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/127249
Cross country champ Ed Lojak (2NI was passed by Hendon on the last lap and had to settle for third overall. Here he motors by a lapped rider. Motocrosser Greg Zitterkopf and his ATK 406 soundly beat all of the National Hare Scrambles veterans at ~h e series opener in Crane. Texas. KTM's Scott Plessinger. the defending National Hare Scrambles champ. was in contention before dropping out w ith mechanical problems. Todd Harris (2 21 leads 19,88 Hare Scrambles Champion Tony Hendon (2 1I. Hendon returned to racing after a one year inj ury -related layoff. AMA National Championship Hare Scrambles Series: Round 1 Zitterkopf chases down Jackrabbits victory By Tom Tysl CRANE, TX, FEB. 4 T he opening round of the National Hare Scramble Series saw ATK's Greg Zitterkopf, from Chino, California, capture the overall win over former hare scramble champions 18 Tony Hendon and Ed Lojak. I found contending the 500cc Zitterkopf, who is usually National Champ ionship MX Seri es, as well as m any maj or o££roadin g events su ch as th e Baja 1000 an d National hare &: h ounds, led from start to finish ' in th e 99-mile race on a n ATK 406, six-speed , twostroke. The jackrabbi ts National Hare Scram b les event wa s hosted by th e PBMA Dirt Riders and spons ored by Ca me lback Drinking System /Competition Speci alti es/Fun Wheels Yam ah a /G olden Suzuki-Honda / H onda-Kawasaki of West T exas, was any th ing but a bunny run. The 16.5mile loop wa s m o stl y sa n d th at t u rned into m oto r cycl e-eating whoop-de-doos . T he first wave of sta rte rs. - AA and O p en and 250cc A racers charge d down th e front stra igh t a t th e so u n d of th e starter's gu n. The stan resem bled a desert race bomb run without th e bomb. Instead, it was a well-marked trail that started 1000 yards from the starting line. T en miles into the first lap the tra ck went through a sand dune area and by that time ATK's Zitterkopf was already 45 seconds ahead of Suzuki-moun ted Todd Harris with form er National cham p Tony Hendon third; Scott Summers, on the four-stroke Honda fourth, and the defending National Champion Scott Plessinger fifth. As th e riders came around to the scoring lane to complete lap one, the top five remained unchanged followed by th e foursome of Duane Conner , th e lone Kawasaki , j eff Russell , on a Yamaha, T exan Dean Lane, on a KTM , an d Ed Lojak, on a fact ory Yamaha. Former National Hare Scrambles Champion johnny . Martin an d j oe Zierrnan rounded out th e top 10. At th e start of lap three Zitterkopf had almost two minutes o n th e battle for seco nd pl ace between Loj ak a n d Lane, with H arris 20 seco n ds back in third, having his own battle with Hendon. Sixth was KTM-moun ted Pl essinger foll owed by Martin, Russell , Zierrnan a nd Conner. Lap three was n ot good for form er cham p io ns as th e number-one plate h older Pl essinger dropped o u t with motorcycl e p roblem s a nd Martin Iiterall y rode th e rear tir e o££ his 406 ATK. " It's (the tire) ba ck in th e sand dunes," said Martin. " T he rear tire went flat and before I made it to the pits it came o££ the rim." Ma rt in eventually mounted a whole new wheel 'on his ATK. By the fourth lap the whitt: 406 of Zitterkopf had almost two and a half minutes on Lojak, with Lane still holding down third. Hendon was just 20 seconds back in fourth and Summers was in fifth. Lanes' hope of a top finish ended on lap four.