Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

BENDUROAMAN~~~~~_E_~_m_oS_m_'~_:R_oo_~_2~~~~~~~~~~_ ~ Hawkinswinsin Georgia maybe By Kit Palmer Photos by Brett Bu rki tt M AXEY GA, M 18 S, AR. ef e n d i n g tw o-tim e N ati onal En duro Champion Randy Hawkins guided h is factory Suzuki RMX250 through th e thick Georg ia mud th e quickest a nd narrowl y bea t Tea m Yamaha 's J eff Russell by one point in ro u n d tw o of th e Nat ional Cha m p io ns h ip End uro Series. H o wever, Ha wkins' victo ry is not yet sea led , beca use th e event is o fficia lly under . p ro test, One of two p rotests we re filed a fter th e event by KTM 's Kevin Hines, wh o felt th a t an observatio n checkpoi n t whi ch man y rider s mi ssed - was wrongfully thrown ou t, and a nother protest was filed by Russell , for what h e felt was a n ill egal placement o f a chec kp o int. The protests were not acc epted by th e cl ub following th e event, so both Ru ssell a nd H in es appealed to the AMA. Pen d in g th e AM A's decision o n the two protests, H a wkins, with 4 1 poin ts dropped in th e enduro, is th e unoff icial winne r o f th e Cherokee Cycle Clu bhosted event . Finishing seco nd overall with 42 points was Yamaha 's Russell , wh ile Suzuki-mounted J an Hreh or, from Czec hos lo va k ia, dropped 48 po ints for th ir d. Rounding out th e top six were three rid er s wh o dropped 50 points each : Hines, Tea m Green 's Terry Cunningham a nd Kurt H ough. Hines edge d o ut both Cunningham a nd Hough o n the tie-break ers. Seventh place with 57 points went to Michigan 's Kell y Cetz, a n d two points back o f Getz was Alabama 's George Waller , Jr., with California 's Dave Bertram (60 points) a n d G eorgi a 's All en Gravit (62) ro u nding out th e top 10. Du e to hea vy rains in th e area tw o days before Sunday's event, th e co urse was very muddy in so me sectio ns , but accord ing to T eam Su zuki 's H awkins, " T he club did a n excelle nt job putting o n the event co ns iderin g th e co nd itions we h ad . They did a super job," T he first check of th e day was a chec k-i n, which led to the first points dropped at check two. Russell , riding on m in u te 25, arrived a t check two five m inutes lat e, o ne seco nd short of being six m inutes la te. H a wk ins, H ines a nd Hrehor weren 't so lu ck y, T hey a ll a rrived a t check two well into th e sixmi nute br acket , so Russell was one point up o n everyone headin g into th e nex t special test sect io n. In th is sectio n, th ough, between chec ks three a nd four, is wh ere most o f th e co ntro versy arose. Apparentl y a large mudhole for me d in a sec tio n of trail between doub le a rro w markers. According to AMA rules, riders are supposed to stay within double arrows no matter the con ditio n of th e trail. But as th e mudhol e gr ew worse an d worse, and more riders became stuck in the mudbog, many riders began to steer a ro u nd th e swa m p a nd aro u n d th e double "arrows. The n ew trail , unfortunately, carried th e riders onto D Pending the AMA's decision on two protests that were filed after the Georgia National, Jeff Russell, who unofficially finished second, has a shot at the win. Defending National Endu ro Champion Randy Hawkins -was the overall winner in Georgia, bu t could be disqual ifed for riding off the course. KTM's Kevin Hines from Massachusetts, ro de aggressively in the thick Georgia mud and finished fourth overall with 50 points on his scorecard. 38 another section o f th e co urse, wh ich bypassed a n obse rva tio n check th at wa s located just beyond th e mudhole. A missed observation check by a rider is an automati c di squalification. H awkins was o ne o f th e rid ers who missed th e observa tio n check. "The trail ca me down a nd beared to th e left, and th ere was a swam p th er e," said H awk ins. " Yo u co u ld n' t go to th e left ; yo u co u ld o n ly go to th e ri ght to ge t a ro u nd it, Well , th er e was a n observation ch eck out th ere p ast the swa m p, The trail th en ca me back reall y close (to the mudhol e), an d what happened was that th e lat er ride rs because the swa mp was getting so ba d - rode onto th a t section o f trail (a fter th e observat io n check), It was a n honest m istake. I was o n m inute 34 and th ere wasn ' t an AA rider behind me to make it (through th e mudhol e a nd to the observation ). No one kne w th ey were actually cu tti ng th e co urse." " It was real "muddy, but it wasn 't impassable," sa id H in es. " T here we re double arrow s going into it a nd if yo u looked to yo u r rig h t, abou t 50 to 60 feet , you co u ld see th e trail co m ing in th e o the r directi on. You co u ld see th e riders in th e co rner o f yo u r eye a n d th at's what Randy a nd those o the r guys en ded up doing - following th em, But the gu ys th ey sa w were go ing in th e complet e o p posite direction o f the a rr ows. So th ey weren't watching th e arrows. They cu t off a three-mil e section of th e trail, an d it was obvious, because at th e next ch eck , I, and T erry Cunningham , h ad a n in e , while Hawkins an d th ose guys, who cu t off the section, had two s. " I mean th er e were fiv e arrows within 30 feet o f each ,other show in g yo u which wa y to go, " sa id Hines. " Even guys like T.C. (Cun n in gha m) started to go th e wrong wa y, but T.e. kn ows bett er , because he's experienced. H e knows th ey'r e goin g to th row a n o.b. (observa tion) in there, because h e knows th at th at guy H arold (Barton), who puts o n this event, is tricky." According to AMA rules, if more tha n half o f a ll th e riders in th e en duro miss a ny check, incl udi ng a n observation chec k, th en th e chec k must be thrown ou t a nd not co u nted in th e e ve n t. And th at ' s ex act ly ' w h a t happened. But Hines la ter protested this move. " T he grounds for m y protest is th at those guys (who missed th e check) didn't go between th e double arrows," said Hines. " Before th ey mi ssed th e observation ch eck, th ey h ad to go around th e arrows. " With th e fourth check considered thrown o ut, R u ssell was still leading th e competitors heading into the next sp ecia l test sec tio n . At check six Russell , again, nipped Hawkins , Hines a nd Hrehor -by dropping five points; Hawkins and Hrehor dropped six and H ines seven, During the next special test sections

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