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/127264
eENDDR0 A N MA ational Championship Enduro Series: Round 3 ~ After only th ree round of the Na tional Championship Enduro Series, KTM~s Kevin Hi nes already has two wins to his credit, including his la test victory in Ohio. Four-time National Enduro Champion Team G reen's T erry Cunningham finished third overall, two points beh ind winner Hines and one point behi nd Hough . r Team Green 's Kurt Hough was one of man y riders who rode a I5-m il e section th a t was later thrown o ut . H e ended up finishing second overall. Hines edges Hough at Little Burr National By Larry Bell "I 24 M cARTHER, OH, M 27 AY feel con fident I ca n wi n the Cha m p io ns hi p," said KTM 's Kevin H in es after ca p tur ing hi s second overa ll Na tional win of the season a t th e Li ule Burr Na tional. T he 1987 Enduro cha m p dro pped 16 points o n h is KTM 250E / XC a lo ng a ro u te that had been del uged th e previous co u p le o f days wit h several inc hes of rain. T he rai n was so intense th a t vast portions o f severa l sectio ns had to be cu t out or rero uted o n ly hours before the even t. Fin ish ing o ne point behind Hines was T eam Green 's Kurt H ou gh , wh o tu rned in a superla tive ride despite havin g to ride o ne who le sectio n th at was lat er thrown o ut, and having to sta rt o n a n early number. H ou gh 's tea mma te, fou r-time Na tio na l End uro C ha m p ion T erry Cunn in gh am , ca rded a n 18-po int sco re for third overall o n the day . des p ite also riding the th rown -ou t sec tio n a nd bein g . waylayed a t a big bottlen eck. Yam aha' s Jeff Russell spe nt mor e ti me o ff th e bik e th an o n it but finish ed fourth overa ll with 19 points. Defendin g two-time Nation al End uro Ch am pi o n Ra ndy H awkins lost n in e points a t th e fir st chec k a nd effectively sea led hi s fate there. The T eam Suzuki rider fini shed with 21 points, a nd he severe ly questi oned the co urse la you t whi ch resulted in th e boulene ck. T he hosting Enduro Riders Association club had originally p lanned to route th e rid ers through 182 miles o f terrain which spokesman Vic Ely said varied fro m easy trai ls, ch allenging wood sections a nd township roads to d 30 mph sectio ns. Wh at he had not pl an ned o n we re th e to rr en tia l ra in s wh ich pumm ell ed th e a rea fo r several da ys bef ore th e event and flooded several sections of th e tr ai l - most not able th e last tw o sec tions . Th erefore , the cl u b was fo rced to redu ce th e total co urse m il es from 182 to 160.4. in cluding a n a p p ro xima tely 40-m ile reset. Most o f th e reroutin g was don e in the p reda w n hours before th e eve n t. Further co mplicating th e rou ting a nd scoring was an a lterca tio n between a forest ranger a nd th e cl ub members! rid ers. Accordin g to Ely, a boundary lin e di spute arose from a sectio n that had been rou ted a nd used previou sly in o the r races by th e cI ub . Loca l ranger au tho ri ties sa id the land co uld n' t be cross ed, so the IS-m ile sectio n had to be di scarded. Un fortuna tely, some f th e ea rly-m i n u te ri ders, in cludi rir H ough a nd Cu n n ing ha m, had a lready go ne on to rid e th e physically ani mechanicall y d ra in in g section. As a result. th e club threw out chec s three, four, five a nd six because net everyo ne was a llo wed to ride it. Ely said that everyo ne go t back to gas tvb and go t go in g again, and said thit a p prox ima te ly 95 rid er s had go re through th e sectio n. After the enduro . Hin es rapi dly packed h is bags a nd left to ca tch a pl an e, and did not even have tim e 0 pi ck up hi s trophy. H e did, however, stay lon g enough to sa y th a t he was very p leased with th e even t. J " I h a d a few problems in th e morn ing- with on e hill section, as did