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/127161
00 00 0') ....... The Da n Smith and Garth Sweetlimd (shown) Husqvarn a t eam suffere d mechanical p roblems and was unable to finish the race . Kaw asaki riders Ted Hunnicut and Brett Howell finished fourth overall and captured the 250cc class w in. the , Yamaha team 's performance. • " I 'rn pretty happy with th e way Kevin Hines (shown). Scot Harden and Carlos Serrano finished sixth overall. despite severely damaging their KTM when Serrano crashed . 8 last sectio n was prett y ro utine." T eam Green 's ," ro utine" dash to the fini sh line ended 11.33.45 hours after it began , with an average speed of 58.94 mph . Roeseler sprinted th rough th e streets of Ensen ad a to th e g ia nt Presid ente Brandy bottle that marked th e fin ish line a nd took th e chec ke red fl a g a l mos t nin e minut es a he ad o f Ash craft a n d Pfeiffer. on adjusted tim e. " We had a fantas tic ride," said th e Kaw a saki /White Bro s.lDunl op / T subaki /Renthal /Bel-Ra y/NGK/ Trick/IMS-backed Roesel er . " No prob lem s, no crash es. We just rode rea lly good from fir st th ing this morning. " Ash craft , who th ank ed Tea m Yamaha mechanics T om H al verson a nd Rick for building th e bike, JT Racing, Pro-Circuit, Dunlop, RenthaI, F&L, Ha llman and Beach Yamaha, was al most as happy with things turned out a nd the bike worked well," said Ashcraft. " If we hadn 't seized it, it would've definitely been clo ser." Alm ost half an hour ticked by before Randy Norman crossed the fini sh line to claim third overall for th e Baker/S ummers /Norma nsponsored XR600R. " T h is is a trail of dea th. I do n't know why I keep doing this," said Norman. "T h is year is like a 20-year a n niversa ry for me. I wa s third motorcycle in 1968 and now I'm third again in 1988." ' 'I' m m o re disappointed than anything, " said H ain es, who finish ed half an hour behind Norman to claim · fourth for th e Haines/ Fishback/Miller Honda. " We were doing so well until we had to ch ange the clu tch. We just spent too much tim e in the pits." Variety is the key to winning Baja, according to Class 21 wi nner T ed Hunnicutt , who thanked Mark J ohnson and Reid Norden, Kawasaki, Dunlop, Trick, Rent hal, T su bak i, NGK, Acerbis, AXO , Sinisalo, Bel-Ray, Scott USA, David Pil e a nd hi s p it crew. "T he course was the sa me o ld thing. It was fast and there was a lot of roc k," said Hunnicutt. " To make it more interesting, we decid ed to do everything backw ards from wh en we won last year. Brett rode wh ere I rod e last year and I rode wh ere he rode just to cha nge it a ro und a bit. We won aga in , so I guess it worked." The KX250's 54.73 mil e-p er-hour average brought th em home almost a n hour faster than second pl ace fi nis hers Ken Maah s a n d Keith Cayton of Oregon. T h ird 250cc was claim ed by the Joey La ne/Bruce LeR ud/Bob J ohn so n H onda in eigh th overa ll, with Parry a nd Forward taking -the Class 30 honor s in ninth. " We go t th e lead in th e first secti o n and basicall y led all the way, but we were lu cky," said Parry as he showed th e scrape marks on his helmet. " I nailed a big rock a t ab ou t 80 mph near the summit and ripped the front brake cab le off, then we had problems with the lights. I'm just happy that we made it all the way to the finish." _ Class 38 winner Barry Higgins, who was teamed with Casey Folks on a 600cc KTM, was even happier that the race was over. "This is my first Baja race and only the fourth desert race in my life," said Higgins, who took the class win in 11th overall. "I've go t my first win in my first ride and my last ride all at one tim e. I'm retiring from Baja when this is over." . John Braasch and Ron Jennings survived 15 a nd a half hours in the saddle to tak e the win in Class 20 (20th overall ). " Ge t me off th is thing," said Braasch, after bringing the Yamaha/O'Neal /Spectro/ProCircuit/Phil 's Cl eaning/White Bros.-backed YZI25 in to th e finish line. ''I'm tired, worn out and frozen. I'll feel good abo ut winning in the morning. Rig ht now, I just want to get some sleep." • Results O/A: 1. Paul Krause /Larry. Roeseler/Oanny LaPone (Kaw ); 2. Dan Ashcraft / Kun Pfeiffer (Yam); 3 . A I Baker/R andy Norman/Scon Summers (Han); 4. Ted Hunnicutt/ Brett Howell (Kaw); 5. Chris Haines / Jim Fishback /Chuck Miller (Han); 6. Scot Harden / Kevin Hines/Carl os Serrano (KTM); 7. Ken Maahs/ Keith Cayto n (Kaw l; 8. J oey Lane/ Bruce Lerud / 8ob Johnson (Han); 9. Kenny Parry/Scon Forward IHan); 10. Ma rk Vansc ourt/ Joe Bolto n (Kaw); 11. Casey Folks/ Barry Higgin s (KTM); 12. Peted Etchan/Richar d J ackson (Han); 13. John Etehan/Richard Jackson (Han); 14. Bob Pricken / M ike HaneylTodd Manella (Yam); 15 . Ryozo Kobori lTsutom Matsui (Han); 16 . Dan Wor ley/ Ron Bishop (Hus); 17. Chris Lang/Don Rotundo (Han); 18. Don Lieb/Eric And erson (ATK); 19. Larry Omes/ Ross Gregory (Han); 20 . John Braasch/Ron J enning s (Yam); 21. Scott And erson/M ichael Bur ke (Hon) ; 22 . Gabr iell e M azzarolo / Car lo Mercandelli (Hon); 23 . Eiza buro Karasawa / Yasush i Maruyama (Hon); 24. . David Rees/Mike Coll ins (Han); 25. Rick Kryger/John Alexander (Kaw ). CL 22 (+ 251ce): 1. Paul Krause /Larry Roeseler/ Danny LaPorte (Kaw); 2 . Dan A shcr aft / Kurt Pfeiffer (Yam); 3 . A I Baker/ Randy Norman / Scon Summers (Hon). CL 21 (+ 126 ·25Dcc): 1. Ted Hunn icutt /Bren Howell (Kaw); 2. Ken Ma ahs/Ke ith Cayton (Kaw ); 3. Joey Lane/ Bru ce Lerud/ Bob John son (Han), CL 20 (UNDER 125cc): 1. John Braasch/RonJ ennings (Yam); 2 . Rick Kryg er /John Alexander (Kaw ); 3. TIm Clark/Boyd Jantzi (Kaw). CL 30 (+ 30 YRS OLD): 1. Kenny Parry/Scon Forward (Hon); 2. Pete Sheehan/ Bill Berroth (KTM); 3. Chris Lang / Dave Rotundo (Han). CL 38 (+ 38 YRS OLD): 1. Casey Folks/Barry Higgins (KTM); 2. Jo hn Etchan/R ichard Jackson (Han); 3. Bob Pricken /M ike HaneylTodd Man ella (Yam).