Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Team Husky's Dan Smith took the lead in the first loop and went on t o capture the overall victory. Paul Krause (2 )jumped into the early lead and went on to fin is h second overa ll a! t he Saucer Run H&H . Smith scores at Saucer Run H&H By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren RED MO U NT AI N, CA, MAR. 27 Team H u sqvarn a's Dan Sm ith overcam e 88 miles of tigh t, tech nical terrain and captured top honors at the 16th An n ualAMA District 37 Invaders M.e. 's Saucer ' Run H are & H ound near T eagle Wash. After tr a iling Kawasaki 's fi 2 p~u I Kra~se for th e irs t 0 miles, Smith came on strong 46 .in the second half of the event, p ulled o u t a two minute lead a nd held ' it righ t to th e end, overa ll ing one of th e to ughes t races so far thi s season after two a nd a half hours of exha ust ing competi tio n. " T here will be a bunch of Novices and Begin ners cryi ng a nd snivel ing af ter th is one, but I th ought it was grea t," Smith sai d. " It was tig ht , techn ical stu ff all th e wa y a nd it was reall y hard work. I'm glad a clu b fina lly had enoug h guts to pu t o n a good course like this - they di d a grea t job." Krause got off to a rapid start and was o ut in front at th e end of th e bo mb ru n with Sm ith in second, YZ490 p ilot Cliff T homas was th e next with Eric H all ga th 's YZI25 close beh ind. O ut in fro nt of th e Experts, Kra use and Smith were having more tro ub le wi th each o ther than with the terrain. " Pa u l led until more than halfwa y around the first loop," said Smi th . " We go t all th e wa y to where the course crossed the rai lroad trac ks before I pass ed him ." " He goes too fast," said Kra use. " He j ust fla t went faster across th e .valley than I did a nd got away from me. " With Krau se p ushi ng hard to stay within str iki ng d istance, th e lead pai r Ire igh t-train ed th eir way through th e second half of loo p o ne and turned in towards the pi ts. After a sp lit seco nd pause to ta ke o n gas , the race was o n again , and Smith headed o ut into th e 44-mile second loo p with a slen der margin of j ust 36 seco.n ds.. P utung III a. strong performance for th ird overall and the lead in the 250cc division was. Suzu ki pi lot Ch uc k Mill er, wh o blasted h is way up from 10th o vera ll a t th e bomb and raced into loo p two just 40 seconds beh ind Krause. T homas was o ne mi n ute behind in fourth overall. Some hea vy handed th ro ttl in g had Vet p ilo t Ch ar lie Barn ey u p in fift h overall a t the half way point wi th YZ250 p ilot Tom Kell y in sixth. a nd Ed d ie Ar ne r's Ka wa sak i b las ted th rough to tak e over the 125cc lead in seventh overall. . Ka wasak i KX250-mo un ted Grant Pal en ske raced th rough in eigh th despite ru nni ng out of gas just two miles o ut fro m th e pi t, and was foll o wed by Vet p ilots Dan Dawson and Kenny Parry, with Lo n Brand heading up the Ama teurs in 11th overa ll. Art Kna pp led the Super Seniors out o n their second loop. "It (loop two ) was tig ht , tight, ' tig ht ," said Smith . " T h ere was hardl y a nyt hi ng o utthere th a t was n't tough , technical riding a nd even whe n th ey did have some fast stu ff it was n' t dan gerously fast like it often is, A lot of peo ple don't reali ze how fast th e top Experts are go ing acro ss th e valleys - it ca n get life threatening, but here it was just fu n fast stuff." . With Smith ou t in fron t, some of th e racers further back in th e pac k were no t having su ch a good tim e, H all gath , wh o had pushed h is YZI25 up to fifth overall in th e ea rl y running reported ly seized a nd was forced to drop out of the runni ng, and Arnet, wh o had the 125cc lead a t the ha lfway point, blew hi s motor a bo u t five m iles o ut fro m th e finis h afte r push ing ha rd for m iles wit h a rear tir e ha lf off the rim. Vet class lea de r Charlie Barney reported ly endoe d halfway around the second loo p and limped in to ho me. and Thomas dis appeared from fourt h overall. As the fro ntrun ners hit the top of the infamous Invader downhill a nd looked down on the finis h line in the valley below , Smi th had th e race all bu t sewn up. Never lettin g off for a n instant, the Husky ace kept th e pace goi ng rig ht u p to the chec kered flag a nd stormed in to end his recent ru n of bad lu ck with a decisive wi nn ing ma rgin of almost two a nd a half minutes. " I fin all y won so me thing again and it's a bo u t tim e too," sa id Smith, who than ked Cagiva North America, Aut olite, Go ldbelt, Spec tro, Alpin estar, Acerb is, Sco tt USA, Metzeler, F&::L, Ara i a nd Z Raci ng . A tenacious rid e by Tea m Green's Kra use kep t h im up in second all the way to the finis h line. " Da n passed me ab o u t halfway round th e first loo p a nd I cou ld see him all th e way into th e pits, but he p u lled a way a littl e in th e second loop and there wasn 't much I cou ld do," said th e Ka wasa ki/ T su ba kil Answer / Sh oei / Sm ith Gogg les/M etzeler/ Spectro/ Cham p io n / F&::L / Nea l Enter prisel OMF-backed racer. " I rode good and steady all the way but he was jus t too fast today." Suzu ki 's Miller was still o u t in front of th e 250cc d ivision wh en he powered in o ne m inute beh ind Kra use to cla im th ird overa ll a nd was almost seven m inu tes a head of hi s nearest competi tio n, wh o was the hard-charging Palen ske who roc keted up fro m eig hth a t the hal fwa y poi nt to cla im fourth overa ll and second in the 250cc class . Fifth overa ll was clai med by YZ250 pi lot Parry, w ho roc keted up from 10th at the halfwa y point to cla im th e honors in the Over 30 division. " I had a lot of catching up to do in th e second loop," sa id Parry. " I m issed my kick starte r wh en the ' banner dropped a nd had a bad line but I didn 't give up a nd some times tha t pa ys of£. This was a really ro ugh course a nd you had to wor k all the way . I ca n rea lly feel th at I rode 90 m iles of a n In vad ers' course today." KX500 pilot Dawson fini shed hard o n Pa rry's heels to clai m th e honors in the O pen Vet division, with wellknown end uro rider Donnie Simone bringing th e first 125cc mach ine. hom e in sevent h overa ll. Sim o ne's p ie p lat e ent ry gave AMA/ District 37 poi nts for th e 125cc win to a tired a nd b listered Bra a sch (Co vin a Ya m ah a / O ' N ea l/Sm ith ), w ho bro ught his YZI25 home in 11th overall, with second place points go ing to Van Boga rdu s in 16th overa ll. Simone was followed in by CR250 p il o t Ma tt Ale xa nder w i th Ken Rieger claimi ng n inth overall just a few feet a hea d of fellow KX500 pilot Abe Baumann. "T 'rn ex ha us ted," said Bauma nn. " I used all my energy tryin g to keep up wi th Ken (R ieger). Everytime I ca ug h t u p to him I'd be too tired to get past." Bri an N evestich brou gh t hi s YZ490 home in 13th overa ll a t th e head of th e Amat eur pack. Nevestich 's nearest Amateur class com peti tion was Mike Kornwinder in 18th overall. The win in th e 250cc Amateur cla ss was claimed by Yam a ha pi lot Dwayn e Lewi s in 22nd overa ll, a nd Do n Chiapuzi o of th e Four Aces M.e. , wh o was bum ped up into th e Amat eur ranks after overa lling the Vet Novi ce field five times in a row, was o ut in fro nt ag ain, overa ll ing the Vet Ama teurs in hi s first Amateur class race. " T he first Sen ior to cross th e finish line was HBMC's Ron Paproski in 32nd overa ll, a nd AI Hull overa lled the Senio r 250s jus t five pl aces back. " It was a good course," said H u ll. " I was havin g some trouble beca use m y Spark y (s par k a rres ter) kept cloggin g u p , but ot her tha n that it was grea t." • Results OVERALL: 1: Dan Smit h (Hus); 2. Paul Krause (Kaw); 3. Chuclt M ill er (Suz); 4. Grant Palenske . (Kaw ); 5. Kenny Parry (ya m); 6. Dan Dawson (Kaw ); 7. Donn ie Simone (Kaw); B. Mall A lexander (Hon); 9. Ken Rieger (Kaw); 10. Abe Baumann (Kaw); 11 . Jo hn Braasch (Yam); 12. Greg Winters (y am); 13. Brian Nevest ich (Yam ); 14. Kenj i Gauthier (KaYIQ; 15. M ike Mulconery (Hus); 16. J im Eveland (Yam); 17. Van Bogardus (Yam ); 18. Mike Korn w inde r (Hon); 19. St eve Kirk, Jr . (Yam); 20. Bryan Bennell (Hu s). OPEN EX; 1. Oan Smi t h (Hus); 2. Pau l Krause (Kawl; 3. Ken Rieger (Kaw). 2 50 EX; 1. Chuck M ill er (Suz); 2. Grant Pal enske (Kaw); 3. M all A lexander (Honl. 125 EX; 1. Donn ie Simon e (Kaw l; 2. J oh n . Braasch (Yam); 3 . Van Bogardu s (Yam). VET OPEN EX; 1. Oan Dawson (Kaw) ; 2. Mi ke Mulconery (Hu s); 3. Bryan Benn ett (Husl. VET 250 EX; 1. Ke nn y Parry (Yam); 2. Greg Winters (Yam ); 3. Jim Eveland (Yam). SR OPEN: 1. Ron Paproski (KTM I; 2. Cra ig Wo lfs on (Yam); 3. Don Bu rch. VET 250 EX; 1. AI Hull (Yam ); 2. Ron Hall (Suz). . SUP SR; 1. Denn is Davidge (Mai) . OPEN AM : 1. Br ian Nevestich (Yam); 2. Mike . Kornwind er (Han ); 3. Dann y Reider (Kaw) . 250 A M ; 1. Dw ayne Lewis (Yam); 2. Gary Nobl e (Hon); 3. J ason A eck (Yam). VET OPEN AM ; 1. Don Ch iapuzio (Kaw ). OPEN NOV: 1. Dean Hun ter (Kaw); 2. Fran k Chamberlain.

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