Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

The Larry Roeseler/ Kurt Pfeiffer tum finished second on their prototype 1987 liquid-cooled 610Cc Husky four-stroke. seier and Pfeiffer, Smith rocketed down Highway 3, dodging local and pit l;rew traffic, and screamed breathtakingly fast on knobby tires through the tight paved corners of the canyon that led into the third section of the course. Smith was barely out of sight in the first sand wash when the Roeseler/Pfeiffer Husky appeared, and the chase was on as the course led 0(( intoa 132-mileloop out to the Sea of Cortez at San Felipe and back. The Sweetland/Harden duo was about three minutes behind Roeseler and Pfeiffer going into the loop, with a large l3-minute margin over the Paiement/Park duo running in fourth. Tom Moen was another two minutes back in fifth overall, with Steve Buckley still holding tile 250cc lead for the johnson/Buckley team in sixth overall. By the time the riders reached San Felipe, it looked as though the weather might play an important factor in the outcome of the race. Temperatures were climbing as the riders reached the halfway point of the race. As the heat climbed, though, the battle for the lead became more and more intense, when the Smith/Ashcraft team ran into problems. A cracked pipe on the Smith/Ashcraft Husky broke near the halfway point of the San Felipe Loop, and with the loss of horsepower, Roeseler crept up on the leader. But Roeseler's bid for the lead was cut short when Scot Harden launched a strong bid from behind as the San Felipe Loop drew to a close. Harden's burst took him past Roeseler into second overall, and as the three frontrunners completed the 132 miles and rejoined Highway 3 with less than two miles between them, Harden, running in second overall, crept into the time..adj usted lead by a matter of seconds. There was a final rider change for most of the teams at Highway 3, and the race wa on again - up the main highway, then 0([ the pavement and onto the dusty trails leading back to Ensenada. Ashcraft's departure on -the final leg of the race was delayed while a - new pipe was fitted. leaving Sweetland/Harden and RoeseJer/Pfei((er to wage a two-team battle for the lead. Sweetland and Harden held 0([ the challenge for the first 50 miles of the return run, but succumbed to Roeseler's determined riding in EI Rayo and slipped back to second overall. But having started three-and-a-half minutes behind Roeseler and Pfeiffer that morning, the Sweetland team was still first overall in the time-adj usted standings. After more than eight hours and almost 500 miles of racing, it all came 34 down to the three-and-a-halC minute .. starting margin. As the race drew to a close, Sweetland's job was to stay within that time margin - and with Roeseler charging hard in an effort to put another Baja victOry under his belt, that was not an easy task. Roeseler came out of the hins in front and raced onto the pavement at the outskirts of Ensenada. With Sweetland still not in sight, the ISDE ace powered through the city streets and screamed across the finish line to take the checkered £lag. Larry Roeseler then turned with the rest of the spectators to watch for Sweetland, and started to count down the seconds that would decide the victor. Knowing how fine the margin would be, Sweetland was hard on the gas and crouched low over the handlebars as he sprinted down the final paved stretch and across the finish line, stealing first place honors from Roeseler by just over a minute, with an average speed of 58.12 mph. "I knew it was going to be close," said a tired Sweetland at the finish. "Us, Roeseler, Smith - we were in sight of each other's dust all day and it's a long way to be that c10sel I'm just glad to finally finish one of these; I had to drop out in the last two." Sweetland's jubiliant teammate, Harden, walked over to pat the Husky fondly. "What about this motocycle of ours? It just ran great all day," he said, "and this makes it two in a row." Sweetland/Harden, sPonsored by Husqvarna/Desert Husky/Autolite/Spectro/Smith/Husky Products/ Bell/Gear, also took' top honors at the Best in the Desert Las Vega 300, held early in May. "I thought it was way too fast, and not technicaJ enough for a Baja race," said Harden, "and we had a bad number at the SLart and had to play catch up in the dust in the early stages. In the last sections I had a couple of reallv close call - complete handstands that got the heart thumping - but I didn't come orr. And the bike ran well all day. We couldn't ask for more." Second place finisl)er Larry Roeseier agreed that the race had some interesting moments. "I must've aged five years in that last section," he said. "There was so much tra((ic on the course. It was pretty dangerous in places, and I thought they (Sweetland/Harden) probably had a quicker time so I couldn't slow down." Roeseler, who like many of the top-ranking finishers completed the course with"a knob-less rear tire after miles of high-speed pavement racing, described the team's ride as "relatively trouble-free." "We had to change a couple of wheels, we kept running out of gas because the tank on this bike is small Duene Summers end John Rudder teemed on e 126cc Cegive to win Expert C c....; 16th overell with en everege speed of 60.16 mph. and even though you get better mileage it doesn't quite work out the same, and I had to open about five gates on the way through Mike's Sky Ranch," said Roeseler. "Bue we had no problems apart from' thal." The third rider across the line, Dan Ashcraft, described the course as, "pretty fasl.lt was flat out most of the way in the sections that I did. It was the kind of course where if you had a problem, there was no way of making it up again - and we had a few problems. " Ashcraft's teammate Dan Smith, said winning races in Baja was just a matter of adjusting. "With the traHic and everything, it's a lot different [han our usual desert racing," he said. "The traHic's tbere and you just have to cruise it and make sure you _ don't hit anyone head on. You just have to ride really carefully down here. " Fourth overall, just ove'r 25 minutes behind third-place Smith/Ashcraft, was the Open-class Honda piloted by Ogilvie and Miller. "I can't believe Bruce," said Miller at the finish. "We were in first overall in time at one stage, but I ran out of gas and lost a lot of time. Then Bruce made up 10 minutes in one stage. That's pretty good riding." The first 250cc to take the checkered £lag, in sixth overall, was a Honda ridden by Bob johnson and Steve Buckley, who were last year's SCORE champions in the 125cc class. "We haven't had any sleep in ages -about four hours a night for the last week," said Johnson. "The bike blew up a few days ago and we had to put it back together at the last minute, but everything wem really well today. Wedidn'teven have any flats." One of the few teams to complete the course without changing a rear tire, the pair ran a new multi-purpose sixply tire from Grand Sport Tires, and it still had rubber to spare at the finish line. The team was sponsored by Hondaline/Pro Honda Oils/Grand / Sport Tires. "This is our first win in the 250cc class, so it's pretty special to us," said teammate Buckley. "We're very happy to have done as well as this again t the Open class bikes, especially on such a fast course." Johnson and Buckley rinished with an average speed oC 53.20 mph. Second in the 250cc Class, in seventh overall, was a half-handlebar Husky under the command of West German Eddy Hau. Hau, who had gone down trying to avoid a car in one of the. Highway sections near the end of the race, sheared 0(( the left half of the handlebars and was forced to finish the race with the cl utch lever held limply in his hand. "We would've won the class if it wasn't for this," said Hau's teammate, Dave Chase. ."It was a great race - very fast. and 50 close you couldn't say who had it until right at the finish." The first 30-or-over team to take the checkered £lag was the Mike Hainey/Bob Prickett Yamaha duo. "It was bitchin' - a real fun course," said Hainey. "I like it fast and this was right up my alley. I had a few near head-ons with guys riding backwards on the course, but heck, that's normal. !fyou don't have a couple of scares, then your're not really racing." Nevada's Casey Folks and Pete Sheehan. (sponsored by E.P. Performs/KTM America/Whiskey Pete's Casino/Duralube), piloted a new KTM 350 MXC into second place in the Over-30 group. "This is the first time I've ever ridden in Mexico in my life," said Sheehan. "Too many paved roads. They need it rougher out here. I clipped a few cows on my way, too, which was a bit different." A last-minute miscalculation during the sprint to the checkered flag put Richard Jackson and his Honda down on the slick Mexican concrete about 100 feet in front of the finish line. The crowd scattered as the bike and rider slid through the finish, the bike continuing a.n extra 50 feet down the road. Jackson's slide into home earned him and teammate john Etchart the win in the 38-or-Over class, and 12th overall. "What a way to finish," said jackson as the medical crew removed his tattered riding jersey. "Can you believe that this is my first crash in the whole race? Didn't I steal the show!" The first 125cc motorcycle across the line was the Duane Summers/john Rudder Cagiva in 16th overall; the duo finished with an average speed of 50.25 mph. Summers arrived at the finish line with no knobs and the cord showing on his reaT tire. "It was all that pavement," said the Cagiva ace. "We kept going through tires, just shredding them to bits. It was so fast that you couldn't give up nothing out there." • Results OVERALL(MOTORCVCLES): 1. Gorth S_nd/ Scot Horden (Husl: 2. Larry Roeseler/Ku" Pfeiffer (Hus); 3. Don Smith/Don Ashcroft (Hus); 4. Chuck MillerIBruee Ogilvie (Han); 5. Bob Johnson/Steve Bucltley (Hon): 6. Rondy Moroles/C8rlos Serrono (Hus); 7. Dove Chose/Eddy Hou (Hus~: B. Scon Mo

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