Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Dan Ashcraft powered his Yamaha YZ490 to victory in Desert M.C.'s annual Winter Classic Hare & Hound . too : includi ng Paul Krause , Garth Swee tla n d a n d Col orado ' s Jim T hom pso n , T he first race of 1988 also brought some impressive additions to ' last year's start ing line up, nam ely District 38's nu mb er one Open class racer, Steve Walk er, top-class Idaho racer T odd Peug h, and ISDE team member Pete Postel. T he banner dropped just after 10:00 a.m, for the firs t of five starting waves. The Expert class led the way across th e fast but choppy bomb run, . th en set off o n an easterly co urse pa st . Red Hill, toward Bessemer ·Min e Road. . Krause's KX500 was o ut in front as th e racers hit the first of the tight sand washes about four miles past the bomb, wit h fell ow Kawasak i pilot T ed H unn icu tt enjoying th e dust-free co nditions righ t on his tail. Sm ith was five seconds back in third. T he rest of the Expe rt field raced th rough in a closely packed ' blur; Ash cra ft was trapped somew here in th e middl e. " I had a bad , start and was lOth or 12th at th e bomb," Ashcraft said. " I pulled right up in th e first 15 miles. I passed Larry Roeseler , Grant Pal enske and some other 250s right off the start and th en the course go t fast and that helped too. " Clarke Coleman's CR500 led the Amateur field as th e second wave passed th e bomb 15 minutes behind th e Experts. Out in front of th e pack Kraus e battled to hold th e lead across th e ever-cha nging terrain . Hunnicutt was still going strong in second, but Sm ith's hold on third was slipping. " I sta rted ge tti ng the flu o n Wedn esday and I reall y don 't feel too goo d ' today," Smith sai d before th e start of the race. " I swa llowed all the vita mins and anti biotics that I could find bu t it didn' t help very mu ch. I don't think I've go t much of a cha nce of winnin g th is one. I'm just ridi ng to get as ma ny poi n ts as I can." Nearly 700 riders raced in the fi rst round of the 1988 National Hare & Hound Series, held in Lucerne Valley. AMA National Championship Hare & Hound Series: Round 1 Ashcraft edges Krause in Winter·Classic .H&H By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren LUCERNE VALLEY, ~AL. JAN. 24 Yamaha's Dan Ashcraft overcame fierce competition and a field of almost 700 riders to take 'the win in the Winter Cl assic H are & H ound, h osted by the Desert M.C. and held in Lucerne Valley. I gas racing, the YZ490 pilot After 86 mi les of hard-an-the ' cap tured victory less than 30 seconds ahead of Kawasak i's Paul Krau se. KX250 pilot Larry Roeseler fin ished not far behind in third. . " I go t the lead at th e end of loop o ne an d I rode like a wild man in the second loop tryin g to stay in front," sai d Ashcraf t, wh o holds th e number o ne plate in AMA/District 37's Open class. " It feels reall y good to win this, espec ially because it's a Nationa l." T he W inter Cl a ssic laun ched 1988's National H are & H ound Series, which wi ll pit the desert 's best riders in a head-to-head battl e in eig ht events spr ead over six western sta tes. If th e caliber of round 'one's turnout is anything to judge by, raci ng th rough out the year sho uld be fast and fur ious. Round one saw th e top racers from last year turn o u t for' ano the r shot a t the Nationa l titl e. T wo-time ; Na tio na l cha mp Dan Sm ith was on the starting line to defend his title. His arch riva ls from 1987 were back An y chance of a win was dashed when th e ai li ng Husky ace part ed com pa ny with h is bik e abo ut halfway around the first loop and was forced to ride more than 20 miles to the pits o n a mot orcycle. with a tweaked front end. Further back in th e pack, Ashcra ft's bid for th e lead was sta rting to pa y off. Hi s charge through th e ranks swep t him past Smith's Husky wh ile it was still lying on the ground and took him into second when Hunnicutt's KX500 reportedly gave up th e ghost. Also coming up fast was Eddie Arnet, wh o was trying a KX250 after destroying his CRI25's engine th e week befor e the race. , " I' m a terrible starter at these races," said Arn et. " I don't know what the problem is but I can' t even start a 125 on the first kick and by . th e time I got the 250 going everyo ne was halfway to th e bomb. But I made up tim e after th at . I was righ t behind Ashcraft as we went into the pits." As th e racers came ou t of th e 42mile first loop and headed int o pit ro w, Krause was ou t in front with a leading margin of 75 seconds. But mechanical problems kept the race leader in th e pits too Ions. and he was still working o n hi s bike wh en Ashcra ft headed into th e seco n d loo p , with Arnet following just nine seconds behind. " I lost a footpeg (on loop one)," sai d Krause. " I had to rid e it like that until I got into th e pits and th en we had to take a foot peg off my other bike and put it on this on e. I lost three minutes in the pits; it seemed like I was th ere for an hour. It cost me the race." Roeseler had elbowed his way to

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