Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Hines finishe d Kevin Hines replac ed his brake pads twice during the run. r Cunnin gham. second . ei~ht points down on winne score card. Despit e being a..essed a five-po int penalt y for a damag ed r. Champ ion Terry Cunnin gham was the overa11 winne Nation al an extrem ely Third place finishe r Dave Bertra m works his way throug h said the run was "tough er than the Blackw ater." muddy section . One rider AM A Ma don a! Cha mp ion shi p End uro ser ies: Rou nd 7 gh am w in s Sp ee ds vi lle N at io na l By Denn is Zuraw ski Jr. SPEED SVILL E, NY, AUG. 3 Tea m Hus qva rna' s Ter ry Cun ning ham scor ed an imp ress ive win at the Itha ca Dirt Ride rs Nat iona l End uro in Spee dsvi lle. Cun ning ham , abo ard a 430 Aut oma tic, took adthe third vanta ge of wet, mudd y condi tions to beat his neares t competito r, Kevin Hines , by an ei'ght -point mar . gIn. Cunni ngham droppe d 45 points for the day but was given a five point penalty , 10% of his origina l score, because of a damag ed score card, raising his total to 50. Cunni ngham had .,l,con ! cai1i oraJ*ii IdlUb,. fii. ttdldl\ fender until shortly after checkp oint when he hit a tree, man~Iing t~e ~ore card an~ makin g it Imposs Ible to re~d or wnte on. From then on, Cunmn gham made sure that he was marked on the back-u p sheet at every check, but still received the five-po int penalty . The penalty proved to be of no signific ance as KTM's Kevin Hines lost a total of 58 points. laYing him in, second place, unable to take advant age of Cunnin gham's "extra" point loss. Hines was followe d by Husqv ama riders Dave Bertram , Randy Hawkins and Jeff Russel l, with scores of 61,65 and 69, respectively. About 100 yards off the start, riders were placed into one of the many creek beds used during the race, then it was into the thick New York woods as riders tested their skills on the muddy trails where tractio n was at a minim um in many places. As the race progres sed conditi ons got worse for riders on later n umbers , and many of the 351 riders called it quits after the first loop. Cunnin gham, who later said, "I do beueri n the rain," seemed unboth ered by the slipper y condit ions and a hard fall which ripped off his speedo meter 76.9 miles into the race. Cunnin gham also said, "The course had some good section s, even with the rain. Overal l ' it was a really good run." Hines was anothe r rider who though t it was an "excell ent run" and called it a "real enduro ." The run was compo sed of three loops, the first being 58 miles in length, the second 53, and the third, used only by the A riders, was anothe r 25 miles, for a total of I36..At the end of the first loop, riders had a 3Q-minute layover for gas and repairs . "They give us all of this time, I might as well use it," said Hines as he installe d new brake pads on his KTM. Hines duplica ted this proced ure again after the second loop during a 15minute rest, but later revealed that he put in the wrong pads each time and his brakes "glazed over,"l eaving him with little brakin g power. Drew Smith said it all when he stated, "No one could make the weathe r," in reference to sloppy track conditi ons, and added that he was "satisf ied with his perfor mance ." Smith, riding a Keysto ne/Car lislesponso red Honda XR250, called the course "extrem ely difficu lt and real tough. I was giving it all I had. I felt like I was riding the little bike that could," said Smith. All riders felt that the last section was the toughe st and the score cards proved it, as many riders were over 15 minute s late at the final check. Dave Bertram explain ed that the last section was toughe st because each portion of trail was "tied togethe r, and there was nowhe re to rest." Other riders such as Mike Melton and Smith felt they did well in the previou s sections, and if the race finishe d earlier they would have had better scores. "It was hard to keep up my drive and concen tration ," said Smith, "There was DOone else around lO push me." East Coast Enduro Associ ation referee Charle y Staplef ord fell victim to the third loop. Staplef ord said, "It was the first time in 25 years I've houred out. I backed off after falling a lot and was riding to stay in the race." Staplef ord's luck and time ran out as he was more than an hour late at the last check, but he still manag ed to captur e third place in the Senior A class. The course, describ ed by Open A rider Denny Scotten as being "tough er than the Blackwater," caused many riders trouble , includ ing Kawas aki pilot Jeff Fredett e, who broke his chain right off the start, and Husqvarna rider Randy Hawki ns, who finishe d fourth overall despite having his exhaus t pipe broken off shortly after the start. Hawki ns later claime d his ears were hurtin g because of the deafen ing sound of the broken pipe. To make condit ions even worse, a thunde rstorm passed over the area. "It got so dark you couldn 't see," said Jeff RusselL. Russel l, still recove ring from a recent collarb one injury, said "It didn't hurt except on some of the faster section s, but overall it didn't hinder me." Despite the sloppy conditi ons, the event was well organiz ed and professional, and special mentio n should be made of the spectat or sheet which had detaile d instruc tions for nine spectat or points and two gas availables, where pit crews could give their rider gas or just wa tch them conque r the many obstacles. Because of the course conditi ons many riders returne d late, which in turn slowed scoring , but when results were finally posted, there were no protest s and the large amoun t of trophie s were dis• tribute d. Resu lts OVERAl l: 1. Terry Cunningh am (50); 2. Kevin Hine. (58); 3. Daye Bertram (811; 4. Randy Hawkins (65); 5. Jeff Ru.sall (89); 6. Drew Smith (79); 7. Mike Me~on (82); 8. Johnston (84); 9 ..Jeff Irwin (90); 10. Rudy Ebenold (111). OPEN A: 1. Rich Hein. Jr.; 2. G.ry M.rtin; 3. Mark William•. 250 A: 1. Gary Kia....,: 2. C. Gillespia: 3. M. Jon• . 200 A: 1. D. Rudder: 2. D. Wetzel; 3. P. Ramaley. 126 A: 1. Don Ungle; 2. Dan May. HIGH POINT A: 1. Steve V.na.... HIGH POINT 8: 1. Robert Jeneski. HIGH POINT C: 1. Wa~ Whidin. TEAMS: 1. Tr; State Taam Toad. A EX: 1. Rudy Aberscold ; 2. Jack Lafferty Jr.; 3. . M.lambe rt. 4 ST. A: 1. 8i11 KnolC; 2. V. Pacholk.; 3. M. Crippen. SR.A; 1. Jack Lafferty Sr. 2. Ron Ryan; 3. Charley Stapleford. WOMEN' S: 1. Ann 8usta; 2. Dab. Hickman. OPEN 8: 1. K. Meyera; 2. D.lahber te; 3. S. Kenya. 250 8: 1. G. Bauer; 2. J. Woodely; 3. J. Millard. 200 8: 1. 8. Varnes; 2. M. Doyle: 3. A. 8ytsma. 126 8: 1. D. McCormi ck; 2. J. Frack.~on. 4 STIlK 8: 1. K. &annett; 2. B. Norman; 3. J. Grab. SR 8: 1. Gary Doen; 2. Joe Curti; 3. D. _ . OPEN C: 1. J. "-nni: 2. R. Malle; 3. T. Hi..-. 250 C: 1. Norm " - ; 2. BHI Unt; 3. M . , _ . 200 C: 1. J. CaM; 2. D. ~rg; 3. E. Mundt. . 4ST. C: 1. M. Mallory; 2. J. W1II'- ; 3:G. _ . , __ ~J.~3",_"

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