Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Randy Hawkins piloted his Suzuki RM250 to his fourth overall win of the series at the Jack Pine National Enduro. He dropped one point. KTM's Allen Grav itt captured third overall with a 4.142 point loss, edging out Alan Randt's 4 .152 and Jeff Russell's 4.159 scores. AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 7 Hawkins almost zeroes 'Jack Pine .By Mary Partelow Photos by Larry Randt MOORESTOWN, MI, AUG. 21 "About the only problem I had was fading brakes," said Suzuki rider Randy Hawkins at the finish of the 76th Annual Jack Pine Enduro. "I led them at the first reset and ' they didn't give me any more trouble until the last test section." Most of th e competitors 24 wished H awkins' brakes had worked better, because th at' s th e only thing ' th at could have slowed him down. H awkins' only dropped point was in the first test section. "It was a' tie breaker check," said Hawkins, " and I even came pretty close to dropping two points." Most of the key players also dropped a point in this section. Yamaha YZ250· mounted Jeff Russell, Kawas aki KX250 rider J eff Fredette a nd Cagiva 125 pilot T erry Cunningham were instantly put at a di sadvantage with scores of two at this tie breaker. After bleeding hi s brakes at th e . first gas stop, Hawkins amazi ngly went on to zero th e rest of th e course . Ch eck 12, a tie ' breaker, and chec k 13, bo th of whic h Hawk in s barely reac hed wi thi n hi s mi nu te, proved to be the do wnfall of th e o ther competitors. Dave Bertram actually had the lead ov er team mate H a wki n s at the halfway point by virtue of a better tie breaker score , bu t arrived at the last test section 12 seconds lat e, losing an additio na l poi n t to Hawkins. " I, cou ldn' t make the 12 seconds up , a nd also lost 'a point at the foll owing check," sa id Bertra m. Bertram's fina l score ofthree was still good enough to secure second pl ace. It was an especially sat is fying finish for Bertram, who had just re tu rned to the National end uro sce ne a t th e previous round in Pennsylvania. "That was my first race after an opera tio n," said Bertra m. " I rod e weIl, but got tired towards th e end of the race. I've been training hard, and I was abl e to go stro ng the whole way today. The bik e is working great and I want to do the best job for Suzuki. I'm glad Hawkins won, beca use he was defi ni tely the q uickest rider of the day." Hawki ns' win further increases the North Carolina rider's po ints standing lead over Kurt H ough. Kawasaki-sponso red H ou gh, wh o has been a top ru nner all series lo ng, burned one check and crossed the finish line with a to tal score of 10. Hough said, " I just did n' t seem to be able to get my act toge ther. I don 't like co u rses where you can fall , behind timeand when th ey put you back on time and th en you can faIl behind again and so forth. These hot and cold transitions get me bored. It was really a last minute preparation to make this event, anyway. My ~oal is to secure a top team finish 10 the ISDE." The Jack Pine course featured tight trails wh ich wo und through Mich igan's backwoods ridi ng areas and was considered an exce lle nt layout for mos t B and C riders. Even th e lon g heat wave let ofUor the race, much to the relief of the com peti tors . Du st presented a problem in som e of th e faster sectio ns th at were o u t in th e open. Even though , there were three demanding test sectio ns, most all of the top double A riders felt that the co ur se was too easy for a National even t. " I wi sh it had been a l ittl e tougher, " said Hawkins, " bu t all in all It was a fun course. I guess it's always more fun wh en you win! The first section could have been better marked. It was a two track section that had a bunch of wet trenches, roots and bogs. I saw a lot of downed riders there at one spot, and the next thing I knew I hit a big hole and almost 'went over the bars. This has really been a great year for me so far. My Suzuki has been the best bike I have ever ridden and other than th e one event I missed due to chicken pox, things have gone smoothly this year. The year isn 't over until the last end uro, though. I still have to watch out for all these guys. If I relax for but a moment, the guys will zap me. We have a short break and then all of us are leaving for the ISDE. My main concern is for Team America to ac hieve their best ISDE finish in hi story, a nd I think we are going th ere with the most ammunition we have ever had." Behind th e two Suzuki teammat es came a heated four-way scrap over third pl ace. Newl y sig ned KTM factory rider All en Gravitt from Georgia came out on top when th e tie breakers ' scores were taIlied. " I didn't think I was going that fast this morning," Gravitt said, "but at the first reset I looked at everyone else's special test scores and saw that I did better then mo st. I'm a bit surprised I have th at speed. I'm reall y pl eased with my bike and an looking forward to the '89 models." Gravitt was runni ng neck to neck in poin ts with Bertram b ut ma de a few ridi n g mi stakes before check number 13 and dropped two points: Local sa n d master Ala n Randt pilo ted hi s KTM to a respectabl e fourth p lace fin ish. " I guess everyo ne expected me to do well at th is cours e, consi deri ng how m uch I li ke sand. Unfortunately, we also have some , tighter and harder terrain to contend with!" , Following Rand t in fift h was Yamaha-supported J eff R ussell , who had his chances for a higher fin ish marred by a crash in the first test section. " I a ugered in right before the chec k and came in a t .05. I dropped a minute more tha n eve- ' ryone else which put me behind right off the start. The rest of the run went fin e for me. But unfortunately my tie breaker scores were not as good as Gravi tt's or Rand t's," said Russel l. T he last rider to finis h with a score of four po ints was Team Kawasaki's Jeff Fredette. Li ke Russell , Fredette ran off co urse during the special test section and los t two points. " It kind of sticks in the back of your mind wh en you ge t a poor score th at early in the end uro," said Fredette. Bu t no o ne was as unfortunat e as d ef end in ~ N ati onal Champ ion Kevin Hi nes, "The club says I ' burn ed a chec k and th ey are wrong. It was check number th ree an d my odometer was malfunctio n i ng, which made it hard to keep time. I came to a corner and stopped about 50 feet away from the apex to check my time keepin!$ eq u ipment and calcu la ted for the Incorrect odometer reading. I put the bike back in gear, came up on the corner and saw the chec k flag . I was still 30 secon ds early, so I slow ly crept into the check; maintaining th e required forward motion. The checker marked me in as ear ly, because he had seen me stop. I didn 't even know th ere was a check wh en I stopped." Hines still had the drive and cou ld ha ve possibl y made up for his burned check and two additional points for a respectable finish , but he ran into further problems later in the race. " At the last test sectio n a slower rider got in my way and we tangled. The extra seconds I lost made me come into the check area late . I made up some time in the next section, but not enough to zero the following check. I'm not real happy with the way things went today. I am happy about th e '89 KTM 250, which I rode here for the first time. The bike is great! It's competitive out of the crate." Surprisingly, it was High Point A rider Joe Hopkins on a Kawasaki who had the eighth best score of the , da y with a tally of five. Hopkins' top finish proved to the National contenders that there are' new faces knocking at the door of stardom. , Multi-time National Enduro Champion Terry Cunningham also dropped five points: " I ran into some problems and had a score of two in the first test section. I felt that I could've made up for that additional minute I lost, but the last two test sectio ns were in deep sand and they proved to be too much for my Cagiva 125. You know, that 125 has over a thousand miles o n it and I have never touched th e motor. I've been reliabil ity testing for the ISDE. If the bike proved to be unreliable, I would have wanted so meo ne to fill in my spot, I'm definitely convinced that this bike is reliable."

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