Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Winner of SoCal M.C:s Fremont Valley Hare and Hound, Cliff Thomas (402) edged Charlie Morris, Jr. by 10 seconds at the end of the 84-mile race. Thomas sque~ksto Fremont Valley H&Hwin By Anne and Tom Van severen Photos by Tom Van Beveren FREMONT VALLEY, CA, NOV 9 In one of the closest finishes in AMA District 37 desert racing this year, 250cc Yamaha ace Cliff Thomas squeaked in to take the checkered flag less than 10 seconds ahead of fellow 250cc pilot Charlie Morris, Jr. and Open Expert Paul Krause , at SoCal M.C. s 42nd AQnual Hare and Hound. After leading for mostof the tough' 84-mile race, it was touch and go for Thomas on the final run in to the finjsh. A last minute charge by Mor· ris and Krause had them closing up fa: t, and with oil leaking out of a hole in the Yamaha's side case, Thomas was not sure he could make it to the finish line. "Looking at the side case, I think I'm lucky that I made it this far," Thomas said after holding on just long enough to take the checkered flag. "I've been leaking oil for about 10 miles and I was just hoping I'd finish in time. I'm real glad I get my new bike next week - it's a 1987250 from Montclair Yamaha. I think this poor bike's just about had itl" . , . WIth Team Hus~y ~ Dan, Smith and a number of .ol~tnct 3~ s other top cont~nders still 111 MeXlc.o after therunnmgo.f the SCORE Baja 1000 two days earl~er, the race was up for grabs as the 4:)0 entrants hned up for the start. But when the banner dropped al 9; 15 a.m., it was obvious that Cliff Thomas was determmed to make the race h~s. Thomas grabbed the holeshot and was out in front as the Amateur/ Expert riders ran across the valley and up to the hill-top bomb. In an all-out push to make illWO in a row after his win at the Barstow Grand Prix the week before, Thomas was hard on the gas as he passed the bomb~justaheadofTeamHusky's Dan Ashcraft, who was about the only competitor from the Baja 1000 to make it back in time for the race. Husky-mounted Enc Hallgath was third overall with Tom Willis close behind as the racer pi ked their way down a steep bluff and then hit ajeep traIl leading ouUnlO the 42-ml1e fIrst loop. A combination of thick dust and a ~un dIrectly mto the low-Iymg mornmg sun gav.e the leader a huge advantageon the Jeep traIl, and 0r:t the short run up the traIl to the fIrst sandy uphill Thomas extended his ix bike length lead at the bomb to almost a quarter mIle.. . . Ashcraft was sull pus.hmg. hard m sec~nd overall as the pmk-nbboned ~aI1 ran ~ut of the sandy terram and mtoa senesof.steep uphIlls and loose rocky down~ills. The course then made a sweepmg tum to run through the steep rol!ers.on the w~y. towards the Cahfoml!! CI.ty play-nding are!!. As the traIl hll the rocky terram and the dust started to thin, there was a lot of reshuffling going on back in the pack. Krause was getting his Open class Honda underway after a multi-kick start got him caught in the dust, and left him back in 13th overall at the bomb. "This thing is just impossible to kick over on the starting line," Krause said about the bike he has been breaking in for the November 29 Barstowto-Vegas race. "Il'sokaywhenyou're just playing around, but the mjnute you get to a race, it just won't start. It was so bad I'd given up trying and was sitting on the starting line pouting for a while there." Another late starter was Morris, who was back in 15th overall at the bomb. Thick dust kept Morris pinned down in the early stages of loop one, but the tenacious Husky pilot started picking up the pace as soon as the dust trunned and was soon moving up through the ranks. One of the best comebacks of the day was by KTM 500 pi lot Ed McCoy. In his first race since the AMA National Hare and Hound Cham· pionsrup event in Searchlight, Nevada, ill March.th 'ex-motOCTOsserg-ot thoroVghly dusted as the banner dropped and wa back around 30th overall at the bomb. Some rapid riding in the back section of the (jr t loop launched McCoy up through the pack, and by the time he hit check three he had already worked hi way into 15th overall. With Thomas still out in front, the loop made a final turn towards home check and dropped the riders over the edge of the ridge - s nding them careening down a long, rock-littered downhill to the valley floor. A record-selling pit by the Checkers M.e. put Thomas out into loop two justover a minute ahead of Tom Willis, who had taken over third overall when Eric Hallgath dropped out of the running late in first loop. Willis then moved into second ,when Ashcraft was forced to retire in the pits after reportedly tearing off a front brake line. Almost five minutes back from Willis was a pair of 250s piloted by Phil Gorgone and Morris, racing neck and neck in a bid for third overall with Krau e thundering through not far behind. Ed McCoy haq battled his way through into seventh overall going into loop two, with Kenny Parry's Yamaha 250 and the first CClass bike - a Kawasaki ridden by Brell Howell - hard on his heels. The first Vet out into loop two was Jamie Davenpon in I Ith overall with the first Amateur - David Alford on a 250cc Honda - running a high 13th overall, eight and a half minutes behind Thomas. Loop two was anothel:42-mile section that crossed Highway 395 to run out towards Trona Road. Out in front, Thoma continued to dra w a wa y from the rest of the fi eld, tackling the more rugged terrai n of the second loop with ea e, and making shon work of the walk-your-bike road crossings. But just when tQe leader was staning to look untouchable, his Yamaha threw a chajn. "It seemed like I'd only just got going in the second loop when I lost the chain," said Thomas. "I had to stop for about five minutes to fix it. You should've seen me - I was in such a hurry to get going again that I forgot to put my gloves back on! They're still out there on the course somewhere.' , With his lead cut back 10 almost nothing by the repair SlOp, Thomas was hard on the gas in a bid to open up the winning margin again. A stroke of good luck for the leader came when second-placed Tom Willis, who was just one minute behind the leader going into loop two, started having problems early on and dropped off the pace. With Willis effectively out of the running, Thomas's nearest competition was from the 250s piloted by Phil Gorgone and Morris, with a gap back to the Open class bikes of Krause and McCoy, who was con.tinuing his rapid rise up through the ranks. As the racers reached the half-way point in the loop, Morris forced his way past Gorgone into second overall. Krause followed his lead and leap-frogged past Gorgone into third, with McCoy repeating the maneuver to force Grogone back into fifth. Still out in front and with only 10 miles togo, Thomas's Yamaha threw its chain again -:- cutting his winning margin back tt'> nothing for the second time, and tearingahole in the side case in the process. Thomas remounted the chain and, with oil dripping out of the hole in the side case, started the run into home. With the hard-charging Morris/ Krau e/McCoy trio coming up fast, Thomas had the Yamaha wrung out to the limit on the final stretch of the race and powered across the finish line just 10 seconds ahead of Morris. Krause was another bike length be: hind with M Coy another few seconds back. "That was a fun race, but it was getting pretty clo e at the end," said Thomas. "I led all the way except for when I bailed about half way round the (jrst loop. Dan Ashcraft got past me and it took me a while to get back in frontof him, but after that I was in from pretty mUcll all the way. "Mechanically, the race was awful! I bent my bars when I bailed and the chain just wouldn't stay on - and I don't think I have any oil left. "But I loved the course. I thought it was really, really challenging." Morris (Answer/Grand Spon Tires) said he wished the course had been a few mjles longer. "About another four miles and I could've had him," he said. "I spent the whole race picking people off because I got a bad stan, and I was finally gelling there when we hit the finish. If I could've had another couple of miles, I would've done it." Morris, who wanted to thank Downhill Alexander for working on his shock, said his only problem was the thick dust on the course. "When you're trying to get up pa t everyone it can gel pretty dusty in there," he said. "That slowed me down a lot in the first loop." Krause, who took third overall/first in the Open las, said he rode most of the first loop more by feel than by sight. "My stan left me way back in the pack and I couldn't see anything," said Krause (Es ondido Honda/ Spectro/IMS). "I don't think I saw any.ofthefir tloop.ljustrodeinthe dust t whpJe way - pretty fast, too! "And then I gOt a fla t rear tire goingouton loop two - that made it fun!" Second in the Open class went to Ed McCoy (founh overall), who said he spent the entire race trying to make up for a bad start. "I got off okay when the banner dropped, but I got stuck in a little ravine on the bomb run and stalled," McCoy said. "That put me way rehind. I was working so hard, but in the dust you couldn't do that much. "And then I crashed and tore my front fender. I lost my tank card when the fender fell off and I figured they might disqualify me for that- but if you look at the bike I've got check marks all over it. The guys out there put marks on the tank, on the back fender - everywhere! They were great." The first 125cc machine to complete the course was a Kawasaki ridden by Brett Howell in ninth overall. Results •• OVERALL: 1. Cliff Thoma. (Vam): 2. Charlie Mor· ris Jr. (Husl; 3. Paul Krause (Hon): 4. Ed McCoy (KTM): 5. Phil Gorgone (KTM); 6. Scott Stearn. (Vam): 7. Ken Oviatt (KTM); B. Kenny Parry (Vam)~9. Bren Howell (Kaw); 10. Sean Bradley. OPEN EX: 1. Paul Krause (Hon); 2. Ed McCoy (KRM): 3. Ken Oviatt (KTM). 250 EX: 1. Cliff Thomas (Varni; 2. Charlia Morris Jr. (Hus); 3. Phil Gorgone (KTM). 125 EX: 1. Bren Howell (Kaw): 2. Mike Haylar (Vam). VET OPEN EX: 1. Bill Saltzman (Hus); 2. Jamia Davenport (Hon): 3. Greg Winters (Kaw). VET 250 EX: 1. Bill Postal; 2. James Vincant: 3. SCott Anderson. SR OPEN EX: 1. Ron Paprosld (KTM). OPEN AM: 1. Dave Benztar; 2. Doug Broaddus; 3. Steve Rogrs. 250 AM: 1. David Alford (Hon); 2. Oliver RlIthlain; 3. Oerrol Taylor.

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