Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/127154
06 00 , 0') ...... .... V ..0 o ..... u o Jeff Russell, who didn't take a lik ing to the rocks in Rhode Island, took th ird in the AA class. six points behind Randy Hawkins. Yamaha YZ250-mounted Kevin Bennett captured the overall victory at the little Rhody National Enduro. He dropped 31 points. AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 8 Bennett scores Little Rhody National win By Paul Clipper/Trail Rider Magazine NOOSENECK HILL, RI, SEPT. 25 By winning the overall high point at the Rhody Rover 's Little Rhody National Enduro, Kevin Bennett p roved, once again, that East Coast Nationals - especially ECEA runs - are his own private tu r f, With a 31-poinl loss , three points better than second place overall , Ben nett pulled a repeal 12 of his performance at last year' s Rhody. Although not a National, he still came out of th e woodwork to beat all th e New England " roc k pros" at their o wn game, and he was favored highly to do well again this year. Bennett, a south Jersey Yamaha YZ rid er for Millvi lle Yamaha, was ex pec ted to re ceive some heavy co m pe ti tio n - a nd probab ly be bea ten - by local hero Kevin H ines, wh o lives barely an hour away and rid es in the rocky New England terrain all the time. Hi nes, riding an ,'89 KT M 250, was actually the closest to Bennett after the first loop, five points down to Bennett's four, and he had missed the check by two seconds! T he ba ttle between the two riders promised to be an awesome one, but disaster struc k in the form ofa DEP radar trap, In a part o~ the C~~~:cti~t~t lo oped up -m to A number of rid ers were caugh t exceeding the 40-mph limit o n a short stretch of asphalt road, in a section that put the riders sligh tly late. Hines was stopped, but not cit ed , he claimed, but after th e run the DEP submitted a list of riders cited, and Hines was o ne of th em . By AMA ru les, this means disqual - . ification, so H ines' 33-point, secondp lace score was dropped off the board, and he went hom e em pty ha nded. "The club never should have run th e' rid ers o ut on what looked like a deserted stretch of road, " said a dejected Hines aft erw ard s. " At least not without resetting th em . Going slow is not that simple - if I don 't go fast in a section, som ebody else will. And that ~uy will win. " Trail Boss Bill Haas defended the club' s course. " We to ld everyo ne at the rider's meeting th at the DEP was likely to be ou t in for ce, and we even gave th em possible mil eages for tric ky areas . The riders were not th at la te in that section - maybe 30 seconds - 'and th ere was no need to go fast." Betw een the club and the riders , th e op in ions vary, but the outcome is the sam e. The rest of .the course provided pl enty of amusement for the riders. One Hundred and 69 mil es on the route sheet translated to 140 ground miles, over hilly terrai n through tigh t woo ds and rocks. The trails • were not th at difficu lt, bu t th e pace was relen t1ess. " I was on time up until three and a half miles out," said Bennett aft er the first loop. " After that it was just race to the end." An occas io na l rock ga rden kept th e rid ers on th eir toes, and even though th e C rid ers, Women 's class and Super Seniors were d ropped o ut at 117 mil es, th ey still found their sha re of rocks. J ack Lafferty, Jr. , also on a YZ250 o ut of Millville Yamah a, posted a 34 fo r seco nd overa ll. Lafferty and Bennett have been ba ttling back and fort h ever since Bennett took away Lafferty's four- year hold o n the ECEA Ch ampionship last year , and poor lu ck has kept Lafferty in th e seco nd p la ce points position all seaso n. Third overall , and High Point A, went to Bert Guerreue, NETRA 's Enduro Champion for '87, and pilot of a Cycle Dynamics KTM 250. Bert has been doing ex tremely well all this season in NETRA events, and even has a good hold o n top points in th e NETRA Hare Scramb les Championship. When asked if he ever intends to " go National " with hi s tal ent, Bert just sm iles and shakes hi s head , co ntent to rid e in New England. Points leader Randy Hawkins started off his day on the wrong foot, wh en his rear brake failed in the first section, leavi ng him eight points down com pared to H ines' five a nd Bennett 's four. H e cha ng ed th e en tire brake system on hi s RM2 50 after the first loop with better resul ts, bu t finall y determined that th e rear disc was warped, but a lthough the problem s went a way th e points didn't, and he finished in fourth overall. Ra nd y's problems were mi no r compared to his teammate, Dave Bertra m. Bertram became ill af ter dinner the night before, sparking some comment from loca ls that it was a typ ical reaction to New Engla nd food, but when his condition never im proved Ra nd y and crew took him to a hospita l, where it was determined that Bertram was su ffer- . ing from complications from his ca ncer surgery earlie r thi s sum mer. He didn't ride on Sunday , a nd was expected to be released from th e hospital later in the week. Other people on " med ica l leave" were Kawasaki rider Kurt Hough, recovering from a kn ee injury in the ISDE in France earlier this month, and Cagiva's T erry Cunningham, a victim of severe tendonitus in his wrist, also suffered in the Six Days. Other favorites included in th e mi sfortune list was Allen Gravitt, riding a KTM 250 for T eam H &H in Georgia , a nd past NETRA Cham pion Steve Vana sse. Grav itt was doing well , ti ed in points with Guerrett e in the first loop, but a flat tire in th e second loop was h is downfall. " I had to ride on it for 30 mi les before 1 got a chance to fix it, and when I did th e bead was wrecked and it wouldn't stay on th e rim." Gravitt rod e in with an intact tube, and bo th beads of the tire outside of the rim! Vanasse had a shot at a good finish , but rode in after he was ci ted in th e radar trap, kno wing that conti nuing was useless. Forty- three poi nts down a nd next in the order was Jeff Russell , riding a YZ250 for Athens Sport Cycle. R ussell didn't get along with some ' of the rocky sectio ns, and never go t a chance to move up farther towards the front. Sixth place with 50 points, and first in the 250cc A class was