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/127162
The start area, approximately 20 m iles north of Barstow, looked like a small city by the 7:30 a .m. start. Despite numerous nea r-misses in th e ea rly stages o f the race, the front-runners su rvi ved th e transition from bomb-run to pink-ribboned trail a nd soo n sett led into stride. Sm ith led th e way with Hunnicutt, Krau se, O g ilv ie, G reg Zitterk opf (AT K) and Cl iff Thomas,( Yamaha), hard on hi s heels. Thomas push ed through to ta ke the lead a t the first pit b u t dropped o u t soo n a fter wh en his rea r tire reported ly parte d com - . pany wi th th e rim. Smith took a n extra-lo ng p it to re pa ir a broken spa r k arrestor a nd O g il vi e h ad backed off to take care of p u m pedup arms. KX250 hot sh o t Roeseler gra bbed the lead co m ing o u t o f pit o ne bu t was kn ocked back by a fla t rear tire just a few mi les £urtherdown the trai l a nd the search for a new race lead er was o n agai n . Hun n icutt b roke th rough to the fro nt as th e racers c ha rged i nto th e seco n d pi ta t H a llo ran Sp rings , bu t with Krau se j us t six seco nds beh ind a nd on ly another eigh t seco nds back to Ogil vie in th ird, it was u p to th e pit crews to determine the leader as the das h to pit th ree a t Whiskey Pete's Casino got u nderway. ( " I was going well by th e time we got to the second pit ," said Og il vie. " I'd been u p in seco nd at the bomb b ut th en my arms pumped up and 1 rode slow for the next 25 to 30 miles which pu t me a ll th e way back to 10th or 11th co mi ng into the first gas, b ut a fter that 1 passed a b u nc h of g uys. 1 got th e fas test p it a t H all or an Springs a nd left there in the lead." Hunn icutt and Krause were dukin g it o ut for seco nd asxhey head ed ou t o f pit two with Zitterk o pf 's ATK in fourth, Vet class hopeful Scot Harden (KT M) in fifth and Roeseler still o u t in front o f the 250s, in six th. Harden 's bid for th e lead bit the dust less th an half a mi le furth er u p the tra il. "I had a good race a ll morning - thin gs were goi ng rea lly good, bu t m y chai n broke just ou t of th e seco nd gas," sa id H arden. " I had to run ba ck, ge t anot her cha in a nd th en p ut it on th e bike. 1 g uess 1 was lucky - 1 could 've gone two miles or more a nd then ha d it break , but 1 was back The Hacienda Hotel hosted the troph y presentation Sunday morn ing. arou nd 40th or 50th by th e time 1 got going agai n." Screa m ing th ro ugh p it two in sevent h overall, a mere three minutes beh in d the race leaders, was H a llga th 's YZ1 25. " I got a fa ir ly good start a nd 1 was p rob ably in th e m id 40s a t th e bo mb ," the ha rd-ch arg in g C class racer tol d Cycle News. " It was rea lly tig h t - a 125 co urse a ll th e way , so I had a lot o f tim e to ma ke up some spo ts. T here was no dust ei ther, so I passed people all over the place ." . Ha llgath was £ollowed throug h th e seco nd pit by Sm ith , wh o had co m po u n de d hi s pi t o n e spa r k ar res tor problems with a n at tire less th an four miles out from th e pit, a nd Roeseler 's rear n at had him back in eig h th . The lead cha nged han ds aga in a nd aga in as the fro nt-run ners headed th ro u g h the C la rk Mo u nta i ns towa r ds the Californ ia / N e vada border. " Bru ce and 1 went a t it like crazy," sa id Hunnicu tt. " H e blew a tu rn a nd 1 got him : the n he'd pass me back. It was so close - we had a rea lly good race go ing ." Krau se was still holding on ten a cio usly in th ird, H allgath 's YZI25 was in full cry just a few bi kes beh in d, a nd Smi th a nd Roeseler were p ush ing hard to mak e up ti me on their newl y-fitt ed tir es. Also hard on the gas was Yama ha hotsh ot Dan Ashcraft, who was tryin g a new wide . ra tio YZ250WR o n for size. " I got a horrib le sta rt. 1 wa s way ba ck at th e first gas - 28th or some thing like tha t, " sa id Ash craft, " bu t 1 sta rte d mo ving u p pretty fast after th at. The course wasn 't so whooped out this year so you cou ld reall y mo ve." ~ Vet class co ntender Kenny Parry was also recoverin g from a dism al performance on the sta rt ing lin e. " I mi ssed m y kick starter - can you believe th a t?.. sai d th e KX250 pilot. " I did all sorts of stu pid stu ff th a t you're not su p posed to do wh en you're a n Ex pert, bu t 1 just hung in th ere." Out in front, th e . ba ttl e for the number o ne spot was still go ing stro ng. "T ed passed me back just after the pi t a nd 1 let him lead for abo u t 20 miles," said Ogi lvie, " bu t then we got into some ' rough stu ff a nd he started ha vin g p roblem s. H e 7