Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Roger Hurd, Tim Morton and Jeff Martinez piloted a Kawasaki KX125 to the 125cc class win in 21 :25:27.1. They average~ 46.30 mph . Kawasaki-mounted Joey Lane was a member of the winning 250cc squad. His teammates were Danny Hammel and Charlie Morris.. ATK's Greg Zitterkopf (shown) and crew finished third overall. 8 corner of my eye and it spla ttered all over my head. And th en another guy th rew a bi g rock at tile and hit my kn ee." The thi rd overall finishing team wa s Zitterkopf, Sweetland a n d Krause. It was ATK' s first major effort in th e Baja 1000. " We were running second until a few miles from here wh en Paul (Krause) stalled the motor in a turn and couldn 't get it started," said Zitterkopf, who started the even t for th e ATK team. "The electric starter broke right .a t th e sta rt, and when Paul stalled it , it took him about a _ 100 kicks to get it going again. We lost about 20-25 minu tes th ere." Shortly after Krause, H arden cam e rolling over the finish line. " We did the best we co uld a nd I'm happy," said Harden . " T here was som e tough competition out there." I A li ttl e over two hours after the first bik e finish ed, th e first 250cc ma chine, a Kawasaki KX250, crossed the line ridden by Mark Van scourt, wh o ' teamed with Robert Pl aytha and J oey Lane. "W e had a good ride until I go t th e bike for th e second time," said Playth a. " T he ligh t brackets broke, both bottom p in s fell o u t, and I had to hold th e lights and ride wit h them for 40 miles 't il I go t to a pit. I p ut on a tie-down to hold th em up and it didn 't stay very good." "Af ter I go t the bi ke, th e lights just kept bouncing up and down," said Vanscourt. " Finally, the lig hts were o ut completely and I had to rely on my tiny 75-watt lights on my helm et for about 25 mil es - it was a bitch ." " We led all th e way to San Ign acia," sa id Lane,' " a n d th en the McKays (Brad and T ad McKay and Darren Sanford) passed us in th e p it while we were wor king on th e bik e. I passed them ba ck at San Javier wh en they were in th e p its workin g · on their ligh ts." The McKay and Sanford team, · riding a Suzuki RMX250 , ended up fini shi ng second in class, about 14 minutes behind th e Vanscourt / Lane/Playther team. " We got off to a good start and were a minu te behind the class leaders at Santa Maria," said th e fini sher, Sanford. " T hen we lost -15 minutes at Bahia de Los Angeles wh en my partner Brad cras hed and messed the lights up . At San J avier, we pu lled off the gas tank to check the wires, but we lost 40 minutes and the lead. T hat was th e race for us. T odd go t o n and pi cked up 10 minutes on th e 250cc leaders between Kilom eter Six and Kilometer l28 l:iut that was it. I rode to the fini sh but had so me problems. I crashed twice . . and go t lost once." When Brad McKay crashed and broke the Suzuki's main lights, he was forced to ride with just his small · helmet lights, but later turne d them off wh en he said he could see better under the mo oriligh t. Finishing third in the 250cc cla ss . were Kawasaki rid ers Kenny Parry and Brett Howell. However, Parry crossed th e fin ish line approxi mately 12 hours after Roeseler had finished. H owell was th e starter for th e team and rode 150 miles before handing 'the Kawa saki to Parry. PaIlYrode hi s first 100-mile stint and then gave th e bike back to Howell. But just before reach ing Bahia de Los Angel es, H owell cras hed hard and was unable to con tin ue. Parry, meanwh ile, was wai ting at Bah ia de Los An geles for H owell to co me in and make a switch. But wh en he ins tead heard th e news th at Howell had cras hed and was sha ken . up, Par ry drove 60 miles back up th e co urse in a car to wh ere H owell had bailed. Parry repaired dam ages to the bike and rode ap proxima tely 680 m iles to th e finis h. Out of seven 250cc starte rs, only these three teams fin ished. Kawasak i-m ounted Roger Hurd, T im Morton a nd J eff Ma rtin ez topped th e l25 cc cla ss in 21:25:27.1. Hurd , wh o finished the race, said his partner Martinez 'crashed near San Quintin a n d b ent the handlebar s. That was abou t the only problem the team had the whole race. " We had a great ride," said Hurd. . KTM pilot Lee Pearson was th e first Class 30 (30 years of age and older) rider across the line, but he , Kevin Paul Colan and Paul Ostbo ended up third in class via adjusted tim e. The winning Cla ss 30 team was filled by Honda riders David Rees, Brian Harris and Wayne Martin, wh o finished th e event in 20:01:53:5. Finishing a little over 10 minutes" behind the Pearson team was the duo of fo r me r factory H onda MX mechanic Chris H aines and Randy Rodriguez, riding a Honda XR600. Haines and Rodriguez stopped the clock at 20:10:21.8. . In his first Baj a 1000 finish ever, Honda-m ounted Wayne Cornelius , alo ng with Todd Martella and Rick Sh ir ley, easily topped th e 'Class 40 (40 years plus) , finishi ng ahead of Honda riders Richard Jackson, J ohn Etchart and Charlie Conway. Cornelius, Martella a nd Shirley's time was 22:22:16.5, J ackson , Etchart and Conway's 23:00:32.4. Desert race .promoter Casey Folks, former multi- tim e National Enduro Champion Dick Burl eson and Barry Higgins finished third in clas s on a KTM . And in the final motorcycle class, KTM-mounted Charles Sal em, Richard Christian and Al Guzman topped th e Class 50 division over H onda pilots Dick Vick and John Watkins. Salem; Christian and Guz-. man finished th e race in 24:48:59.2. Competing in h is firs t-ever SCORE even t, Dav e Vick, from Laguna Beach, California, rod e the even t solo on a Honda XR600 Honda and finished 14th in Class 22 (O pen). It took h im just over 26 hours to co mp lete the race. Of th e,105 m otorcycles ente red in thi s year's even t, almos t' half of the teams were from J apan. The first J apanese team to finish was Eizaburo Karasawa, Yasu shi Maruyam a and Seiji . Riding a Honda XR600 , the team ended up fifth in Class 22, in 22:47:36.3. Seven ty- th ree motorcycl es offi cially . crossed ' the finish line at La Pa z. ' • Results O/A: 1. Danny LaPortelTed Hunnicutt/Larry Roeseler IKaw) 17:53 :16 .3. mph 55.46; 2. Danny Hammel /Scott Morris /Darryl Folks (KTM) 17:59 :33 .3, mph 55.13; 3 . Greg Zitterkopf/Garth Sweetland/Paul Krause (ATK) 18:14 :34 .3, mph 54.38; 4. Dan Smith/Kevin Hines /Scot Harden (KTM) 18:38 :14 .9. mph 53 .23; 5. David Rees/Brian Harris (Han) 20 :01 :53.5, mph 49 .52; 6. Chris Haines/Randy Rodriguez (Han) 20 ;10 :21.8 . mph 49 .18; 7. Mark Vanscourt/Robert Playtha /Joey Lane (Kaw) 20:19:08 .1, mph 48 .B2; B. Tod/Brad McKay /Darren Sanford (Suz) 20:34:22.3, mph 49 .22; 9. Lee A. Pearson/Kevin Paul Colan (KTM) 20 :47 :24 .5, mph 47 .71; 10. Dan Worley/Ron Bishop /Gary Nolen (Hus) 21 :07:23. 5, mph 46.96; 11. Roger HurdlTim Mortonl Jeff Martinez (Kaw) 21 :25 :27.1. mph 46 .30. ·CLASS 20 (Under 125cc): 1. Roger HurdlTim Morton/ Jeff Martinez (Kaw); 2. Dale Wentworth/ Tim Orchard /E . Brookfield (Kaw); 3 . John Braasch /Eric Gunnther (Yam); 4 . Pat Boulland/ Arnaud Debran (Kaw). CLASS 21 (Between 126 & 25Occ): 1. Mark Vanscourt/Robert Playtha / Joey ' Lane (Kaw); 2. Tad/Brad McKay /Darren Sanford (Suz); 3. Bren Howell/Kenny ParrylTedd Hunnicun (Kaw). CLASS 22 (Over 26 1cc): 1. Danny LaPortelTed Hunnicutt/Larry Roeseler (Kaw) ; 2. Danny Hammel/Scan Morris/Darryl Folks (KTM); 3. Greg ZinerkopflGarthSweetland/Paul Krause (ATK); 4. Dan Smith/Kevin Hines /Scot Harden (KTM); 5. Eizaburo Karasawa /Yasushi Maruyama /Se iji Adachi (Han). . CLASS 30 (Over 30 years old): 1. David Reese/ Brian Harris/Wayne Martin (Hon); 2. Chr is Haines /Randy Rodriguez (Hon); 3. Lee Pearson/ Kevin Paul Colan /Paul Ostbo (KTM); 4. Dan Worley/Ron Biship /Gary Nolan (Hus); 5. Scott Anderson/Michael J. Burke (Han).. CLASS 40 (Over 40 years old) : 1. Wayne CorneliuslTodd Martella /Rick Sh irey (Han); 2. Richard Jackson/Charlie Conway/John Etchan (Hon); 3. Casey Folks/Dick Burleson/Barry Higgins (KTM); 4 . Jim O'Neal/Gene/Sam Dempsay (ATK); 5. Neil Manninen (Yam). CLASS 50 (Over SOyears old): 1. Charles Salem/ Richard Christian/AI Guzman (Han); 2. Dick Vicki John Watkins (Han). .'

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