Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

~ ENDURO AM! National ChampionshiReliabilit Enduro Series: Ronnd I .~ Three-time ISDE Junior World Team rider Kurt Hough piloted hi s Team Green-backed Kawasaki to the overall victory. Back on top form following a slow-healing wrist injury, A TK's Matt Sta vish fin ished II secon ds orr Hough's pace for secon d overall and th e Open class win. Hough mstersM a orrison By Merle Acord MORRISON,fL, A 9 PR. 10 . r ea m G reen's ISDE gold medal ist Kurt H ough posted th e lo west overa ll score to win th e Brush Poppers M.C . One Day ISD E Quali- fi er. ATK' s Matt S tavis h fin ished secon d overa ll, II secon ds behind H ough , while another Tea m Green memb er a nd many time ISDE gold meda lis t jeff Fredette was th ird . Bru sh Po p p ers presid en t G le n n Sedig a nd vice president Da ve Stuart, with tech ni cal hel p from Bob Brandon and lots of support from o ther club member s, hosted th eir first ever q ualifier. T he co urse was la id o u t in a 52mil e loop through ope n fields , tigh t woods, deep creek crossi ngs a nd a sem i-swam p y area. T here were five tim ed checks, w ith specia l terra in a n d grass track tests. The B rid ers fin ished u p a t th e end o f the first loop, while th e Intent a nd A ri de rs rod e tw o loops. T he Intent rid ers fini sh ed th e da y wi th a 10-rid er-p er-mo to, th ree lap fin al mot ocr oss speci a l test. " We 'enjoyed doing th is," said Seid. " We made so me mistak es, but the riders had fun a nd it was a learning experience for us. Next tim e we'll have more fun and produce an even bet ter event ." H ough didn 't ha ve any problem s with the checks o n th e co urse, but he d id h ave a run-in wi th a Czech named Boh umel Posledni in th e fin al motocross test. Posl edn i, a member o f Czechos lavia's ISDE T ro p hy T eam, trad ed th e firs t-p lace slot severa l tim es with H ough before sett lin g into seco nd p lace a nd waiting fo r a mistake th at never happen ed. .H o ug h turned in a 663-seco nd motocross test . which was two seco nds faster th an Posledn i, but still 22 seconds off T eam Suzuki's David Bertram's time. The motoc ross test , laid out in a 200 acre field, featured a 1.8-mile gra ss track, using wood-laths stakes with stapled arro ws as boundary markers. H ow ever , th e sandy soil didn 't give much su pport to th e stakes a nd riders in eac h successive moto heats kept knocking down th e co u rse markers, and th e cou rse kept getting straighter a nd straigh ter through th e " S" turns, g lvlll g riders in th e later motos a shorter co urse to race on. H ough turned in the fas test time on th e gr een track a t 198 seconds, with fellow Tea m G reen m emb er and brother Aaron just o ne second o rr th e pace wi th a 199. The Hough brothers a lso turned in fast time s in th e terrain test , with Kurt doing a 374 a nd Aaron a 371. So when Aaron , with a ll th e co urse ma rk ers in p lac e, blasted orr th e line in the first mot ocross test a n d turned in a 706·second run (22 seco nds fas ter th an the secon d place rider in hi s heat ), Aaron was a mazed when the fin al results listed h im si xt h ove ra ll. "Every th ing was good in cluding th e gras s track specia l test," sa id Kurt H ough. "T h ey had it la id o ut typ ica l o f a European grass track, on ly th ei r sta kes wou ld n' t hol d u p. T he co urse shou ld 've been banner ed." Forme r Nati onal Enduro Ch ampion Kevin Hin es. who recently re tu rn ed fro m co mpe ting i n a n en d uro in Fi n land, sa id , " T he d ub ga ve us four or five m inu tes a t ea ch check, whi ch wa s good , and they di d an excelle nt job o n the trai ls, lots of a rro ws. Only ins tea d of 100 mi les we shou ld have ridden 200 and it sh ould ha ve been two days. If we are go ing to co mpete with th e Europea ns we h ave to adap t so me of th eir training techniq ues. We've got to get pumped ." Seco n d overa ll a n d Open cla ss winner Stavish, riding a' J ohn Martinp repped 406, didn't have any trouble ge tt ing pum p ed, Stavis h, showing no effects from a slow h ealing bone in his left wrist th at h ampered hi s '89 season, tu rn ed in quick gr ass track ti mes of 212 and 203, a nd cred itable terrain tests of 396 a n d 391, th en added a 644 in th e motocross for a total 1846 score, II secon ds off Kurt's p ace, ATK's J oe Zierman had a goo d run goi n g right up to th e final two turns o f lap three in th e fin al rn oto , " I had a little seizu re problem," said Zierman. " T he motocross track kept ge tt ing stra igh ten ed o u t as th e heat s progressed , an d us gu ys in th e final heats had it pretty well wrung o u t, I'd fin ally gotte n aro u n d Bertram after ea ting hi s dust for two an d a half laps. T he n two corners from th e finish it seized." Reigning National Enduro Ch ampion Randy Hawkin s was four seconds down co m ing to th e line for the final motocross special test. Czechoslavia Junior World team member Jan Hrebor, on a 250cc Suzuki, took th e holeshot foll owed by H awkins and Hines. On the first long stra igh t Hawkins motored into the lead, but he promptly tipped over in th e san d y soil in a tight righth ander and was dead last wh en he got goi ng. H awkins began pi ckin g o rr rid ers a t an in credible pace and regained th e lead before th e '10 rid er h eat com p leted the first lap. But it wa s in vain for Hawkins. " I was ridin g good, and didn 't ha ve a ny p robl em s," said th e Nat ion al Enduro cha m p . " T he n I h ol ed a pi ston. It happens; th at 's racing." After Hawkins dropped o u t in lap tw o , H ines and Hrehor di ced bri efl y th en Hines dropped in to th e second slot a nd waited for Hrehor to make a mi st ake, But Hrebor, a veteran woods rider and motocrosser, ha d been in this situation too many times before to give away th e win. T eam Green's j eff Fred ett e, in mota number four, ca me to the line 17 se conds down . Fredette kept hi s KDX200 o n th e p ipe but the power hungry, sand y so il kept him from closing the ga p , and he settled for third overall with a total of 1853. " 1 liked the gra ss track , " sa id Fredette. " It was kind of like ice racing. You ease into th e co rne rs and just let

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