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/127177
Da nny LaPorte leaves the starting line at dawn . He and Larry Roeseler captured the overall. 11 minutes ahead of the next team. Yamaha rider Kurt Pfe iffer rode the whole race , approximately 300-miles, solo and finished second,overall and first in t he 250cc class. Team Green's Ted Hunnicut finished third overall with a little help f rom Roeseler. Roeseler rode the last 30 m iles for Hunnicut. " We didn't have any problems -: nothing at all," said the former 250cc World MX champ, La Porte. "Everything worked perfectly and we had 'a lot of fun. This is the first time I've raced this one, so I'm really happy with the win." But the overall and Open class honors were not enough for Roeseier. After handing Team Green's Open class entry to LaPorte for the fina l sprint to the checkered flag, Roeselertook over from Kawasaki's 250cc hopeful Ted Hunnicutt arid dashed the last 30 miles in the hopes of pulling out a Class 21 (Motorcycles 126cc to 250cc) victory as well. "Ted (H u nnicu tt ) was going to ride with Paul Krause, but Paul got hurt prerunning and Ted decided to ride solo," said Roeseler. "I signed up with him at the last minute as backup in case he got tired. He rode the 'whole race and I just got on for about the last 30 miles." The HunnicuttiRoeseler KX250 crossed the finish line in second overall but was relegated to third on adjusted time when Kurt Pfeiffer brought his P ro-Circuit-spo nsored YZ250 home just over one minute later. Twelve seconds separated the two teams. "Twelve seconds doesn 't seem like very much after you 've been riding for four hours. Oh well. I guess that's racing," said Hunnicutt. Forty-six motorcycle teams lined up before dawn for the start of the race. Intermittent rain for two days before the race made conditions near perfect as the starting flag fell for the first time at 6.30 a.m .. The racers left the start line at 15 second intervals and powered ou t into the first section of the 95-mile loop just as the su n began to creep over the horizon. "That first section was pretty scary," said. La Porte, who was the first racer off the line. "I had only run that part of the course twice and I was really scared to go fast. It was so dark - I thought it was crazy." LaPorte's cautious approach soon had him under fire from second place starter, Jim Means. " I thought I was going as 'fast as I could in the dark but then Means passed me ," said LaPorte. "That got me moving. I got my confidence LaPortejRoeseler capture Parker 400 win By Anne and Tom Van Beveren Photos by Tom Van Beveren PARKE R, AZ, JAN. 28 The 'Kawasaki duo of Larry Roeseler and Danny LaPorte swept the field a t the SCORE International 16th Annual Parker 400 in a wire-to-wire romp at the prestigious 300 mile event near the CaliIornia/ Arizona border. . The KX500 team was c h argmg hard from the moment the 20 starting flag dropped and their speed averaged close to 60 mph. as they battled to pull ahead of the rest of the field . The all-out charge lasted almost four hours, and when the checkered flag finally came into view, Team Green swept in to take the overall honors II minutes ahead of the nearest competition. going after tha t andI passed Means back and by the time we got to that section on the next loop the sun had come up, so it was a lot better." . Further back in the starting order, Hunnicutt was also playing it safe. " I rod e as conservatively as I could off the start because I knew the wash was dangerous," said ' the KX250 pilot. "That 's where Paul (Krause) got hurt yesterday and I didn 't want to take any chances." The tricky terrain of the first wash was soon over and speeds picked up as the racers turned towards the first pit at Midway. LaPorte was out in front and gaining ground fast and further back in the pack, KTM pilot Dan Smith was making his move. "It was going great at first and I was even with LaPorte on time," said Smith, who was riding solo. " I got up into third overall physically but then everything came to a screeching hal t about 44 miles into it. I hit a rock and just augered my head into th e ground. " Smith broke a collarbone in the fall and was forced to drop out of the running. " I was a bit disappointed but I ·feel kind of lucky as well," said Smith. "It could have been a lot 'worse. If you have to break something, breaking a collarbone' isn't too bad." With the ini tial jockeying for -position behind them , the racers settled into stride as they passed through Midway for the first time and headed out into the bottom half of the' figure-eight loop . The Roeseier /LaPorte Kawasaki continued to dominate the Open class (Class 22 - Motorcycles Over 25Icc) co mpetition and H un nicu tt was elbowing his way through the earlier starters in search of the Class 21 lead. " I was doing pretty good o nce we got out of the first section," said the 24-year-old KX250 pi lot. "I started picking people off slowly and I passed quite a few open bikes. Somebody told me that when I got (back) to Midway I was 30 seconds ahead of LaPorte on time." Pfeiffer 's solo bid for the 250cc honors was also going strong. "Most · of the course was fast and that was fun, but the rough stuff out there is getting really bad," said the YZ250