Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

5; 1 SR 250 EX: 1. AI Hull (Yam); 2. Steve Thompson (Hon); 3. Ron Hall (Suz). S/SR: 1. Sam 8ass (Hus); 2. J im Main (Yam); t::I " :::; 3. Dennis Dav idge . ~' WMN EX: t . Vicki Scan (Kaw). OPEN AM : 1. Todd Colley (Han). 250 AM ; 1. Kevin Perkins (Han); 2. Bob Rieger (Kaw); 3. David Graham (Han). SR 250 AM ; 1. Don Doerksen (Yam). NOV OPEN: 1. Gary Borstnar (Kaw). U >- '" o >o :r Q. " 0 Hart wins Albany SX battle By Clay Light Grayson Hart won the 125 and 250cc Pro classes at Albany SX. Husqvarna's Dan Smith overcame a poor start to take the overall victory in the Boner Run Hare & Hound held at Soggy Dry Lake . Smith smooth in Boner RunH&H By Anne & Tom Van Beveren LUCE RNE VALLEY, CA, AP R. 10 T ea m H usqvarna's Dan Sm it h ca me from behind ' to overall th e 14th Annual Rovers M.e. 32 Hare & Hound at Soggy Dry La ke. After a slow start tha t left h im well back in the ea rly sta~es of th e race, the 500XC pilot, Smith, lau nch ed a drive for th e n u m ber o ne position just before the halfway point a nd ' elbo wed h is way throug h to th e lead as th e frontrunners head ed in to pit row. It was smooth sa iling a ll the way after th at a nd the Husky hotsh o t swep t in to cla im to e victor y a lmost two m in u tes a head of hi s near est com pe tition. " I got a two -kick start a nd was rea ll y back the re a t the bo m b," Smit h told Cycle News. "The first loop was rea lly fast a nd du sty, so it was hard to pa ss an ybod y, but the seco nd loo p was a lot tig h ter and every th ing went 'well in tha t." Kaw a sa ki pi lot R on Sh uler g rabbed the ho leshot in the first start ing wave a nd was ou t in fro nt by 12 seconds at th e end of the d rag strip bomb ru n. " I really surp rised m yself," said Sh u ler. " I was rea lly , really nervous before the sta rt, because I just started a new job a nd I was thi nking I sho uld ta ke it easy, bu t when th e ba n ne r dropped I forgo t a ll about tha t. I go t a good start and had a g rea t lin e." Derri ck Pa ieme nt powered past the bo mb in seco nd wi th KX250 pi lot G ra nt Pa lensk e no t far beh ind. Ch a rl ie Barn ey led the Vet contendCiS th rou/?h in fifth a nd Dan Sm ith was p ush ing hard back in n inth. Pa iem ent was th e first rid er to ca tch the earl y race leader. " Sh uler got me a t th e bom b but I go t him back right after th e second check," said the KX500 pilot. " I led for most of the first loop aft er th at. " With Pa ieme nt o u t in fro n t. the fast-paced charge a ro u nd the 39-m ile firs t loop continued. Mile after m ile flew by a nd Sm ith was ma king up time a ll the way. "T he dus t was u n believea ble o ff the sta rt. This was no t a good rac e 10 get a slow start in," said Smi th. " I started to work up after a whi le but they mad e th e first loop so fast it was p retty tough. It 's ha rd to ca tch up wh en everyo ne's wid e o pe n in fifth gear." . Smi th refused to say anything else abou t the loop o ne co urse. " I' d rat her no t comment - I do n 't want to get myself in a ny mor e troub le tha n I' m a lread y in ," he sai d, " b u t th at shou ld give yo u some idea o f how bad it was." The fro nt running lin eu p sta rted ' to change as th e leaders swept past c hec k two. P a le n s ke, wh o wa s a lready ru nning on a front flat , pu t a rock throug h hi s p ipe a nd fell off th e pace, wh ile Vet class leader Mike McDonald fell 'o ff hi s bik e. ·" 1 fell down in a sand wash and Ch arl ey (Ba rn ey) got by," sai d McDona ld. " We'd been go ing back a nd forth tryin g for the o vera ll Vet lead bu t after th at I just decided to coo l it a nd go for th e (Vet Open ) class win. My bik e was sq u irrely, so I didn 't wa nt to pus h it. " As the KX500 p ilot tu cked in behi nd h is KX250 rival a nd started to co ncentra te o n ta kin g th e Vet O pen wi n, Smi th was ma ki ng hi s mo ve for the overall wi h. " I took the lead in th e sa nd d unes ba ck b y Mea ns Dry Lake," sa id Smi th, who had a 17 second lead over Pa iement as he cleared the p its and headed out into loo p two , "and things got a wh ol e lot better aft er that. Loop two was a lo t tigh ter a nd the first section of it was g reat . It was su per tight, rocky, cro ss-grain a ll the stuff I love, a nd parts o f it were virgin ground with no trai l a t all. Too bad th e w ho le co u rse co uld n 't have been like that. " Shuler was charging hard in third ove ra ll two m inutes be hi nd th e leaders as he left pit row to tackle the 35· mile second loo p . wi th Barney ha lf a mi n u te ahead o f McDonald in fourth overa ll , a nd Ma tt Alexa nd er' s CR250 heading u p th e 250cc Expe rts in ' sixth. Ea rly 250 leader Palenske was runn in g a h igh . I Ith o vera ll a t th e p it s despi te h is mechan ical p roblems, but decided to ret ire rather tha n face a gruelin g seco nd loop o n the ai ling KX250, a nd Brett H owell , who led the Cclas s competit io n from early in the race, was an a mazing 32 places ahead of .s nea rest l25cc rival as he raced into the p its in 12t h overa ll. AI Hull was o ut in fro nt of the Seni ors in 22nd ove ra ll, and Kevin Perk in s (CR250), Bob Rieger (KX250) and Ga ry Nob le (CR250) were run ni ng neck-in-neck for the Amat eur honor s in 18th overa ll. O ut in front o f the pack, Smith kep t the pace going despi te the tighter terrain a nd re ma ined unch allen ged for the rest of th e race. " I went o u t into loop two in th e lead and just cru ised from there," the Cagiva Nort h Ame rica l Alp inestar / Golden Spectrol Arai/ Go ldbelt/ F&L / Sco tt/ HRP I Z R a ci n g / T su ba k i-ba c ked racer sai d, " I th ou gh t th e seco nd loop was rea lly well laid o u t and I had a great time o u t there." Sm ith com pleted the 35-mile loop o ut tow ards Ca m p Rock Road in just under an hour and took the chec kered flag a lmos t two minutes a head o f seco nd-place fin isher Paiement. ''I' m numb a ll over," sa id Pa ieme nt, who thanked Answer , Silkolen e and .Scott USA. "T ha t was a reall y challengi ng co u rse a nd it showed me th at I' m pretty ou t o f shape. I could n ' t ca tch Dan (Sm ith) once he go t past me but the bike ran g rea t a n d I didn 't h a ve a ny p roblem s." ' Ro n Sh uler co nti n ue d hi s race lo ng cha rge to claim third overa ll just 20 seco nds behi nd Paiement, a nd Charlie Barney's KX250 ' flashed across th e lin e one m inu te lat er to tak e a wire-to -wire win in the Vet Class . Brett Howell contin ued hi s racelong dom in ation o f the C class bikes wi th a 13th overa ll finish. " I guess it was a pretty boring ride - nothing went wrong a t a ll ," sai d th e T eam Green p ilo t. " I led a ll the way and didn ' t have one problem ." T he first Amateu r class racer to cro ss th e fi n ish lin e was Kevin Perkins o f the J ackrabbits M.C. in 12th overall, wit h Bob Ri eger five places back in second . " I can' t rea lly tell you wh at I th ought of the course because there ar e kid s present,' said Perkins. "It was very fast wi th a lot of whoopde-doos, but I guess it was o kay. I got a gr ea t start a nd was right u p at the front but I go t a back flat abo ut 15 mi les before the fin ish a nd that put me bac k a bit. " Resu lts 1. Dan Smith IHus); 2. Der rick Paiement (Kaw); 3. Ron Shul er (Kaw ); 4 . Charlie Barney (Kaw); 5. M ike McDon ald (Kaw ); 6. Man A lexander (Han); 7. Kirk Kovalell (ATK); 8. Kenji Gauthier (Kaw); 9. Steve Garner (Han); 10. Scan Stearns (S uz); 11. Steve Kirk . Jr . (Yam); , 2. Kevin Perkins (Han); ' 3. Bren Howell (Kaw); , 4. Ken Mil ler (Kaw ); '5. George Pen nin gton (Suz); 16. Russ J enki ns (Yam); 17 . Bob Rieger (Kaw ); 18 . David Graham (Ha n); , 9. Gary Noble (Han); 20 . AI Hull (Yam). OPEN EX: 1. Dan Sm ith (Hu s); 2. Derr ick Paiement (Kaw ); 3. Ron Shul er (Kaw). 250 EX: 'l . Mall Alexander (Han); 2. Kenj i Ga uth ier (Kaw); 3. Scott St earn s (Suz). 125 EX: 1. Brett How ell (Kaw ). VET OPEN EX: 1. M ike McDonald (Kaw ); 2. Steve Garn er (Kawl. VET 250 EX: t . Char lie Barn ey (Kaw); 2. Russ Je nkins (Yam). SR OPEN EX: 1. Steve Kirk (Yam); 2. Ernie Mnoie n (Yam ). ALBANY, OR, AP R. 10 Honda -mounted G r a yson H art; returnin g home to the Northwest after a success ful tour of racing in Cal ifornia, came t~ Alban y Su pe rcross where th e HIllsboro H ondasponso red rid er waged a bru tal battle with Kawasaki rider Gary Beyer in two clas ses. H art p reva iled in both for two wins in the 125 a nd 250cc Pro events. . Among th e da y's best races was th e 125cc P ro class wh ich ga ted with the 125cc Intermedi at es, stage d in two waves. Beyer a nd Hart led the Pro porti on, setting u p a spe ctac ula r ba ttle for first while Dana Anderson and Darr en Rogers, both aboard Hondas, a nd Yamah a-m ounted Trevor Portner ga ve chase in a battle for third. Beyer go t aro und H art a nd held the Northwest I25cc Champion a t bay for th e win , his best ride thus far. in th e series . H a rt , R o gers, Portn er' a nd Anderso n fill ed th e top five. Anderson jumped ou t.fro n t o f the second co ntes t and did a su perb job o f holdin g off H art a nd Beyer's cha llenges. But And er so n 's lea d would on ly last two la ps. That's wh en H art and Beyer swept past a nd lef t the co mpeti tio n well beh ind in th eir see-saw dogfigh t for th e moto win and the overa ll. In the la ter stages Beyer sli p ped away, but H art mounted a n incredible cha rge with two laps rem aining a nd ca ug h t and passed Beyer com ing into th e ho me stretch . H art 's rnoto win enabled him to garner th e overa ll win with 2-1 rides while Beyer' s 1-2 sho wings were good for seco nd p lace pay. Ro u nding out the top five were Rogers (3-3), Anderson (5-4) and Po rtner 's 4-5 fin ish es. In th e Intermedia te portion o f th e race th e win went Ernie Rob ert s' way af ter clobbering the com pe ti tion in both ou tings. Chris Clark (3-2) and Ch ad Gravell e (2-3) foll ow ed. H art 's win su rprised him. "T ha t 125 I was riding was box stoc k. ' I borrowed it with hopes of stay ing in th e hunt. It was a ll in th e ri ding," Hart sai d. Both 250cc Pro contests saw Beyer and Ha rt battling, but H art held th e slig h t adva ntage a nd used it to slip a way in the later stages of bo th co ntests leaving Beyer to fen d off Dennis Sweete n, wh o tu rned it o n a nd rode in Beyer 's sha do w th roughout both 20-m in ute motos toearn a 3-3 thi rd overa ll a hea d of Kawasak i ri der Rob Annen and behi nd Hart (I -I ) and Beyer , seco nd with 2-2 showing. Kennth Bellmore ra n away with the overa ll in th e 125cc Beg inner class. Bellmor e wo n th e first moto , but mo to tw o went the way of Roman Ross, who p laced six th in mot o one. Bellmor e nai led down a moto two th ird pl ace fin ish for the overa ll d ue to incons istency by the co m pe tition. T rai li ng Bellmor e in the overa lls were Ross (6-1), Ken Harwell (5-2), Eric Cummings (8-4) and Matt Sisso n. Results '250 PRO: 1. Grayson Hart (Han); 2. Gary Beyer (Kaw ); 3 . Den ni s Sweeten (Kaw) . '25 PRO: 1. Grayson Hart (Han); 2. Gary Beyer (Kaw); 3. Darr en Rogers (Han). 25D INT: 'l • J ay Vice (Yam); 2. Ji m Sawt ell (Han); 3. Aaron Boehmer (Hon). 125 INT: ' . Erni e Roberts (Han); 2. Chris Clark (Kaw); 3. Chad Gravelle (Kaw ).

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