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/127205
Suzuki's Randy Hawkins maintained his series points lead in New York with his fourth win of the year. Kevin Hines kept in stride w ith Hawkins by finishing second at the Speedsville National. He is 23 po ints beh ind Hawkins in the standings. Mike Toole is moving up in the ser ies w ith another top f in ish. AMA National Championship Enduro Series: Round 7 Hawkins edges Hines at Speedsville National By Paul ClipperITrail Rider Magazine SP EEDSVIL L E, NY, AUG. 13 Team Suzuki 's Randy " T h e Javelin'.' Hawkins made the Ithaca Dirt Riders' Speedsville National Enduro his fourth win of the.year, edging his rival from the KTM camp, Kevin Hines, by two ' P o ints. H in es J umped. into th e I y lead, bu t Hawkins came ear back in th e late stages o f th e enduro to wi n the event a nd m aintai n his 23-point lead over H in es in the point sta ndi ngs. Third overa ll went to Yamaha's J eff Russell , who is third in the standings. H awkins came fro m beh ind to wi n despite a malfuctioning rear bra ke in the last sect ion. "M y brake was fad ing in the last section and I had to keep pu mping it u p, but it kep t go ing away and then locking," said H awkins. " Everytim e I' d stab it , it would hop to th e side, then I'd ha ve to hit th e gas to straighten it o u t. I was goi ng every which way!" In deed he was. T he section he was ta lki ng abo ut was a wet, slick sha le ' rock bed in the last loop of th e da y - the A an d AA loop . H awkins was careening down the cree k, seem ingly co mpletely o ut of control, but he never backed off the throttle for a second. He was eithe r going to wrap himself aro und a tree or fin ish with th e best time. " We were tied go ing into th e las t section . with five points each," said Hin ~s. " Bu t I went int o th e section stu pidly a nd blew a c~lUple ? f turns a nd fell down . T ha t s all It took. Randy went 5-8 over the two chec ks a nd I wen t 6-9." H ines d id ha ve th e upper hand o n Ha wk in s af ter th e first loop , dropp ing two po ints to Ha wkins' three. Then, in th e second loop, Ha wkins evened th ings u p by one a t th e fifth a nd seventh chec ks, whil e Hines dro pped one an d two, tying up th e score. The last loop decided the day, with Hines' cras hi ng, putting him out of th e mi nu te a nd in to a n ex tra two points . Weather for the weekend p layed a factor in th e event, since gentle rains o n Sa turday morning a nd n ight served to soa k down th e predomina nt ly cla y so il and tu rn SpeedsviIle in to a very slic k and slippery run. Man y B, C a nd .Senior riders houred o u t of th e first loo p aft er figh ting spi nning wh eels all morning. Russell , wh o fin ished third overall , tied Ha wk in s in the morning, Hines in the second loop a nd th en lost three more po int s tha n Hines, fin ishi ng up with a 24-point score . . Fo urt h overall went to Kawasaki rider J oey H o pk in s wh o found th e sli p pery ground not to h is likin g.