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/127250
Kawasaki pilot Dan As hcraft was an early leader at the Four A ces M .C .'s N ational, but was lat er passed by Hunnicutt and fi ni shed second overa ll. I H unn icutt s ta rted m aking h is move as th e racers p assed the 20-m ile m ark an d began th e long run back to th e pi ts. "T here were th ree peo pl e way o u t in front: RoeseIer , La ughl in a n d Ash craft," Hunnicutt sa id . " I got by th e fir st tw o , th en 1 got Ashcraft probably 20~ to-25 m il es into it. 1 just kept it going a nd 1 led i t fro m' the re. " Hunni cutt w a s a hea d b y 47 seco n ds a s h e gra b be d gas a nd sprinted o u t in to loop two . Roe seler's KX250 was seco nd a n d As hcraft wa s half,a minute behind in third. " T ed went by m e, th en Larry went arou nd me too - that su rprised me," sai d Ash craf t. " I wasn 't rea d y for th at one, but 1 staye d with h im rig ht to th e pi ts." '( Zitterko pf ra ced into loo p two in fourth o vera ll an d H amel 's 40- mi le charge h ad him j ust 12 seconds back in fi fth. Su zu k i-mo u n ted R andy Moseley, Krause a nd Laughlin were th e next racers th rough , a nd H onda C R25 0 rid er Dan Ri ch ard son and ATK's Will ie Mu sg rave rounded out th e.to p 10. Pa rr y's KX250 led the Vet class th ro ug h the pits in I Ith overa ll, half a minute ahead of O ver-30 rival Paul O stbo, and Lewi s was tw o mi nu tes a head o f H onda C R I25-mounted J eff Black in the race for th e 125cc honors. , T he 35-mile seco nd loo p headed into th e m ounta ins beh ind Charl ey's Place. t " T he seco nd loop was g reat - just : a wesome," sai d H am el. " It was really tough - roc ks a nd whoops a ll th e wa y." 1 H am el m ade the m o st o f the io ugher ter rain an d was m o ving up o n th e lead ers in th e ea rly stages o f th e, loop, but so me of hi s rivals did n ot fare n earl y as well. Moseley was knocked back by tw o get-o ffs in th e rocks. '1' T he front-runner s were ha vin g p robl em s, 10 0 . Ziuerkopf was forced to reti re when h e lost a shoc k bo lt a t the lO-mile mark and R oesel er fell . victim to th e ro cks 10 mil es furth er on. " I wa s ca tch in g H u n n icu tt in th e tight stuff - I was ab out 20 seco nds beh ind h im - and I slid out o n a really steep rock y downhill. A rock bent the front rotor di sk so 1 had no front brake," said Roeseler. The KX250 pilot battled o n but he co u ld not keep up th e sizzling p ace a nd Ashcra ft was soon sna p p in g a t h is heel s. " Roese ler slo we d down, but I co u ld n't ge t arou nd him because it was sodus ty," said Ashcraft. " I 'd try to mak e a move but he beat m e o ut every time, so 1 had to slo w down a n d Hunni cutt sta rted ge tti ng away." But Hunn icutt wa s in trouble too. , " I musr've hit a ro ck with th e front di sk an d I lost m y brak e probab ly 10 to 15 miles into th e seco n d loop," sa id Hunni cutt. " I m ad e a few m istak es a nd fell o ver a few ti mes , but 1 managed to stay in front." While H unnicutt battled to keep th e o vera ll lead, Parry was fighting to keep Ostbo o u t of th e Over-30 lead. "I got lost a bunch of times in th e firs t loo p a nd I was five pl aces behind Pa rr y i n th e p its , but 1 passed him abou t halfwa y through the seco nd loo p ," sa idOstbo , "Right after th a t . I too k a wrong turn a nd missed th e co urse a nd, by th e time I got all th e way back, I lost probably 10 places." La ughli n was h aving problems with a loose handguard -tha t locked th e front brake every time he hit a bu sh , and one rid er after a nothe r wa s goi ng down in the rocks. ' " Pe o p le wer e crash in g a ll o ver th e p lace, " sa id Laugh lin . " I wa tched more peo pl e crash today th a n I'v e ever seen in a ny o ther race. You'd be ridi ng next to so me bo dy through . th e b us hes, and a ll of a sudde n boo m , th ey'd go over the bars." H unn icutt kept th e power o n ri g ht to th e en d a n d was sti ll going strong whe n th e fini sh line ca me into sigh t. Ashcraft dodged past Roeseler eight miles from th e fini sh a n d H a mel follo wed w ith j ust three mil es to go, but th e y w ere to o late to s to p Hunn icutt's charge . The Kaw a saki l J T I R en th a llAcerbis/Pro- Circui tl Tri c k II M S /B e 1- R a y I T s ub a k i backed ra cer cro ssed the finish ri ght a t 12:00 p .m . to tak e th e win a nd th e o vera ll series lead 'by a co m for ta b le three-minute margin. " I th o ught th e co urse was pretty hard to foll ow in some p laces - i t wea ved arou nd lot and we co u ld n ' t find it in th e d ust , b ut 1 had a good time," said Hunnicutt. "Ever ything went o ka y a n d it feels great to win a National.'> ' Ash craft wa s just as h appy back in seco nd . a Factory KTM pilot Danny Hamel (N 3 X) claimed third overall, and he edged ou t Larry Roeseler for f irst place laurels in the 250cc Expert class. Team Green 's Roeseler, the defending 250cc Nat ional Hare & Hound Champion, is currently second overall in the series po int stand ings. "Th is race was great because 1 led it for a while, It feel s good to be o u t in front again, " sai d th e KX500 pilot. " I had n o p roblem s exce p t R oesel er h olding me up. H e fi na lly let me ro u nd , but Hunnicutt ,was gone by th en. 1 co u ld n ' t even see h is dust." H am el ' s c ha rge brought him horn e third o vera ll a nd ga ve him a na rrow wi n in th e 250cc cla ss o ver fo urth -p laced Roes el er. "They ca ugh t me right a t th e end ," sa id R oeseler. "I went from a solid , second to fourth, but there 's not much yo u ca n do with no front bra ke." Fifth o vera ll went to R M250 pilot Randy Mos eley, with O pen Experts Laughlin and Krause not far behind. Idah o' s Ri chardson captured eighth o vera ll o n a CR2 50, just a head o f Husky four-stroke rider Do n Griewe • an d ATK pilots G arth Sw eetland and Chris Crandall. Parry ca me out on top of the Vet class strugg le in 14th o vera ll. Ostbo took seco nd Vet in 17th o vera ll, wi th Suzuki-mounted Downhill Al exander j u st one pla ce behind in third. Jimmy Lewis took win number tw o in the I 25cc class in 16th overall, and Black finished five places back in second. Nevada 's Bill Maxim ca me o u t o n top of th e Over 40 co m pe titors, with T. V. H olmes in seco n d , a nd KX250 p ilot Brent Fa rrell headed up th e Am ateur field in 25th overall. • Results O/ A: 1. Ted Hunni cutt (Kawl; 2. Dan As hcraft IKaw ); 3. Dann y Hamal (KTM ): 4. Larr y Roeseler (Kaw); 5. Randy Mo seley ISul); 6. Robert Laughlin (Han); 7. Paul Krause IATK); S. Dan Richar dson (Ha n); 9. Don Griewe (Husl; 10 . Garth Sw eetland (ATK); 1 1. Chris Crandall (ATK);' 12 . W i ll ie Mu sgrave (ATK). OPEN EX: 1, Ted Hu nni cutt (Kaw); 2. Dan Ashcraft IKaw): 3. Robert Laughlin (Han). 250 EX: 1. Danny HameIIKTM): 2. Larry Roeseler (Kaw): 3. Randy Moseley (SUl). 125 EX: 1. J immy Lewis IKTM): 2. J eff Slack (Han): 3. Joh n Bradl ey (Han), VET EX: 1. Kenny Parry (Kaw); 2. Paul Ostba (Kaw); 3. Down hill Alexand er (SUl). SR EX: 1. Bill Ma xim (Kaw); 2. Tom Holmes. II