer scoring, no other riders broke the 31 mph barrier. Neither Dircks had been near the front of the two-bikes-every-15-sec(Above) Gary Dircks flies his 250cc Honda to the overall and cia.. win in onds start. the Prescott Mountain 100; e three lap average speed of 31.71 mph. "First lap was real dusty," said (Below) The Dircks brothers. Gary (right) and Dray. finished first and Gary. "Couldn't get around anybody second with Gary on a 250 and Dray on a 200. 'til we hit the big wash (about 15 miles out). Then I started passing and caught up to (leader) Mike Powers at about the 25-mile mark. "He held me off for quite awhile -went down once but was up again before I could pass - he was all over the place trying to stay in front of me. "Finally he ate it and I got around. The second lap was easier - no one in front of me. I hate rocks, but it seems like those were my fastest sections. That's where I passed the trafficl" Gary added that he crashed highsided - halfway through the second lap, breaking his bike's clutch lever, but he was lucky to get around a lot of downed riders on the hills. His final lap was dusty with lots of lapped traffic, but he had no problems. "And it's great to have Drey finish second!" Gary said. Regular readers will recognize Drey Dircks' name from the 125cc National MX Series, but this was Drey's first off-road race. We asked him how it compared to motocross. "Dusty - real dusty and rocky.as opposed to MX. And with no practice, the trail ride really helped a lot. I couldn't remem beT all the course, but I at least got the feel for it," he said. "The race was pretty fun but I don't think I'd want to do it allwe time. It's tiring. How long was that? By Daryl Drake . Three and a half, four hour.s? Photos by 3-D Photography ''I'll be back when I have a weekend off from the Nationals. I tried CAMP WOOD, AZ, MAY 25 this for a little training, but it worked out pretty good'''' HC Mike Powers (KTM) was third in, five minutes behind Gary D., as the apparent Open Expert winner. But a question about a spark-arrestor via- ' lation may cost him the race. He was rumored to have started his last lap with a defective pipe, a definite no-no in Prescott National Forest's For this ninth edition, ADRA redue to forest regulations. He was in Santa Maria Mountains, add versed much of ~he old course ~nd no mood to comment, and his fate 'i 251 ff d I' added a new section for the starting will be decided after we ~o to press. n ~ -roa motorcyc Ists, leg. Conditions were very hot and Not quite two minutes back was and you ve got the makmgs of dusty, and many riders called the race JeH Darland (Honda), fourth overall tougher than ever. and second Open Expert. a great race. Arguably the most technical on the ADRA has not 3110wed pre-running "Boy, was it dusty on the first lap!" 12-race ADRA circuit, Prescott sepaat any of its past races, but at this he laughed. "I hit a tree nodar offthe rates the skilled from the unskilled, event instituted a one-lap "Fam.ily Start, then fell once more when 1 and the unskilled (or unlucky) from Trail Ride" Saturday. The Dircks couldn'tsee. Butit was fun. I'm looking their motorcycles. fa" \.It i..t to rc;~l &:..~ ~st·...._-,-'.&."~io."-,,,:::.f::..0:L.r1'''~rq ~o ~he.l)t;"i.t ~ne.·~ •• _ •• , Ninth Annual ADRA Prescott Mountain 100 Dircks dominate in the Mountains B rot h ers G aryan d D rey D ' k s f' 'h e d oneInlS two overall to take the 250cc and 200cc Expert wins in the Prescott Mountain 100, Take 35 miles of the roughest, toughest trails 26 Pat Prosser (KTM) was exactly two minutes behind Darland to fill out the top five as third Open Expert. "It was dusty, dusty, dustyl But to me it seemed easier to have the hardest stuff first instead of last (like in years previous). "I rode pretty well, never fell, and did okay," Prosser added. Then came 250cc rider Tim Leehe (KTM), Open riders Glenn Dawson and Pat Duncan, 250cc pilot Ken Kozlik and Open man Gwin Vaughn to round out the top 10. A notable non-starter was points leader and last year's winner, Garth Sweetland. A connict with the AMA Hare 'n' Hound series·kept him from racing here. The "hardest stuff" Prosser spoke of included "The Hill." There are lots of climbs on this course, but all who rode it will know whereof I speak. Even some of the Experts had trouble with this one, and when I arrived on the scene some 30 minutes after the start, "The Hill" was literally littered with broken bikes and exhausted riders. I didn't bother to count how many were on the hill, but I did note at least a half dozen riders parked at the bottom waiting for their chance to assault ·the mountainside. Sweep riders were doing their best to clear the bottleneck as I clicked off a few shots of the hapless racers, but it was still choked weJl past the one"hour mark when, from the bottom, 1 heard the Experts approaching on their second trip. As the'cry "Expertsl" was relayed up the trail, riders used their remaining strength to yank their bikes into the bushes (lest they be used as traction aids on the rocky hillside). Sharp rocks also stopped many with tire troubles; 38+ Senior Vet Ray Cawthorn, a non-finisher, was a typical example.' "I made it three-and-a-half miles yesterday, put in a new tube with sealant, and today I went seven miles," he lamented. Only the Experts .ran three laps, - with most other classes taking two. In the Amateur division, James Stott (KTM) was first in and 250cc winner with a two lap time of 2:27:50 for a 28.41 mph average. Chris Spurlock was three minutes back on his Motorcycle &: Marine KX125 for the 200cc Amateur win, and Glen Raper Jr. finished 2: 14 after that, grabbing the Open Amateur honors on a Honda. He said, "I hadn't raced here since 1984 - it was challenging. I had trouble on 'The Hill' both laps. First time 1 hit a downed bike and lost it, second time there was no traffic. but 1 guess it had me psyched out and I still l