Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Eric Hallgath piloted a Yamaha YZ125 to fourth overall the 175cc Expert class w in. and claimed This year's event proved to be one of the toughest Barstow-to-Vegas events in recent memory."Just finishing was a major accomplishment. 8 was doing handstands arid having a hard time o n the roc ky roads a nd I wasn 't , so I blew by him a nd never look ed ba ck. I go t him right after Cima Road ." " Bruce passed me o n a reall y rock y, tech n ical road - goi ng so fast I cou ld n't believe it," said H u nnicu tt. "'No wa y,' I said to myself , th ere's just no way I wa s go ing to try to catch up. It would've been reall y unsafe." Ogilvie was still out in front and had bu ilt up a 58-second lead by th e time th e ra cers ca me o u t of th e mountains and raced down th e valley to Whiskey Pete's. Krause wa s just under a minute behind in third with Roeseler, Hallgath, Zitterkopf and Smith a ll clearing the Whiskey Pete's pit within eigh t minutes of the race leader. But try as they mi ght, there was nothing the front-runn ers co uld do to ca tch the el usive Ogilvie. H onda 's heav y hitter never m issed a beat in th e treach erous endu ro -like terrain of th e last 30-mile section a nd kept th e charge going righ t to the end. The XR600R was a full two minutes ahead of Hunnicutt's KX500 as it completed the grueling three-and-ahalf hour sprint and earn ed Ogilvie the coveted overall B-to- V title and the honors in the Open Vet division. "This win means a lot to me," sa id Ogi lvie, who was beaming from ear to ear despite a face full of nicks and Kawasaki pilot larry Roeseler survived a flat tire and finished fifth overall arid first in the 250cc class. • " scra tches from flying rocks. "I've a lwa ys wanted to win Bvto-V but I never quite made it. This is specia l, that' s for sure. ""T he race was a lot different this year - definitel y a desert race, not a ro ad ra ce," sa id Ogilvie, wh o th anked American Honda, Hondaline, Can-Am a nd Scott Goggles. "T here was lot s o f new terrain , lots of rough stu ff - a reall y good course, " and th e bike worked flaw lessly . No flat s or a n ything. All I did wa s put gas in it." H unnicutt, wh o tha n ked Kawasa k i, Renthal , Dunlop, T subak i, Pro-Circuit, Bel-Ray a nd Sco tt USA, was a lmos t as happy with seco nd overal l. " I'rn happy with th e wa y it went," said Hunnicutt. " My best finish before this (at B-to -V) was fourth overa ll and this is the sort o f race wh ere you shou ld be happy to finish at a ll." " It was just so close a ll th e way," said Hunnicutt. "T he re were three of us a lways within distance. It was j ust in the last half o f th e last section that we started getting sp rea d apa rt. We had quite a race goi n~ today." Krause, wh o miss ed WInning last year' s Bvto-V rac e by less than on e bike leng th , slid across th e finish line behind Hunnicutt to claim second in the O pen Expert class and third in th e overa ll sta nd ings. "T h is is the best B-to-V course I'v e ever ri dden. It wasn 't a road race all da y," sai d th e Kawasaki/MetzeIer/ An s wer I S m i th /Tsub aki /Sh oei / White Bros ./ Rentha IlSpec trobacked racer. "There was no d ust at a ll and it was a perfec t day for racing. " 4 H eads turned in ' surprise wh en Hallgath charged home to claim fou rth o ve ra ll o n th e Granada Yam aha / Silkol ene/Smith Goggles/ JT Racin g-sponsored/ Al Holl eyprepared YZ125. "I got fourth overall last year too ," said Hallgath. "I had a good ride with no problems at a ll except for a front flat halfway into the race, but I didn' t rea lly notice th at a t a ll. Every thing went well, but I'm going to have to work out how to win this race overall next year." Hallgath's nearest l25cc competition was J oh n Braasch who brought his Yamaha Motor Corp./ProCircui tlO 'Neal/SpectrQ/Yamaha of Covina-backed YZI25 home in 25th overa ll. "I went a lley-oop over the bars trying to pa ss in so me crossgrain in the first section but I had a good ride a part from that, and the bike worked reall y well eventh oug h thi s was the fir st tim e it's ever been ridden ," said Braa sch . Fifth in th e overall sta ndings and first in th e 250cc division was claimed by T eam Green's R oeseler. "There was a lot of virgin terrain, th ey didn't us e th e same old trails and it was mark ed well. It was good for a B-to- V race," said th e Kawa sa ki / Ma lcol m Smith/Scott/Dunlop/ Acerbi s/Pro-Circu it/CTl/Bell / Tusbaki-sponsor ed Roes eler. " Everyo ne passed me in th e fast stuff after I go t th e flat but I was just telling m yself hold on, ho ld on, th e tight stuff's coming. I lost so me tim e with th e tire though and I was about eigh th when 1 left the pit a t Halloran Springs. There wasn 't much I could do after th at. " Roeseler was followed in by Smith, . wh o a lso lost tim e wi th a flat near th e Halloran Springs pit. " I had a few problems early in th e race but I roosted from the second pit o n," said the Cagiva N.A .I. Go ldb elt /S cott / Au t o l i te l Arai / Alpinestar/MaximalTsubaki/ Acerbis/Rentha l/F&L/Z Racing-backed Smith. " I lik ed th e new sections of th e co u rse. Some o f tho se were a weso me." Zitt erkopf cross ed th e fini sh line in seventh overall despite sticking his ATK in third gear shortly after the Halloran Springs pit; Dan Ashcraft claimed eigh th (second 250cc) for Team Yamaha and former National Enduro cha m p Kevin Hines, who was slowed by a flat tire, brought his fa ctory-backed 600cc KTM home in ninth. Don Griewe, wh o had been sandwiched between Ashcraft and Hines just 15 miles out from the finish, fina lly limped home in 52nd overall. " I was rig h t behind Ashcraft wh en 1 hi t a rock and crashed," said Griewe. ''I'm not sure what I've done but I think I jammed m y thumb or something because 1 can't use my right hand at all , but there was no way 1 was going to drop out. 1 was going"to finish this thing no ma tter what," _ •

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